I have got heartily sick of feeding the critters around my place!
Its time they got weaned off the good food I grow for myself & started eating the actual natural food I grow for them!
This idea has been percolating in my head for a couple years but there were sticking points.
Aren't there always?
Finally the answers came after seeing a slightly similar idea on youtube.
Also due to the urgency of needing to protect my fruit, I had to give in & use lesser materials that I might otherwise not have used.
So over the last 10days while it rained on & off & I began walking again after a fractured pelvis, this frame slowly took shape.
There were 3 variations before I got the actual frame finished in the shelter (ref to this shelter workshop at the bottom of this post), then another 2 variations once I got it mounted on the bathtub bed that I grow most of my tomatoes in.
It had been my desire to create a kit that people could buy or copy with a definitive list of easily purchased materials & parts. However it didn't turn out that way. I had to fabricate some parts using the heat gun, old conduit, odd fittings & make-do bits & pieces.
So the upshot is I have provided many photos & if you can work it out, understand the photos & are a bit handy, then you should be able to make something similar!
The other thing is my pc is in damage control & running in safe mode this week so things like photos are warped so I apologise if the resolution is not very good or photos out of proportion.
And the other thing that I noticed as I began making these collages is my camera had a dummy spit too & the date stopped working!
So to add all those failures up, that's my pelvis, the computer, the camera, one battery drill, & a few other things I cant remember now. Not a good time around here to be honest. Lets hope this frame does its job (do we have a crossed fingers emoji?)
Below is the finished frame with doors open on both sides. For want of a better solution, I made door props from old bamboo blind parts with a hook made from some soft fence wire. You will find the photo for that further down this article. The idea was to be able to walk under the doors without the mesh brushing against my hair. Luckily the bath tubs were originally placed a good distance apart so I was able to make large doors with good head height. It makes gardening so much easier when the bed surface is near waist height & the cover is above head height.
Below is a collage of how I fabricated the compound corners & the electrical parts I used. Apparently it is possible to buy these compound corner fittings but necessary to go to an electrical store & pay heaps. I wanted to get everything from Bunnings if possible.
All these photo collages will open quite large when you click on them so you can see the work in close up.
I didn't glue any of the joins. Better not to so they can be pulled apart if needed. I dragged the built frame out to the garden on a big piece of thin plywood but you might need to pull it all apart & rebuild it onsite. So gluing is a bad thing!
The pipe fits into the fittings tightly in anycase & I didn't have any joins come apart.
In the above collage, one photo shows tec screws & thin wire which is to make diagonal bracing. I used baling twine on the other end which is harder to get evenly tensioned. There is also a photo showing bolts which are to make the hinges for the doors.
You will also see the needle I used for the sewing. I called it a 'baling needle' which is wrong! It is a 'bagging needle'!
I ended up using 5 lengths of 4m long 25mm grey(exterior) conduit. It is a bit flimsy but cheap enough. I already have a better design in my head which I will sketch & post in this thread showing better bracing for the frame. Also I will post a list of how many of each fitting I used. I forgot to add that to the photos of each fitting. For some fittings 8-12 are required.
In the bottom row of photos in the collage above, you can see how the bath tub is up on concrete blocks to bring it up to my working height. Under the plug end I have a container that catches excess water which I pour back onto the bed a few days later. I also showed the tomato stake sets I buy which support the tomato plants. They used to be in sets of 4 stakes to form a square but now for that price you only get 3 stakes to form a triangle! Anyway they are a great idea & I have used them successfully for several years.
Below are some full sized photos of building progress & details. For the shade cloth I used these shade sails that I got as a throw out special at Bunnings. They were $15each down from $179!! Being very light shade, plants will grow under these sails so I will test that & report back whether that is a true statement on the shade sail bag!
These sails are made of very light weight shade mesh & now it is illegal to sell this type of shade mesh suitable for shading people in Australia due to not being heavy enough. 50% is now the lightest that can be sold.
I wish now I had purchased all 7 of the bags they had on sale. But I got 4 anyway so enough to make another frame plus some bits left over.
I cut the mesh with big overlaps so it was easy to sew with the garden wire twist tie stuff. I use a huge bagging needle. I've had mine for years & got it from a rural store but perhaps you can get one at Spotlight. Otherwise a really big darning needle might do the same job. It needs a huge eye & a bent point. The sewing is very rough! Big tacking stitches are all that's necessary. No need to be really tidy. The idea is to keep out rats & mice as well as birds, possums & bats.
Here below is the finished frame with doors closed. I still have to make wire hooks that will attach to the sides of the doors near the bottom to hold the doors closed. They will just hook into the mesh on the ends of the frame.
The mesh is shown sticking out all around the doors. I did that on purpose because I think it will prevent rodents getting through the gaps around the doors. Well its a theory anyway! I'm sure I won't be able to keep every critter out but it will stop most. The only thing I now will have to do is hand pollinate the cucumber & capsicum since this frame will also prevent bees & insects getting in to do their job.
I also have beans & I'm not sure if they need pollination or not. Time will tell.
You can see that the frame overhangs along the left side. This is to give the tomatoes more leaf room because the birds chew through the mesh to get the fruit if it is up against the mesh. Also important to give air space to the leaves.
I took heaps more photos. If you want to see photos of particular parts or aspects of construction just ask me. I'm sure I will have a photo of it!
All except the orange pipe roof supports. Those photos must have disappeared into the ether when the date thing went wrong on the camera! But I can take some more & draw some diagrams of how I made those horizontal supports. But I now have a better idea in my mind to make them that doesn't require a heat gun etc.
