From Susan

Hi Dad,
I added more hail screens!

I'm lucky, because our most recent hail storms were strong enough to prevent the neighbors from thinking I'm completely nuts, but not so strong as to destroy all my unprotected flower beds! :)

I had to make the original hail screens (below left) taller by adding 2' to the arcs; now they are 9' arcs. (The onions and zucchini grew too big for the old arcs.)

What's cool is that the new sections (above right) slide back and forth along parallel 1/2" conduit pipes. This makes weeding and harvesting a lot easier. The arcs are 4.5' tall in the middle, tall enough even for the gladiolus. Here's a detail of the sliding mechanism:

And here are some of the crops I have growing under the protection:

From back to front: onions and lettuce, arugula, Swiss chard, (a potted zucchini for I'm saving for someone else) and Tiger's Eye beans.

Tiger's Eye beans

Since I am now out of 1/2" wire mesh, there are no plans for more hail screens. Of course, you can read more gardening-related news on my garden blog: http://teamspgarden.blogspot.com/