Trellises, peas and green beans

Weather hasn't been great but not bad. Cloudy but warm enough to get things done outside.

So, I got out and built 7 trellises this morning. I reused the netting from last year and combined it with PVC piping and nylon ties. Right now, the netting on each one is only 3 ft tall but the poles are taller and I can extend the poles higher if needed. (One of the reasons for using the PVC.) I used 3/4" piping, so if I need to reinforce it I can insert 1/2" piping in the middle. I have enough netting to add more to most of the trellises and increase the height when needed. They're not perfect but they do look good. The minor flaws present won't be visible once things are growing on them.

Went ahead and planted Alaska Peas, which can be planted as soon as the soil can be worked. They can also be planted as densely as every 2", with no thinning required later. Those are planted on the south side of each trellis.

On the north side of each trellis, I planted green beans. Two rows of KY Wonder and four rows of KY Blue. Those say plant when soil is warm but warm is not defined. These can be planted as densely as every 8".

Also planted Top Crop bush beans where some of the corn is planted. I'm considering trellising those rows to reinforce support for the corn and provide a more stable support for green beans and cucumbers. That will let me plant an early season and late season corn crop. Using the corn as a main trellis system will limit me to one corn crop.

Turns out that cilantro is good for deterring aphids. I like cilantro a little (daughter loves it). So I planted cilantro along the entire southwest quarter of the garden. In various areas, that gives me garlic, onions, dill and cilantro to help control aphids, with marigolds to be added later. I hope that between those, insecticidal soap and garlic spray that I can control the aphids and whiteflies this year.

Some chance of rain this afternoon. Sprinkled a little a short while ago but stopped. Wait and see if it picks up again before watering.