garden news-lattices

GARDEN NEWS-LATTICES

when i took my first memory test in 2010 called a neuropsychological test they showed me a number of photos to identify what they were

there were 3 i missed
a hammock
a sphinx
and one i cant remember what it was
now i remember it was a pelican
it was photos i should have remembered but i didnt
it was one of the disturbing things that showed up in the memory test
it is good that now 15 years later i can remember the ones i forgot

one picture i thought i got right but they said i was wrong
was
a lattice
i called it a trellis
they said no its a lattice
so counting that as wrong made my final score worse
although even if i got that one right not remembering the other 3 was disturbing

so when we talk about lattices in the garden my ears always perk up
you mean a trellis 
i still feel like i should have got credit for trellis

in our garden we use a lot of different lattices or should i say trellises

here are examples
they make caring for and harvesting our vegetables easier

this is a teepee that is about 8 foot tall

in 3 gallon buckets we planted christmas lima beans that will grow up the strings all the way to the top of the teepee
at the end of the season in october the teepee will have a covering of bean vines
it is a favorite place for kids to play in when they come to the garden in the fall


this lattice or trellis connects to raised 10 foot beds
growing at its base are trumpet squash tatume squash and 8 ball squash

they grow as vines up and over the trellis with its fruits hanging down
the walkway between provides a nice shady spot when it gets warmer
the trumpet vine squash looks like a swan hanging down
its quite impressive

this lattice or trellis covers from end to end a 10 ft raised bed
planted in one end is a chayote squash that will eventually cover all of the structure
planted in the bed also are rows of fava beans
we use the fava beans as a cover crop


the row on the right is cattle panel wired to wood posts or tposts
planted on both sides of this 3 foot bed are kentucky blue lake bean vines
up front on that lattice or trellis is jade green beans

in the upper right of the picture is a trellis made with jute string 
growing on it is yard long beans
these long beans love hot weather and are tasty right off the vines
we use them in salads 
they are great in stir fries also

also barely visible on the left side is a row of tomatoes 
there are 10 varieties
for trellising these we are using the florida weave to tie up the tomatoes
we also ran a long line across the top of the posts and have jute twine tied to each tomato to keep them off the ground
we also prune off all the leaves up about a foot to allow air circulation
 

this is a full picture of our tomatoes with the florida weave
those flowers are marigolds which acts as a trap plant for insects
we also plant basil near by

those plants to the left are yellow squash and zucchini squash


these emerite or french cut green bean vines are growing on this lattice panel or should i say trellis
these are eaten in salads cooked and commonly used as green beans at thanksgiving wrapped in bacon
they are good right off the vines as a snack


these are kentucky blue green beans on a cattle panel lattice or trellis
they are good snap green beans


this is a trellis or lattice of celebration tomatoes 
they are similar to celebrity
they are a mostly determinate tomato
we are growing it on this structure 
we weave the vines in the panels as it grows

we put straw under the tomatoes to keep in moisture in the soil and to keep down on weeds and to keep the water from splashing up diseases onto the plants
we use a thick layer of wood chips between all our rows of vegetables to hold in moisture and to keep down on weeds and the chips eventually will break down into compost


this panel or trellis or lattice will have malabar spinach grow up on it this summer
it will eventually cover the whole panel
the malabar i brought from texas with me 8 years ago 
i bought the original about 20 years ago at the natural gardener in austin
i brought one plant with me to santa barbara in a zip lock bag

these spinach are good in salads stir fries soups stews or eaten raw
they love hot weather

if you look closely at the far end of the row there is a walking stick kale or collard tree
it produces a ton of collards or kale all year round


this row on the right are early girl tomatoes growing on this trellis or lattice or panel
they always do good every year
they are the first tomatoes produced each year

we have a total of around 80 tomato plants in our community garden

on the left is a row of dino kale we planted last fall 
we will leave them in until they start to bolt or get disease laden with aphids


finally this last arch or panel or lattice or trellis is in our childrens garden
it runs like at arch from those green pots over to another bed
in those green pots are boysenberries that grow up the structure
on the other side are those 8 ball squash and trumpet vines that will also grow up and over the lattice

is it lattice or trellis or panel 
in the garden it doesnt matter what you call it
we understand what you mean

for my memory tests i call them a lattice

the organic green doctor