My $25 Shade Sail

My new shade sail. I LOVE it. You know why? Because it cost a whopping $25. Heck, even the umbrella I was using before cost $60. But I got tired of moving the umbrella around all the time to shade the passing sun. And worse, where I live, the afternoon breeze picks up and the thing would occasionally tip over. I can't afford to have an umbrella fall on my hard-earned vegetables. So, with low funds and not a lot of options, I tried this shade sail.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Right now, I've got the third corner anchored to a 2X4 that I lag-bolted to a bed.  To prevent the sail from getting damaged in the wind, it needs to be stretched good and taut.  They recommend you sink a metal pole into the ground if you aren't anchoring with a structure or large tree.  But I wasn't sure I'd like the sail enough to go through all that effort, so I started with this 2X4. 

I want one more to give me a bit of extra shade for the afternoon hours.  I lose my shade on the bench here around 3:00, and they're so cheap that my only limitation is figuring out how I can position and anchor a second one.  But I'm giving that some serious thought. 

In short, if you've got an awkward space and want some shade, or if you don't have the cash handy to build yourself a cute pergola, get yourself one of these.  I ordered this off Amazon.  Ordered it last weekend, and it was here in 4 days.  Look up some awesome photos and ideas by Googling "Shade Sail".

Early Morning Garden Review

Green beans at the one-week stage 

Squash at about 2 weeks after seed starting.  I had to replant some of them because birds got to them.

The tomatoes I started from seed on 3/1 are at the 90-day mark, responding well to this warm weather we've been having.  They're starting to flower, though rain is predicted for Monday.  I hope that doesn't halt this great progress.

Carrots are just starting to get their first true leaves.   This is about 20 days from seed start.

 

 Peppers are slow to start, as they always are, but they're making progress.  These were started the same time as the tomatoes, on 3/1.  Tiny for 90 days!

 

And I'm still harvesting the cabbage and broccoli from my spring garden.