Garden architecture; harvesting tomatoes; sowing spinanch and chard. Week 14 in the vegetable garden.

Prototype of modular fence panel made with scrap lumber, netting and gate hooks.

The raised-bed, square-foot garden provided green beans, squash, beets and tomatoes this week. Zinnias beautify the yard and indoors; and I try my hand at building a new fence.

I  harvested the remainder of the green beans, then pulled the plants and added them to the compost pile. We had enough beans for two meals. Meanwhile, the pole beans are growing up the trellis. They are about 8 inches tall.

The tomatoes are ripening rapidly. No longer do I find just enough for one day. Rather, I have a bagful in the refrigerator. I made a stir-fry with some tomatoes, squash and a Thai egg plant.

Today I sowed squares with spinach, Swiss chard and beets. These should do well as the temperatures cool in September. I plan on sowing radish and lettuce seeds later next month.

Building a fence panel for easy access to the garden

Currently, the garden is fenced with netting and metal stakes. It does its job, but the netting sags here and there. I decided to build something a little more solid and tidy looking. I bought some lumber, wooden garden stakes and hardware and built a panel measuring 58 inches long and 24 inches tall. The wood is butt-jointed and fastened with corner braces and mending plates. The netting is stapled in place. Hooks and eyes attach the panel to the garden stakes.

All in all, I'm pleased with the way I can remove and re-install the panel to gain access to the garden. It's OK for a first effort. I'll need to build seven more panels to fully enclose the space, and I'll probably re-do the original panel because the lumber doesn't match. (I miscalculated my needs and had to use some scrap wood. I was figuring on building a 4 foot X 2 foot panel. I forgot that the garden is almost 60 inches wide.)

I need to figure out a better way to fasten the corners more securely. Also, I will staple the netting on the back side of the panel so that it doesn't show from the front. Or, I would cover it with a lath strip.

Try zinnias to attract butterflies to your garden

The zinnias are real butterfly magnets. I could not be happier with them. Plus, they provide enough flowers for cutting to bring inside.