Its time they got weaned off the good food I grow for myself & started eating the actual natural food I grow for them!
This idea has been percolating in my head for a couple years but there were sticking points.
Aren't there always?
Finally the answers came after seeing a slightly similar idea on youtube.
Also due to the urgency of needing to protect my fruit, I had to give in & use lesser materials that I might otherwise not have used.
So over the last 10days while it rained on & off & I began walking again after a fractured pelvis, this frame slowly took shape.
There were 3 variations before I got the actual frame finished in the shelter (ref to this shelter workshop at the bottom of this post), then another 2 variations once I got it mounted on the bathtub bed that I grow most of my tomatoes in.
It had been my desire to create a kit that people could buy or copy with a definitive list of easily purchased materials & parts. However it didn't turn out that way. I had to fabricate some parts using the heat gun, old conduit, odd fittings & make-do bits & pieces.
So the upshot is I have provided many photos & if you can work it out, understand the photos & are a bit handy, then you should be able to make something similar!
The other thing is my pc is in damage control & running in safe mode this week so things like photos are warped so I apologise if the resolution is not very good or photos out of proportion.
And the other thing that I noticed as I began making these collages is my camera had a dummy spit too & the date stopped working!
So to add all those failures up, that's my pelvis, the computer, the camera, one battery drill, & a few other things I cant remember now. Not a good time around here to be honest. Lets hope this frame does its job (do we have a crossed fingers emoji?)Below is the finished frame with doors open on both sides. For want of a better solution, I made door props from old bamboo blind parts with a hook made from some soft fence wire. You will find the photo for that further down this article. The idea was to be able to walk under the doors without the mesh brushing against my hair. Luckily the bath tubs were originally placed a good distance apart so I was able to make large doors with good head height. It makes gardening so much easier when the bed surface is near waist height & the cover is above head height.
Below is a collage of how I fabricated the compound corners & the electrical parts I used. Apparently it is possible to buy these compound corner fittings but necessary to go to an electrical store & pay heaps. I wanted to get everything from Bunnings if possible.
All these photo collages will open quite large when you click on them so you can see the work in close up.
I didn't glue any of the joins. Better not to so they can be pulled apart if needed. I dragged the built frame out to the garden on a big piece of thin plywood but you might need to pull it all apart & rebuild it onsite. So gluing is a bad thing!
The pipe fits into the fittings tightly in anycase & I didn't have any joins come apart. In the above collage, one photo shows tec screws & thin wire which is to make diagonal bracing. I used baling twine on the other end which is harder to get evenly tensioned. There is also a photo showing bolts which are to make the hinges for the doors.
You will also see the needle I used for the sewing. I called it a 'baling needle' which is wrong! It is a 'bagging needle'!
I ended up using 5 lengths of 4m long 25mm grey(exterior) conduit. It is a bit flimsy but cheap enough. I already have a better design in my head which I will sketch & post in this thread showing better bracing for the frame. Also I will post a list of how many of each fitting I used. I forgot to add that to the photos of each fitting. For some fittings 8-12 are required.
In the bottom row of photos in the collage above, you can see how the bath tub is up on concrete blocks to bring it up to my working height. Under the plug end I have a container that catches excess water which I pour back onto the bed a few days later. I also showed the tomato stake sets I buy which support the tomato plants. They used to be in sets of 4 stakes to form a square but now for that price you only get 3 stakes to form a triangle! Anyway they are a great idea & I have used them successfully for several years.
Below are some full sized photos of building progress & details. For the shade cloth I used these shade sails that I got as a throw out special at Bunnings. They were $15each down from $179!! Being very light shade, plants will grow under these sails so I will test that & report back whether that is a true statement on the shade sail bag!
These sails are made of very light weight shade mesh & now it is illegal to sell this type of shade mesh suitable for shading people in Australia due to not being heavy enough. 50% is now the lightest that can be sold.
I wish now I had purchased all 7 of the bags they had on sale. But I got 4 anyway so enough to make another frame plus some bits left over.
I cut the mesh with big overlaps so it was easy to sew with the garden wire twist tie stuff. I use a huge bagging needle. I've had mine for years & got it from a rural store but perhaps you can get one at Spotlight. Otherwise a really big darning needle might do the same job. It needs a huge eye & a bent point. The sewing is very rough! Big tacking stitches are all that's necessary. No need to be really tidy. The idea is to keep out rats & mice as well as birds, possums & bats.
Here below is the finished frame with doors closed. I still have to make wire hooks that will attach to the sides of the doors near the bottom to hold the doors closed. They will just hook into the mesh on the ends of the frame.
The mesh is shown sticking out all around the doors. I did that on purpose because I think it will prevent rodents getting through the gaps around the doors. Well its a theory anyway! I'm sure I won't be able to keep every critter out but it will stop most. The only thing I now will have to do is hand pollinate the cucumber & capsicum since this frame will also prevent bees & insects getting in to do their job.
I also have beans & I'm not sure if they need pollination or not. Time will tell.
You can see that the frame overhangs along the left side. This is to give the tomatoes more leaf room because the birds chew through the mesh to get the fruit if it is up against the mesh. Also important to give air space to the leaves.
I took heaps more photos. If you want to see photos of particular parts or aspects of construction just ask me. I'm sure I will have a photo of it!
All except the orange pipe roof supports. Those photos must have disappeared into the ether when the date thing went wrong on the camera! But I can take some more & draw some diagrams of how I made those horizontal supports. But I now have a better idea in my mind to make them that doesn't require a heat gun etc.
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