How does your garden grow, Janet Moody?

Emails Menlo Park resident Janet Moody: “This year, since I would be around every day to hand water seedlings in the ground, I made mounded seedbeds for squash, corn and flowers. Once I seeded them I realized I would need to keep the marauding squirrels and birds from snipping them off from the start, and later when there is zucchini.

“I constructed the defense mostly from what I had already on site but did purchase a roll of 1/2 inch wire from the hardware store for the tops. I used the frames separated from the old stacking compost bin given to us from the city — abandoned long ago because of rat visitors — for the sides of one bed, topped with bended wire lids. These will be removed when the flowers grow taller.

“Another bed has a Ruth Asawa formed wire structure over corn seedling and the other just a square/oval with tall sides and a top to contain the squash, which may remain as the plants get big. I also ran chicken wire underneath the thwart gophers. We will keep patience as the seedlings show up, the seeds being from several years in the past.”

Have you been tending a garden while sheltering in place? Please send your story and photos to tips@InMenlo.com.

Photos courtesy of Janet Moody (c) 2020