I'm really pleased with the brassica cage which my hubby built for me. We were lucky to have been given some scaffolding netting and the cage itself was built using canes which fit into corner joiners which we bought at the local nursery. I have now planted my cabbage - Greyhound, cauliflower - All The Year Round and brussel sprouts in this bed. I also have some broccoli and calabrese which will be planted in a seperate bed.
This lovely warm weather is doing wonders for my strawberries and they are ripening day on day. Each time we go to the allotment there are more to pick. I have an early season variety and also some which ripen later in the season so hopefully we will continue to pick them for a while now.
The sweetcorn bed is now prepared so they will be planted, along with the squash the next time I go to the allotment. My daughter wanted to plant some baby sweetcorn in her patch so she has grown some at home and they're also ready to be planted.
I chitted my parsnip seed before planting it into toilet roll inners, and they have grown well. They have now been planted at the allotment and seem to be doing ok so far. The soil contains quite alot of stones so I don't know what they will be like when they're ready to be lifted. I'm guessing that they will probably fork due to the condition of the soil, but we will have to wait and see.
The downside of this warm weather is the amount of watering I'm having to do. It doesn't help that there is no water supply at the allotment so each time we go we're filling up loads of pop bottles with water and emptying them into the water butts. It's managing to keep us in water, so far!
We so far don't have a cage for our broccoli, but there is one in the making. Did you do the cage for pigeons or for caterpillars? Both?
ReplyDeleteImpressed with the Brassica cage, gives us something to think about setting up on our allotment.
ReplyDeleteimpressive work by the hubby there :) jealous you're already eating strawberries. mine are still green!
ReplyDeleteIts looking great Jo, I've been eating my wild strawberries all this week but have not yet told the girls they are ripening once I do I won't get another taste.
ReplyDeleteM bigger strawberries aren't ripe as yet though.
Looking great! The brassica cage is excellent, a must on our site as the pigeons sit in the trees watching you plant and as soon as your back is turned, they are on your cabbages. Picked my first pound of strawbs today, delicious.
ReplyDeleteI see you don't have onsite water either, we are in the same boat - it is a pain. I am always lugging the plastic milk bottles full of water to the site. Rain is forecast tomorrow and over the weekend, and I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed for some good, steady drizzle.
That's what I CALL a brassica cage. My dearly beloved purchased chicken wire and wood to make one WEEKS ago and the stuff is still sitting in the shed... lucky I've still got the small and rather wonky one I made last year so my caulis and brussels are still doing OK.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting me!
I really must get organised and make one of these - hopefully this will provide me with the kick I need to get on with it!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for visiting and commenting. I enjoy reading all your comments.
ReplyDeleteThe brassica cage has been built to protect the plants from both pigeons and caterpillars. If you only want protection from pigeons you can use a net with wider holes, however, if you also want to protect against caterpillars then the net needs to be fine with the holes around 7mm I believe.
I've had quite a few strawberries off my plants now. They do taste so much nicer than shop bought. Your girls are the same as my daughter then Kella. She absolutely loves them. She had them for her breakfast this morning in a fruit salad with apple, banana, and kiwi. Four of her five a day already!
We've had the rain here, Emma Jane, so the allotment has had a good water without me having to dip into my reserves.
Have you got anymore info on the joints you used. I've looked for some and can only find expensive ball shaped ones.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting, bar-lane-lottie. I'm afriad it's a while since I bought the connectors now and I can't remember the name of them. Hope you manage to find some less expensive ones.
ReplyDelete