All Strung Up

Didn't end up going to Discovery Park today(though the weather couldn't have been more obliging). Instead I built the first of several trellises for the peas and beans out of some bamboo I found for free.


Free is Good

The trellis is constructed with 4 pieces of bamboo, about 6 feet long and 3/4" thick, one piece slightly longer than the length of the row, and as many lengths of string as there are pea plants. You could also build this using pvc pipes or any scrap wood you have lying around. On either end of the row two of the 6 feet pieces of bamboo are stabbed into the ground to form a steep X. I drilled a screw through the two pieces to hold them together securely. The row-length piece is lain along the length of the row between the two X's. Next I tied a string from the spanning bamboo down to the pea plant. You can either loosely tie a loop around the stem of the plant so that it can begin climbing or tie the string to a twig or perhaps a thin stick of bamboo that is staked in the dirt near the plant. I tied the string to some scraps pieces of bamboo.

Peas are natural climbers and should have no trouble finding their way up the string. My trellis sags a little in the middle, hopefully the weight of the vines won't drag it down much farther.