Peas Please: Nearly Free Trellis for Climbing Peas

I love peas.  Last year, I didn't plant nearly enough.  This year, I think I went a bit overboard.

Just a bit.

Now the peas have sprouted and they're going to need something to attach to when they start to grow. 

And what's better than cheap, cheap, cheap?  Nearly free!

It started with a special find--a discarded painting on canvas that was attached to a wooden frame.  (It was so ugly, I didn't even bother to take a pic of it.)  I ripped off the painting (that was on canvas) and was left with the frame, which was in good condition.

I had a roll of chicken wire that I'd stashed in my gardening shed and two pieces of wood (about a foot long) that I decided would make good stakes to hold the pea trellis in the ground.

First, I attached the wooden stakes to the frame using screws.  Okay, my wonderful teen son attached the stakes to the frame using screws.  (Take advantage of free labor as much as you can!)

Once you've attached the stakes, you could paint or stain the frame.  Make sure you use a paint or stain that will withstand the weather.  We elected not to paint or stain it because quite frankly, I wanted to get it into the ground and there were April rain clouds moving through.  Plus, I wasn't sure how comfortable I was with paint that close to pea plants.

Next, he unrolled the length of chicken wire to fit the length of the frame, then stapled the chicken wire to the frame.

It just so happened that the chicken wire was the perfect width for the frame.  No, we didn't plan it that way--it just happened!

Once the chicken wire is stapled all around, was time to put it into the ground! We put it close to the peas, but not on top of them. (We didn't want to damage the seedlings.) We pushed the stakes into the soil until the frame was about half an inch from the ground.  I didn't want the frame resting on the soil, as it would hasten the decay of the wood.

Now, it's ready for the peas!

Supporting your tomatoes--now's the time to start thinking about it

Remember all those little tomato seeds you planted?

Little seedlings:

Before you know it, they'll be in your garden and be huge tomato plants like this:

This picture was take summer of 2011 before the tomato plants fully developed.  See those tiny yellow flowers on them?  They are tomatoes-to-be. 

To support these plants, you'll need cages. 

Now, you can buy cages, but (1) the can be expensive, especially if you're buying several and (2) they can be flimsy, which means those cute little seedlings will grow into big plants that will bully flimsy tomato cages. 

This defeats the purpose of tomato cages, which is to support the tomato plant and keep it off the ground, where it can be at risk for too much moisture (which will cause disease and distress) or pests (like the naughty mole that ate my tomatoes last year because I didn't have them in cages).

So, let's talk about making cages to support your tomatoes.

First, is to get the materials you'll need. 

We used a wire garden fencing that you can get at any home improvement store or garden center.  Our was about four feet tall.

Word of advice:  USE GLOVES FOR WORKING WITH THIS WIRE!

My wonderful teen son did this for me (while I took the pictures) and you'll notice he's wearing his gloves. 

Unroll the wire to about four to five feet in length.  Then, use a pair of wire cutters or snipping shears to cut the wire.  You'll want to cut it so that you have pieces that you can later use to fold back.  Yes, these will look like little spikes and will ACT like little spikes if you're not careful.

You can see that the length is about 4 feet or so.

Next, roll it up so that the spikes cross over at least one row of the squares.  Then, you'll simply bend the spikes back to make a large loop that will catch the solid square.  Do this to all of the squares, since it will "latch" the ends together.

This is somewhat of a blurry pic, but you may be able to tell how the spike is now looped back in on itself, around the solid piece. 

When you're finished, you'll have a circle of wired fencing, perfect for a tomato plant.

Or a potato tube!

Oh, I didn't mention the potato tubes?

Hmmmm...I'll have to see what I can do about that!

Big Ideas, Little Budget: Painted Tile Back Splash

I don't always have the cha-ching in the budget to make my BIG ideas into BIG reality, which means I have to come up with other ways to make my BIG ideas into BIG reality.

