The covering of the row

A beautiful day was upon us as we set out to tuck in the melons, pumpkins, and squash.


We gathered all of our supplies. Coiled wire, red pins, and row covering. We purchased our things from Johnny's, but Im sure that there are other places you can find these things as well.

After looking at all of our options we went with this coiled wire to make our own hoops. It seemed an easy enough task, but it also didnt hurt that Ang said she had had really good luck with making her own and that it was much more affordable.) And after all, I am frugal.


We decided to cut it into 7 ft sections since our beds are 5 ft wide. It added a little more height to the covering, which will hopefully allow more room for growth and also aid in better air circulation.

Actively measuring. (Not to mention that I really just like this picture.)

Cutting of the wire. I never, ever could have done this part. Just watching him cut that wire was painful to me. Eventually, I suggested he go across the street to see if he could borrow a tool better suited for this job.

We ended up putting in 4 hoops per bed. It seemed enough to support the cover efficiently. (See how professional we are about all this.)

Then S rolled out the red carpet for me. Fine, it was white, but he still rolled it out for me. 12 feet of it in fact. Had I not tripped over all those weeds you see in my yard, I may have struck a pose for you....

Next, all you do is spread the cover over your entire bed, making sure you have close to equal amounts hanging over on the sides. It is best that you have about double the width of your bed when choosing your covers. This makes it easier to secure the cover snugly in the ground. We chose a cover that was water, air, and light permeable. This makes for a less heavy duty version, but since all the elements can still penetrate the fabric the goal is that we wont have to remove the cover very often. Then you take this handy, dandy red "pin" ....

And secure the cover in place in the ground.

Do that with all your pins...we happened to use 12 per bed.(Johnny's suggests that you use them every 2 ft.) And you have one fully covered bed. Safe from pesky bugs.


Repeat 2 times (in our case),....and then you can say youre all done. Night, night little fruits and veggies. Dont let the bed bugs bite. (Ha! I couldnt resist.)