Candace: what are you planning to grow?

As of today, I've got two of my 4'x4' boxes planted with vertical trellises and chicken wire cages. So far I've planted:

• 9 Beans
• 16 Beets
• 9 Broccoli
• 3 Cabbage
• 2 Jalapeño
• 4 Lettuce
• 13 Onions
• 5 Peas
• 9 Radishes
• 4 Spinach
• 3 Summer Squash
• 4 Swiss Chard
• 2 Watermelon
• 3 Zucchini

One tomato plant purchased (still indoors), need a couple more. Pumpkins to be started in a few weeks in time for October. We also purchased 4 dwarf fruit trees this year: 2 apple, one peach, one plum. I don't expect any yield this year, but you never know.

This year is the first year we're being serious about it - and surprise (to me), it's a hell of a lot of work!

But I did solve the problem of making a cage that fits a box with a vertical trellis. I made a 4'x4'x18" goalie net of wood and chicken wire. Then I tied chicken wire around the other side of the trellis so that the net and the trellis fit together to form a cage (with a one-inch gap for vining plants to grow up). It looks like it will work.

Anybody out there do any Square Foot Gardening? I've built some frames and got the mix and plan to put them on the ground this weekend. I also have built a couple vertical trellises, but I'm puzzling (like this person) how the cage can work with vertical growing crops... Maybe I'll do what the first commenter did and just use the hardware cloth wall around the garden instead of a cage with a top - but I know there's a raccoon in the neighborhood that could probably climb that...