Build a Snow Fence Windbreak for you
Open Pollinated / Heirloom Vegetable Garden

A windbreak can be used to conserve soil moisture in your Open Pollinated / Heirloom vegetable garden or to keep the wind from blowing the vine plants around. Use a material that casts low shade while filtering wind is ideal. This simple version uses wood snow fencing, which is inexpensive, easy to install and remove, and may be attractive enough to leave up year-round.

Snow fencing is designed to let a limited amount of wind pass through it, and the openings between the slats also allow filtered sunlight to reach nearby garden plants. You can install a Snow Fence Windbreak for the whole gardening season or just the part of the vegetable growing season that has high-winds, and put it to use again in winter to encourage snow to accumulate in places where you want it to melt in spring. Wood snow fencing, which is held together with wire, is the most attractive kind to use in your garden, but you can opt for lightweight, inexpensive plastic snow fencing if you prefer. When it comes down to it your Open Pollinated / Heirloom vegetable garden doesn't really care.

You Will Need:
Tools, Measuring tape, sledgehammer, wire cutters, pliers Enough 6 foot tall T-posts to place a post every 8 feet along the fence Enough 4 foot tall snow fencing for your needs. Plastic cable ties or some wire for tying your snow fence to the posts

1. Determine the location for your fence, which should be on the side of your garden that the prevailing winds come from, about 3 feet from the outside of the row. Use a sledgehammer to drive posts into the ground at each end, and at any intermediate corners or bends. Install additional posts at 8-foot intervals.
2. Unroll the fencing and use the wire cutters to cut it to the length of your desired fence, allowing a few extra inches if the fence rounds a corner.
3. With the base of the fence resting on the ground, attach one end to a post with three plastic cable ties or wire. Pull the fence tight and secure it to each successive post with zip ties or wire.
4. Once the fence is attached to the final post, trim the excess with wire cutters and bend back any exposed wires with pliers. When its time to remove the fencing, just snip off the plastic zip ties or wire and roll up the fence for storage. On our vegetable garden its permanent.