Mine is pretty primitive with raw cedar posts placed as they would be for a sturdy fence 8' tall. You want it large enough to comfortably move around in. I didn't even run support from the tops of posts to help with snow load. I just strung up the chicken wire as tightly as I could with another person helping. The chicken wire roof is supported by poles that aren't even in the ground- pressure treated 8' 2"X2"s. I used 6' wide 1" chicken wire and built the thing 15 years ago in a few hours and haven't had to worry about birds since. I should have buried the chicken-wire, however, so that I wouldn't have to trap out chip-monks every year.

Here in Central New York, (Fingerlakes Region), the 'traditional' time to plant garlic is Columbus Day, which is somewhere around the 11th of October. But last year I didn't get to it until well into November and had a pretty good crop this year. I also found out if you don't harvest early enough, the bulbs get a black, mildewy type of covering that doesn't peel off with the skin and has to be cut off the cloves....a big pain. Also, by accident, I left a few heads in the ground over winter and in the spring had a real thick patch of garlic that looked almost like grass. I dug it up and found tons of little tiny bulbs, about the size of marbles. I fried up the fresh greens and used the marbles in sauce and was amazed at the delicious mild garlic flavor. I'm thinking of doing this on pupose this year.

It was made by the female Twig girdler beetle (Oncideres cingulata). Hosts Common hosts of the twig girdler include persimmon, pecan, elm, hickory, oak, honeylocust, hackberry, poplar, linden, redbud, basswood, dogwood and various fruit trees. Biology The adult beetle is about three-fourths of an inch long, stout, grayish-brown with a lighter colored band across its elytra (wing covers) and has antennae as long as its body. Adult beetles typically begin to emerge in mid-August and continue through early October. During this time, the adult female chews a V-shaped groove all the way around a small twig, girdling it. She then deposits an egg beneath the bark in the twig section beyond the cut (severed portion). This is because the larva is unable to develop in healthy sapwood. The cut made by the adult female is deep enough around the twig so that the girdled portion dies quickly and usually falls to the ground, either because of wind or its own weight. Adult female twig girdler Figure 1 Adult female twig girdler chews a V-shaped groove from the outside inward, leaving a ragged center where the twig breaks and a smooth cut on the outside near the bark During the oviposition period, large numbers of girdled twigs often accumulate beneath the tree each day. After hatching from the egg, the developing larva bores into the dead twig to feed. The small larva will overwinter in the fallen twig. During the following spring, the larva resumes feeding, consuming most of the wood. As the larva grows it bores further down into the twig and fills the tunnel with wood shavings and waste. Pupation occurs in a cavity within the twig. Adults emerge in late summer and early fall. Twig girdlers produce one generation a year. Control Homeowners should collect and destroy infested twigs and branches they find on the ground, beginning in September or no later than May. If practical, prune infested twigs still in the tree. Owners of commercial pecan orchards should look for severed twigs, beginning in August. Apply insecticide carbaryl to trees only if you see damage. In severe cases, you may need to apply insecticide two to three times at two-week intervals. Be sure to follow label rates and directions. Click here for an illustration and the source We had many persimmon twigs cut off by the little pest beetles and also a few Pecan twigs at our place. And I burned all the twigs I could reach or find on the ground. See those little horizontal lines on the twig? Those are where the female beetle layed the eggs which will hatch larva and they feed on the dead wood of the twig until they turn into a beetle next year and the females repeat the twig cutting and egg laying each fall. So burn every twig that was cut off to kill the eggs, if they don't break off in the wind cut them off and burn them also. They cut the twigs because apparently (like read above), the larva can not develop in healthy live sapwood, they can only live in the dead dry twigs which they feed off of.

Wow, Lorna, many of your shots are exquisite! LOVE the one of the Waxwing.....fit for a National Audubon Society Field Guide.