I think it sounds great. I can't come up with a plant for summer yet....I will think on it.

Soonergrandmom,

Last year I was given a bunch of old real estate signs. I posted a question similar to yours (how to benefit from a small trellis) over in the Square Foot Gardening Forum. They use a lot of trellises over there. Peas were suggested, as well as peppers. I know you have a pepper or two. They also suggested compact cukes and zukes.

No, this does not sound stupid.

I don't think there are any strange or stupid questions or ideas....just interesting ones.

Lots of southern peas will climb if they have something to climb. Most of my pink eye purple hull peas last year were only a couple of feet tall, but some of them 'reached' across the pathway and climbed 6' to 8' up the tomato cages. That's not unusual. There also are a few green beans that are 'half-runner' types. I think cukes and some melons would climb whatever is available to climb too and when they'd climbed as tall as they could, they'd just cascade back down to the ground.

Dawn

I'll second what Dawn said about purple hull peas. Mine did not get tall at all last year, but they happily wrapped themselves around anything in their near vicinity, including other plants.

Debra

Seedmama - Peppers, I hadn't even thought of that kind of thing, and I do always have to stake them.

Dawn - I had considered cukes, but one year I put mine on a three foot trellis, then added another three feet to it and they topped both of them. I should have been so lucky last year, when they just didn't do diddly. I also am interested in cowpeas. I have only grown them one time which was last year, and I got them in too late to mature. I have my seeds (well your's actually) ready to try this year. I hope I will know when to pick them because that is one of those veggies that I normally 'pick' from the supermarket. LOL On timing, could they follow the broccoli? I am fast running out of space -- not in planting, but in planning.

I hate to bend over to pick beans, so I probably wouldn't do that one. I mostly plant pole beans, but I have a lot of bush types to try, but some will probably go into large containers, if I can figure out how many to plant in them. My stainless steel back doesn't bend and while I can bend down long enough to pick a cuke or a pepper without falling on my face, I can't stay bent over to pick beans. Makes a terribly funny mental picture, doesn't it? From the cowpeas I had last year, it appeared that they rather all grow at the top of the plant.

Those are all good ideas to consider but right now I am leaning toward the peppers since they might benefit from the heat the sidewalk collects from the sun. Then I can plant a row of bush beans down the other side of thw walkway, because I can pick them from my gardening stool/knee pad thingy. Since it will be on the sidewalk, I don't have to worry about bending down onto the muddy ground after rain. Hey, this is working! In my head anyway. Thanks for the ideas ladies.

Now, I am off to make a list of my many peppers. I tried to tell Jay in a message last night, what I was growing and found I couldn't remember. I was out there at midnight trying to see if I could read the labels with the help of a yard light and a flashlight and it just didn't work.

I use chain link some for thinks that climb like pole beans and cukes. If it is a shorter fence I just space a little further apart. When they reach the top they will head one way or the other. I sometimes plant two close together. Then just force each to head opposite directions. And if the U shapes aren't joined you could just use some twine tied between them for them to grow on or let them head back down. Jay

Do keep in mind the fact that PVC will degrade significantly when exposed to sunlight.

It will become brittle - and right when you need it for support, it will break.

kaib - Good point. If it is successful this year then I will probably replace it with a good one for the future, but I don't want to set poles into concrete until I am sure I have a working system. Except for a couple of 'L', I have the material, so I am just taking the cheap way out to test it first.

Notice I am going cheap, not easy, on this project. I have been laying small pavers for two days now. Why? Because I had them and needed a walkway. A lot of the changes we are making to this house are things that we think will help us stay in it longer as we age. We are just trying to make it comfortable and usable for us.
Also, I am not comfortable with the economic condition of our country so I am trying to develop as much self sufficientcy as possible.

I do appreciate the warning on the PVC tho. Thanks. Carol

Carol, It depends on the cuke variety and the year and the weather. Last year, mine didn't like the excess moisture and the plants didn't climb much and weren't very vigorous. The previous year, they climbed 5' or more.

Last year I followed broccoli with the pink eye purple hulls and it worked perfectly. Since southern peas prefer heat, I usually plant them pretty late so they're great for following a cool-season crop. I don't have any problem knowing when to pick pinkeye purple hulls---you pick them when the hulls turn dark purple. Last year, Fred complained his son was picking them too early---when they were green just beginning to turn purple. That's a mistake most folks make only once, because if you pick them too soon, they're impossible to shell. Even with the southern peas that are not pinkeye purple hulls, you can tell because the peas plump up. Generally, if the pods start turning from green to yellow, you've waited too long to eat them as green shellies. You can eat them as yellow shellies, or leave them on the plants longer and shell them as dry peas. I prefer them as green shellies, with a few small ones thrown in as snaps. I don't remember which pea you have, but if you have pinkeye purplehulls, you can use the hulls to make Purplehull Jelly.

PVC will eventually degrade and become brittle but can last a surprisingly long time before it does. We used some in 2005 to form the hoop top over our fenced chicken run. It is covered with bird netting to keep our birds in, and wild birds and predators out. Those PVC hoops haven't become brittle enough to break and they've been out there for five years.

Dawn