Protecting The Garden

This is my 10'x12' garden.  It will feed nine people throughout the summer and canning tomatoes for sauce will help feed us through the winter months.  The lumber is untreated and was laid over the old garden that had poor soil from last year so raising the bed and mixing the soil organically through Spring will hopefully bring in a nice crop.  Planted here are nine tomato plants (Beefmaster, Early Girl, Roma, and a few German Heirloom tomatoes that I've never seen before.  Also just coming up are spinach, endive, mesculan, basil, cilantro, peas, rhubarb, parsley, celery, cucumbers, broccoli, red cabbage, green cabbage, thyme, oregano, head lettuce, chives, red peppers, green peppers, strawberries, marjoram, and rosemary.  Out of view are three pumpkins for the kiddies.

We've also had a few bunnies that had a good meal the other night so what's not in this photo are a few glass jars from milk that were placed on sticks at bunny eye-level.  The glare from the evening reflects off a bunny's eyes and scares them away.  Around the outside of the garden I took a cheese grater and a bar of soap and grated along the outside edges.  I'll also be adding cut human hair and dog hair from our dog.  The smell will freak out a bunny and keep them out without having to completely cage off the garden or add chemicals.  

Although this garden is not located in the City of Detroit, it's a small way of showing how homeowners can begin feeding themselves on a small budget, teaching children about the earth and learning to give back and give away what you don't use.