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The Garden Tool Usually the seeds do pretty well until they start to peek through the soil. Then the birds think the delicate little sprouts are part of a buffet. The cactus wren and curve-billed thrasher believe there is something beneath the sprouts because they have a tendency to poke around with their beaks turning up the soil and uprooting the young plants. Some desert gardeners may not have any problems with the birds when they plant their seeds. Others might use cheese cloth, floating row covers or bird netting for protection. And still other gardeners might grow their seedlings inside, under lights, or in a small back yard greenhouse. Cold frames are used to start seedlings to give them a little extra warmth and protect them from frost damage. Pictured here, in it's unfinished stage, because the legs still need to be painted and the bird netting will be replaced with wire, is what I like to call a seedling cage. The first one I built was more like a cold frame which I covered in plastic, and sat on the ground. Totally enclosed in plastic it had a lid I could prop open. It didn't last very long because I didn't paint the wood and the plastic sheeting rotted after a few months of full exposure to the sun. The new and improved one was made large enough to hold six reusable plastic 11-inch by 22-inch by 2½-inch trays and a whole bunch of 7½-inch by 5½-inch by 2¾-inch fiber containers which I use to start the seeds. The seedlings are then transplanted into plastic six packs and placed in the trays until they're mature enough to move onto a growing table or planted in the garden. Originally the cage sat on the ground because that's where you usually see cold frames. Then, one day, as I leaned over to water some of the newly planted seeds I decided I had gotten to the age where stooping down wasn't as easy as it used to be. I could still do it but why not save it for planting, harvesting, pruning and so forth? I thought about putting the cage on top of some sawhorses but needed those for other projects. Why not give the thing some legs of its own? I had the extra wood sitting around tempting termites. Thus the seedling cage with legs was built and will get finished when it's not being used. There's a sheet of plastic stapled to the lid to keep out the occasional rain which can wash out freshly planted seeds. The lid is propped up so the rain rolls off. If the birds were really smart they'd fly in the cage and eat the seedlings when it rains. So far they haven't done that. Also, the bottom of the cage is made of wooden slats so water can easily run through and can support the weight of the plants. If I'd known I was going to write about this garden tool for The Tucson Gardener I would have kept track of the cost. Most of the materials I used were recycled except for the quart of paint and the hinges. The real cost will come from the eventual wire covering.
Basic hand tools were used in the construction - a square, measuring tape, handsaw or jig saw, drill, pencil, hammer, screwdriver and a power driver for all the drywall screws I used. It's not beautiful, perfect or even totally finished, but as you can see, it does work. Editor's Note: The seedling cage was completed by covering the top with greenhouse corrugated fiberglass and covering the sides with hardware wire. Check out an updated version of the seedling cage. (1998) |
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