Cage free eggs are all the rage these days. A kind and caring human wants to make sure all those little eggs are not under any stress and have been treated kindly. Otherwise, they might do a Humpty Dumpty and throw themselves off a wall or something. Most vegetables are also cage free – happy little vegetables grown in the wide open spaces – free to roam as they will.
But not my vegetables. They are now – or will soon be – fully caged.
Last summer I vowed that unless I had a cage to protect my seeds and vegetables, I would not plant another garden. We had somehow managed to stop the deer from coming in our yard with an extended fence and the groundhog that lived under the neighbor’s shed apparently wasn’t quite quick enough to get across the road on his last try. But the rabbits and squirrels were digging up my seeds and plants before they could even sprout and then eating what managed to grow.
Each time I planted a row, the squirrels would upend half the seedlings by the next day, and the surviving sprouts were cut off at the base by rabbits – which leveled my lettuce, peas and beans.
Nancy had a small cage built on the carport several years ago and it out-produced my much larger garden because the damned varmints couldn’t get in.
Bottom Line? We just finished a completely enclosed garden cage that is about 10 feet wide, fifty feet long and 6 feet high. If a rabbit or squirrel somehow manages to get in, he will never get out, I promise you that. But now they won’t be able to get in.
We ordered the supplies from a company called Deerbusters. It’s like a big erector set – you put the poles together, attach the wire and – voila – you have a cage.
Amortized over 20 years, it’s not that expensive – and it will easily last 20 years. It’s all steel. But this year’s crop of vegetables will be pretty pricey if you factor in the cost of the fence and labor to put it up. Something like $200 a pound for my sweet peas
I believe, however, that this cage will add value to our property. If the next owners aren’t gardeners, it would make a great chicken coop or a wonderful dog kennel. And I suppose that if a Witch ends up buying our house, she could fatten up as many as a dozen small children at a time.
Bring it on squirrels and rabbits. You’ve finally met your match.