The A- Frame

The A- frame was made from bamboo sticks joined by string in the same manner as the tomato plant supports in the greenhouse, and were made at the same time. The A- frame consisted of several of these joined together to make a 3D structure approximately 8ft long x 6 ft high by 5 ft wide. There were longitudinal bamboo supports through the structure to stabilise it. This made for a light, transportable structure on which plants could be grown, and was used as an experiment to grow gourds and peas together. More precisely, the arrangement was:

• Sweet peas, French beans up the sides of the A- frame
• Pumpkin and Butternut squash in the central portion of the structure.

Both types of plant are climbers which use tendrils, but the peas are better at climbing and siting them on the outside of the A- frame facilitated their fast growth. The gourds found support in the central and lower portions of the frame.

The idea was designed to enable a 3D vertical polyculture of companion plants which made maximum use of space for photosynthesis, and which was capable of protecting itself from winds and water loss. The A- frame can be moved about to different parts of the garden each year in order to nitrify and fertilise the soil, as the peas are legumes. 

My first location for the A- frame was in the cenrtre of the orchard. As discussed in the Orchard section, I was making an attempt to improve the soils there with view to making a backyard orchard. The plants grew very well and led me to speculate they would be well suited to being brought into the vegetable plots to migrate my traditional rotational system into more of a Permaculture.