Fence cage covered with row cover for protecting vegetables. Shown with Tom-Tom the great packrat hunter!

The other day some of my followers on my blog asked what was under that row cover that was holding it up and I thought it was a great question. I’d like to say it was my idea but it wasn’t. A friend of mine, Tom (who helped me build the greenhouse) gave me those structures. It’s an ingenious idea.

fence cage ready to go over vegetables

He took a 5′ tall roll of fencing wire (the holes were 2 inches by 4 inches but the hole size doesn’t really matter) and cut it into pieces that when bent in half would be about 15 inches high. You could make taller ones as well. I use to make hoops from 9 gauge wire but this is easier and supports the row cover better especially if it hails. I use them for low growing vegetables, vegetables that may need some shade, vegetables that I need to protect from insects and for transplants that need to acclimate to our harsh climate when I first put them out. The pokey ends get pushed into the ground. Then you put a piece of row cover over it big enough to cover both sides and the ends. The wind won’t pick up the row cover if you put rocks around the edges of the row cover. If you have longer rows, just over lap the cages to extend them.

Closeup of fence cage covering kale and chard. Drip system in place.

I water with a drip system so I don’t have to get under them that much but they are easy enough to lift up on one side and tip back to get to the plants underneath to water. He originally bought the wire to make his tomato cages but found that you can’t get your hands through the holes to harvest and if you cut out some of the wire to make the holes bigger, the sharp edges shred your hands where you cut the wire so he used the wire this way. He had to move so he gave me the wire structures. What a great gift!