I few more details on the plans that I posted above: The raised beds along the fence would be completely separate from the fence, I'm not talking about heaping dirt against the fence or anything like that lol! Just building raised beds 2' wide and placing them against the fence so I can grow vertically as much as possible. I have a 50' roll of black vinyl coated chain link fencing (part of it is used to enclose the current garden) and I plan to repurpose it by hanging it along the back fence so I can trellis peas, beans, tomatoes, melons, whatever. I have been reading that growing vertically is one way to get more out of a small space. Since I have two medium sized dogs and I have learned the hard way that regular garden fencing or poultry wire isn't really sturdy enough, I was planning to buy some hog panels, have them cut in half, and have those go along the front of the beds to keep everything out. Hog panels are 34" tall and the bars are close together at the bottom and gradually get further apart as they go up. Each half would weigh about 17 pounds, so I can lift a section off as needed to tend the garden, then put it back up when I'm done. The design I came up with has a 4' tall 4'x4' fence post between each bed, about 2' feet out from the existing fence posts. The end pieces of each raised bed will be screwed into it, and once the 1' tall beds are filled with dirt, it should be plenty sturdy enough to support these panels. I also intend to have a piece of 2"x4" going between each of these posts and the actual fence posts to lend greater stability to both, and that will be the only thing that connects the raised beds to the fence. I thought it would be best to keep them totally separate to allow the fence to be worked on or even replaced later if needed, without having to remove the beds. The center beds would need a different setup for keeping out the dogs and rabbits. I had in mind some kind of enclosure that goes around the perimeter, with a gate at the opening. Most likely I would use the same hog panel idea so I could access the beds from the outside or the inside, or I could opt to leave part of it in place and use it for a trellis. I have thought about even enclosing the whole thing with heavy plastic to create a greenhouse for winter, and I could also use it to suspend shade cloth since the sun is a bit too much here in Oklahoma in the summer and it actually gets hot enough that the tomatoes stop setting fruit. The only thing I don't like about this idea is that it is right in the middle of the yard (actually, two of them, one on each side) though the dogs would have a blast running around them. Aesthetically, I think the perimeter beds along the fence would be more attractive and open, even with the smaller island beds added. I would probably put just low covers on those and use those beds for low growing crops since I would have plenty of space to trellis the taller crops along the fence. Thank you for considering my ideas and if you have any feedback or suggestions for me, please let me know! Here is a link that might be useful:

I know, that's why I'm so worried my whole crop will disappear without my being able to do anything about it. This is definitely a stealth "critter." Stems are eaten right down to the ground along with the leaves, which are *not* skeletonized. The photo shows the first typical phase: large chunk gone one day, bigger chunk later or the next day, gobbled down to the grround the next, then the next leaf gets started on and when that's gone, the next plant. You know how leaf miners love spinach and chard, laying their eggs inside and killing the leaves? Well, I was wondering if anyone knew what loves to eat chard like this. Some bugs love certain things. Nothing has touched my leaf lettuce sitting right next to the chard. Whatever it is likes chard and not lettuce. I've lived here for six months now and I've never laid eyes on a rabbit. I'm home most of the day, too, and see my garden from my kitchen window.

LOL - no not into "vicious dogs". I'm curious about your set-up. What is deer netting? I need it to look nice too as we have open acerage (ie no fence so it is all visible) in a small sub-division. The size I was thinking to start would be 10x6 so I can reach in from each side to plant/weed/access. I'm planning on using retaining wall blocks as we already have some and getting a few more would be a small cost. A fence doesn't sound like it would also provide easy access , maybe I just need to scrap the idea to get anything going this year and do a larger area that is fenced in and put multiple raised bed inside which was my original plan, but don't have the funds or time yet for that. I'm hi-jacking my own thread to ask how big veggie gardens do you all have and how much do you get out of it. Is it just enough to eat while it is fresh or are you able to blanch and freeze for several months use when not in season as well?

I have been using Mills Magic and various Tones, usually right before a big rain. It's a time-consuming process since I have to pull back the mulch, scratch in the fertilizer thoroly and then replace the mulch. To keep the dogs off I lay empty flats (the plastic trays that six-packs of annuals come in). I still find soil disturbed here and there and guilty looking dogs with mustaches of dirt on their golden faces! Am going to back off on the process this year by relying on compost, liquid feed and alfalfa tea instead. Most of my garden is established shrubs and OGR's and I want to see how they do on this regimen. After all I'm not growing for exhibition!