Since my husband was off on a business trip, I had the car today. So I took all morning running around trying to find some 4' T-post to support the raspberries. They grow next to our patio and last year they sprawled all over in the way. So this year I wanted to get them out of the way.
I went to Home Depot and they didn't sell 4' posts. They had some 5' ones that were just huge, but I thought they would be too tall not to mention too intrusive visually. So I kept looking. If I had known they would be so hard to find I would have called around before I left. I finally found seven of them at Mahoney's, but only seven. I needed eight. Luckily I have a few extra T-posts I'm not using right now. I'll try to replace it later.
I also got the rest of the hardware to put up the trellis, but for some reason my brain wasn't working. I bought four of those little doohickeys that that tighten wire, when I needed eight. Some days are just like that. Nothing quite goes right. So the bottom support is up but not the top support yet. I'll pick more up next time I'm at a hardware store. And while I was playing with the raspberries I thinned out the canes. I'll have to do it again probably as many are still coming up.
And look what I found on my doorstep. I ordered one mother of a ball of twine. I bought one that was a kilogram last year and I had used most of it up. This was about the same price but so much larger. Part is that the twine is thicker, but part of it is that there are 5000' in there. Do you think that might last a while? I'm hoping.
Addendum: I put this photo up at the request of Dirtdabbler. I forget its name but it tightens the wires. All you do is spin the middle part and the wires get closer or farther apart. It has a hook at one end and an eye hook at the other. I did a lousy job of putting them on. I might have to remove it so I can tighten it more. We will see.
I go through a lot of twine but I don't know if I would ever use all of that! :)
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain! I was just looking for short t-posts to keep the neighbors dog out. Tough to find and even tougher at a reasonable price. I ended up with wood...
ReplyDeleteHi Daphne, It is looking so neat. And what are those two red things? Root cellars? If so, lucky you! Nancy at Cozy Thyme Cottage
ReplyDeleteThose are just the entrances to our basements.
DeleteDecent lot of twine that. There's something about twine that I find really asthetically pleasing.
ReplyDeleteGOOD MORNING! showing us a photo your raspberry "plot-layout" made me realize how little space is needed to grow the berry. What kind ...do you have a recommendation? everbearing? thornless? how tall do they get? how deep do the t-post need to be? could you show us a close-up of the wire/dohicky-t-post? (I tried enlarging a section of your photo but blurred out on me!
ReplyDeleteI like everbearing raspberries. I grew Heritage at my last house. This time I'm growing Jaclyn. They can get about 5' high. Though not all the canes will. The supports don't need to be that high though. The t-posts are pounded into the ground until the the T part is underground. I put mine underground by about an inch. Basically you have to pound them in until they are sturdy. Here along the edges the ground is very very hard so it holds them well. I'm sure over time they will lean though. It is inevitable. Sure I'll take one today and put it at the end of the post for you.
Deletethanks Daphne, I see how you can use the screw-eye thing to tighten the wires.
DeleteNice twine! I'm going to have to install some support for my raspberries at the plots.....some day!
ReplyDeleteThat doohickey is a Spanish windlass....
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, just found it a couple of weeks ago!
The tightener thing is also called a turnbuckle.
ReplyDeleteSmart use of the tightener. We should insert those into our lines on the raspberries as they do periodically need to be tightened up.
ReplyDelete