Tag: fruit

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How to Build a Critter-Proof DIY Hinged Strawberry Bed

Critter-Proof Strawberry Bed

When Mark and I moved to Ohio, I was excited to continue the strawberry plants I’d started growing in Virginia. Everything was going great until the chipmunks came along and ate my entire crop. After trying everything, I was ready to throw in the towel. Then Mark came along and said, “Anna. No. We’re not giving up on strawberries. I can fix this!”. 

His solution was an ingenious critter-proof strawberry bed, outlined in full detail in my new book, Building a Better Garden: DIY Gardening Projects. Essentially a raised bed with a hinged cover, it works great not only for strawberries but also for melons and any other short plants critters like to nibble on. To build your own:

  1. CoverConstruct two rectangular frames out of treated decking boards, which will serve as the base and the cover for your bed.
  2. Under your bottom frame, attach a layer of hardware cloth. This prevents chipmunks from digging into your plants from underneath.
  3. Fill up your bottom frame with soil.
  4. Use two door hinges to attach your rectangular frames together.
  5. Attach a plastic mesh to the top of your upper frame using exterior screws and small washers. The mesh should have holes large enough to let in water, light, and pollinators but small enough to keep critters out.
  6. Plant your strawberries and enjoy your delicious, chipmunk-free harvests!

For more information on the critter-proof strawberry bed, as well as five other great projects to keep out pests and grow a bountiful organic garden, check out Building a Better Garden: DIY Gardening Projects, available as an ebook and in print. Plus, you can check out the video course for more hands-on construction details if you prefer that format over reading. Enjoy!

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What the new zone map means for home fruit gardeners

2013 and 2023 USDA zone maps

Perhaps you’ve seen the new USDA hardiness zone map that came out this week? For the first time in eleven years, we have an updated map, and about half of the United States moved half a zone warmer (with the rest staying in the same zone they were in before). You can check your new zone here.

Before you rush out and buy tropical trees to plant in your garden, though, I thought I’d share a few thoughts from our last fifteen-plus years growing fruit.

Averages aren’t everything

Snowy gardenFirst, you need to understand what the zone map really means. It’s a thirty-year average of annual extreme low temperatures in your location.

In other words, that’s the coldest it’s likely to get in your garden on an average year — so sometimes the temperature will never drop that low and sometimes you’ll see a freak cold spell that dips even lower. In fact, as the climate changes, unusual cold waves (and heat waves) are becoming more common, so my biggest piece of advice is this:

Be conservative when picking out those fruit trees! Maybe don’t choose a fig that’s only on the edge of hardy where you’re located. Instead, if you live in zone 6b (as we now do), it’s smarter to select varieties hardy to at least zone 6a. This is especially true for fruit plants that take several years to mature.

Frost pockets

Peach flowerWhile you’re planning smart, be sure to consider microclimates. Even though the area we moved from is technically half a zone warmer than the one we’re in now (meaning we moved from zone 6b to zone 6a…which is now zone 6b!), our hilltop tends to evade early and late freezes that would have definitely struck our previous deep-valley pocket.

So no matter what the map claims, believe your eyes if they say you’re actually half a zone colder or warmer than your neighbors. And consider late freezes prone to result in fruitless years when selecting varieties — late bloomers can be a major plus.

Heat and drought

Bowl of berriesFinally, it’s worth looking at the flip side of the coin. The hardiness zone maps don’t say anything about annual high temperatures or droughts, but for many of us both of those climate concerns are increasingly relevant in our gardens.

For example, despite drip irrigation, our hilltop gets so bone dry during scorching summers that I keep losing shallow-rooted blueberry plants. I intend to move the survivors to a wetter location (which I’ll tell you about in a later post). For now, just remember that there’s a lot more to keeping fruit plants happy than making sure they evade the worst winter ice.

Shameless plug

If you want to read more of my thoughts on choosing fruit plants that will produce with minimal headache on your part, definitely check out my Weekend Homesteader: Winter ebook (or nab the full series in paperback form).

And I’d love to hear from you. How are you changing your gardening plans in response to the new maps?