Lou, I think this will work well for you too(from a fellow nutcase). I originally thought about doing framed boxes to cover each vegatable but I figure why not just do a framed bed. I had been toying around with the idea for a while but when Tom (tomncath) talked about growing veggies in his screened patio a while back, I figured this would work for me. Silvia, thanks for the info. These are new veggies to me so it's good to have some info on them. I am also prepared for the fruit bugs war. I made these bags (screen and shade fabric) for things like peaches, papayas, sugar apples and guavas. I will use them on the young mangoes but as the mangoes ripen, I will switch to a metal mesh bag to protect them form the squrls and birds. I showed those bags on another thread last year. I had 100% success in protecting my mangoes so we'll see how these work with the other fruits. I set bird food for the birds and I have butterfly attracting plants. My benevolence ends there. I don't intend on sharing my veggies and fruits with insects. :)

What is this? It's been there for 1-2 months now. It looks like something is trying to grow there. I'll post in The Garden Clinic also. CDO

The bug eyed head, the two wings in a V-position at rest, and the way the hind leg is jointed says FLY to me. It is similar to a horsefly. The two small appendages sticking forward at the top of its head are navigation aids. These act like a gyroscope when the fly is in flight. These vibrate in a plane at a high rate and when the insect turns, a small, but detectable gyrscopic moment is felt. Feedback from these detectors aids the fly to maintain its desired flight path and wing motion adjustment. Rate turn instruments for airplanes have been protytped and tested using this principle and found useable.

We have a lot of praying mantis, if the many nests I find are any indication. I never find any in my garden, though. I plan to plant some companion plants someday, but every time I research them it seems like they always grow into a bush! I just finished fencing in my garden to keep deer and rabbits out - I can't afford to expand it for non-roses. I also really don't want my young rose plants to have to compete with something like marigolds right now, since they're only about a year old and I just finished planting about 14 more from bands. That's why I'm thinking predator insects, which unfortunately seems to be another dead end. I can't find pirate bugs for a more reasonable price ($65 might be reasonable for 500 of them, but I don't need 500 of them) and I keep reading that lady bugs and lacewings prefer aphids over thrips and that they'll fly off and/or eat each other. You also need to "apply" them after you're already infested, vs. the pirate bugs which can be used as a preventive. I might try asking around to see if anyone wants to split the bugs and cost with me....maybe I'll get lucky. Does anyone know if pirate bugs can be fed something at the end of summer to keep them from biting people?