SHADE CLOTH

Does anyone know of a good online source to purchase custom sized shade cloth at a reasonable price? I'm in the process of constructing my shade structure in anticipation of the killer Phoenix summers - lol - and I am not happy with what I am finding for selection locally. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!! Kelly

Last year was my first garden and Texas sun burnt the whole thing except for a few pepper pants. This year I built the shade on top and the plants love it. It still lets plenty of light through but the plants don't bake like they did last time around. It's called "sun screen fabric" and I bought it at Lowes...

Here's a picture right after I finished it...

Wow Ratfood!! That looks awesome. We're in Fort Worth, so I know exactly what you mean about the plants getting burnt. We've been planning on doing the same thing you did but just haven't gotten around to it. I'm definitely going to show my DH these pictures and tell him I want one just like it!!

Rita

RATFOOD - that looks really awesome!! We ended up ordering a custom 40 % Aluminet shade cloth from International Greenhouse Company on the recommendation of a fellow Phoenix gardener. Here's a link to the forum that has pictures of my shade structure:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/981570/

The shade cloth arrived today and we installed it. Took some pics but will need to download them from the camera and post them.

Without the shade, my garden would be toast. We're due to hit 100 next week and it looks like it's gonna stay there until fall, well what we consider fall here - maybe about September - lol.

Kelly

Thanks Ozone! It wasn't hard to do but I think the shade will really pay off...

yeah Loca, I saw your setup and yours looks much better than mine so I didn't want to say anything... When it began I really just wanted a salsa garden, and now a year later I have almost 200 sq ft of assorted veggies I will never eat. Nice, eh?

Anyhow I love it (the gardening) , it relaxes me, and I keep trying to make it better. The setup I made was fairly low cost. It was my first chance to try woodworking so it has been very interesting for me. I will be very happy if I get some hot salsa this year as that is my end-all. Everything else is goodies for the wife and kids...

Wow, RATFOOD - 200 sq ft is A LOT of veggies. Right now we have 112 sq ft and I thought that was a lot. We have lots of room for expansion if we get the urge. I love gardening, and there is always something I want to experiment with or something new to learn.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your setup. I love the woodworking job. My hubby is a builder by trade, thus the elaborate setup - lol.

Enjoy your garden!! It is very nice.

Kelly

P.S. Salsa is the bomb - especially with fresh from the garden veggies!!