And here's a BIG idea. I love the beautiful tiled back splashes I've seen in magazines. But, because I like to change my mind (which sometimes also translates into changing the decor in my home) and because I don't have big bucks to drop on a different back splash every couple of years (or more), then I had to come up with an alternate way of getting those fancy-schmancy back splashes for my kitchen.
This is why I love Pinterest. (For those of you who don't know, Pinterest is like computer crack. Seriously.)
When I saw this from Sawdust and Embryos via Pinterest, I heard angels singing. Can you hear them too?

Source

They've painted tile. Not painted ON tile, but painted the tile!

This, I thought to myself, I could do. So, with the help of my wonderful daughter (who is completely used to her mom calling her up and saying, "Hey, I have this idea and need your help!") and her understanding boyfriend (who is getting used to his girlfriend's mom calling him and saying, "Hey, I have this idea and need your help!"), I tried my own version of creating a painted black splash in my kitchen.

First, I needed to paint what would be the "grout lines" in between the tiles. Since my walls (and originally the wall behind the sink) is yellow, that meant that I needed to paint the area white. Also, since this was to be our first attempt, and if I decided that I didn't like it, I could paint over it, I decided to do only the section directly behind the counter.

You can see the blue painters tape I used to mark off the edges.

Next, we needed to tape off the "grout lines". To do this, we had to first cut the tape into the appropriate width. I got a roll of one inch painters tape, which we then marked at the half inch width, then carefully cut with a sharp blade.

Cutting very carefully!

Next, was the most painstaking part--laying the tape. We had a template (sorry--no pics of the template!) that I created from the side of macaroni and cheese box that we used to mark the first row and used a light pencil mark to help guide the tape placement.

Eventually, we had the entire area taped.

Next, came the painting part.

For painting, I used the acrylic paints that can be found at nearly every hobby store (like Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc.). Mine, I bought for about 69 cents on sale.

I mixed the colors and did the "tiles" one by one. Each color is painted on approximately four to five "tiles". I had a painting in my kitchen and a rug on my floor which had similar colors to the ones I mixed and used.

To add a bit of visual texture to each "tile", I dabbed the paint on with a small paint brush.

Here's a section of what it looked like when all the "tiles" were painted (before we removed the tape).

There were mixed opinions as to if we should remove the tape while everything was still somewhat tacky (slightly wet and not completely dry), or if we should remove it right away. We decided to VERY CAREFULLY remove it right away.

And, ta-dah! Here's the final product!

Just to remind you of where we started...

Before

And after!

When we first pulled off all the tape, I wasn't sure if I liked it. Both my daughter and the boyfriend were also not sure if they liked it. However, throughout the evening, I found myself drawn to it and it made me smile. I think it gives my plain-Jane kitchen a bit of spice and personality, which is what I was looking for. 

Once the weather gets warmer (and I can open some windows), I'll add a coat of clear polyurethane to protect the surface from water and other splashy things that might be on the counter. Until then, I'll be very, very careful. 

This project (not including painting the "grout" background or installing the new lighting--see below) took a complete afternoon--about three or four hours--with three people. While my daughter and the boyfriend did most of the taping, I did all of the painting, while they provided their suggestions as to the shades, colors and placement of the paints. Although this could be a one person project, having an extra set of hands makes it much easier and faster. Plus, having someone to provide their thoughts and suggestions also helps.

If I had it to do all over again, I might make the size of the "tiles" and the "grout line" a bit thinner. The size the "tiles" are now are thicker than typical tiles you might find in a netted sheet at Lowe's, but thinner than typical subway tiles. The grout (at half an inch) is also thicker than traditional grout lines. I think 1/4 inch grout might be more "realistic" looking, but I'll not be changing mine anytime soon.

You might notice that the under the counter lighting in the after picture is much brighter. That's because my wonderfully handy (and always willing to help his mom on her latest ideas) teen son and I installed a set of under the counter lights I got for around $40 at Lowe's that morning. Before, I had two separate florescent lights, and I really like the look the under the counter lighting provided.

This back splash will be fairly easy to repaint over if I decided in the future to change my mind and the decor of my kitchen. 

Until then, I've provided interest and personality to my kitchen for a very reasonable investment of paint, tape, time and effort (and a few extra helping hands!).

Pin It