Structure for Vegetable gardens

Structure is important for a veggie garden. It helps keep things tidy and lets your fruits grow off the ground, where they are less likely to rot and are more easily harvested. We have tried many types of trellises, fences, baskets and cages; some we made, some we bought.
A few years ago I grew my peas on an expandable willow fence. Cute, but not very practical. A big wind blew it all over once the peas got 3 feet tall.

Here is some nice garden structure at the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham (actually Independence), Texas. They have a wonderful fence, and this hand-made trellis. Once again, attractive, but not very functional. About all you could hold up on this trellis is sweet peas or a very few scarlet runner beans.

I own quite a few of the galvanized "Tomato cages" sold everywhere. Whoever named them never grew tomatoes. They do not hold up the tomatoes I grow. We use them for our peas. Push the cage as far in the ground as you can, then sow your pea seeds around the inside of the cage. They will grow up through the center quite well. Unfortunately, the deer and the gusty wind we experienced this spring blew them over as well. We now have the cages staked up with 6 -foot bamboo poles.
The most effective structure we have use in our garden is metal fence poles and cattle panels. The panels are like heavy duty fencing. They come in "sheets" 4 to 5 feet tall and 16 feet long. We had ours cut into 8 foot lengths to fit in the back of truck to transport home. We use these pieces of fencing to make trellises for tomatoes, beans and cucumbers. The wire is spaced about 4 inches apart on the cattle panels, so you can get your hand inside it easily to weave the plants as they grow.

Next post - all about tomato training.