Cages 1

Since starting my first edible garden this summer there was one thing I knew I would have to deal with.  Animals.  Our house backs up to an open space that is essentially a deer highway, and birds, fox, and other furry woodland creatures are all around us.

I’d seen many options for how to build all different kinds of cages, so I decided to borrow from what I found and adjust it to meet my needs.  Here’s what I came up with, and how I did it.  To be totally honest, I made some mistakes along the way, so I’ll tell you about those, too, and what I did to fix them.

There will be a shopping list at the end of the post.

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My garden is 2′ wide and my plants are expected to grow about 5′ tall.  I made 2 cages, 5′ long each.  Once you cut your pipe to length, attach them with the 3-way elbows.  You can use glue to affix them, or just push the pieces together like I did.  I primarily did that because I knew I would make mistakes.

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Next I fastened the deer netting with zip ties.  This wasn’t difficult, but it took a while.  You want to make sure the netting is pulled tight so it doesn’t flap and get caught up in your plants.

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This was my first big mistake.  Do you see it?  I left the bottom of the cage unstructured.  PVC pipe is very durable, but it’s also pretty flexible.  When I tried to move it around it wobbled like jello.  Not good.

I framed out the bottom so that it stood more firmly.  Sadly, that wasn’t the whole problem.  The cage was sturdier now, but it was still to flimsy to handle.  I could get it over my small plants, but there was no way I would be able to lift it over 5′ tall sprouts.  That’s a problem.

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It took some thinking, but here’s what I came up with.  I cut down the front sides of the cage just inside the PVC pipe.  I got another length of pipe, slightly longer than 5′ and some end caps.  I filled it with sand for extra weight and zip-tied it to the (now) loose netting.

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Now when I need to get to the plants I just lift the flap, do what I need to do, and replace the flap!  It’s a beautiful thing.

Shopping List:

5 10-foot PVC pipes (3/4″)
8 3-way PVC pipe fitting (3/4″)
2 PVC end caps (3/4″)
PVC pipe cutter
Deer netting
Zip ties

Cages 3

Linked up at Frugal Friday