DIY row cover

We had leftover concrete reinforcing wire from making tomato cages, and used a length of it to rig this row cover to keep my lettuce seedlings safe from the chicken bandits. It works well in a bed without wood borders too. We covered it with last year's Reemay and clipped it on with clothespins, anchoring the ends of the tunnel with rocks. It held up in some serious March winds, hardly budging at all. To harvest the lettuce inside or weed, spray, whatever, you just unclip a bit of the Reemay: the wire is the kind with 6" spaces between wires so you can reach right in. You could easily up the frost protection with another weight cover, or plastic, or another layer.

Just in case anyone wants a cheapo option...

Looks good! Effective, too.

very cool - I have some mesh wire and last years Reemay. As long as the wire doesn't want to bend back up we are good for the eggplant flea beetles are evil and must be stopped!

Thanks Zeppy!
-Kim

That's the way ah-huh, ah-huh I like it, ah-huh a-huh. ♫♫

I've never done row covers before. So I'm not familiar with Reemay. What is it, where do you get it, and how expensive is it ?

I've got some lettuce started under a grow light in the house, but would like to put it out as soon as I can manage to keep it alive in the garden. Row covers might help me get it done a little earlier, especially since I have several raised beds.

PeggieK
Reemay is simply a non spun white garden cloth. I usually get mine at Pinetree Garden Seeds. (superseeds.com) out of Maine. It's called Floating Row covers in their catalogue. I buy it by the foot. If you google "Reemay cloth" you will come up with sites like Amazon.com that sell it. I use it over my lettuce when the weather gets very hot so the sun doesn't wilt it. It is great with squash, cabbage, eggplant or any veggie that is prone to bugs. I don't know what I would do without it!