Being a member of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum has all sorts of benefits – free entry into the grounds, a discount at the shop, a place to x-country ski and snowshoe in the winter, a beautiful variety of gardens, displays, and natural beauty. I’ve seen an owl there, many a hawk, wild turkey, and deer all living there, amongst shrub gardens, trees of all kinds, rose garden, prairie, hedge gardens, a Japanese garden and more. I like everything about the Arboretum, run by the University of Minnesota.
But an email message recently from Leslie, the membership services manager, really stoked my interest: a salad table. Yes, I have a garden. It hasn’t been the best of gardens. It seems to be a strawberry patch most of all. I have had some serious issues with bunnies (see earlier posts). The mama seems to make a nest right against the garden fence where I don’t mow. The babies are so tiny they crawl right into the garden. Mama rabbit is outside the fence and those babies seem to live amongst whatever I’ve planted. And Erin, my shepherd/lab, just goes bonkers around the garden.
So, a salad table. Leslie provided a link to a plan how to build the table. I’ve looked it over and am fairly certain that even I can build it with my limited supply of man-tools. They say the cost of materials is $35 plus about $20 for seeds, fertilizer and growing medium. Take a look at the plans!
I have this slight embarrassment that comes from having a garden already and yet wanting to build this table. But I think it would be fun, more easily placed where the sun does shine, and keep those critters from my salad.
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I belong to the Arboretum too, but somehow I missed this. Thanks for sharing! I have an itty-bitty garden and wanted to expand slightly this summer, but wasn’t sure how to go about it.
Comment by Amy April 9, 2009 @ 11:24 amAnother neat idea!
Comment by Jay April 10, 2009 @ 11:42 amI’ll be curious to know, if you build one, how much watering your greens need, given the shallow box and mesh bottom.
Yes, great idea. I am finally going to be able to garden this summer. We cut down a couple of trees in our backyard last fall so we now have a nice sunny spot. I am going to install a raised garden bed since the area is full of roots from a maple tree. I can also control the quality of the soil and I don’t have to bend over so far! Any ideas of how to keep rabbits out of this type of garden?
Comment by Terry April 11, 2009 @ 5:23 pm