brassicas | organised castle

A couple of months ago I was despairing of any winter crops as the citrus fruit piercing moth and white cabbage moth were wreaking havoc.

I decided that netting was the answer to both problems and you can read about it here.

My efforts appear to be paying off.

The first of the broccoli is almost ready to pick.

2020-07-27 01

Cabbages are growing nicely.

2020-07-27 02

There are no tell-tale holes in the leaves.

Kale seedlings are making slow progress.

2020-07-27 03

More seedlings for the next crop of bok choy. They are ready to be thinned and transplanted.

2020-07-27 04

The bok choy and kale are much less susceptible to the cabbage moth but I will still cover them this time to see if I can get some perfect specimens.

There are no photos of my cauliflowers yet as although the plants are doing well they have not set heads. I am still hoping though.

Finally, the other winter success which is not a member of the brassica family is celery. We are enjoying full-flavoured celery soup from this crop.

2020-07-27 05

I am very pleased with the success of netting these beds.

I have occasionally managed to grow cabbages, broccoli and to a lesser extent, cauliflower but it is a constant battle to keep them bug-free. I choose not to use pesticides, therefore, exclusion remains the best option.

2020-05-21 01

After much research, I finally bit the bullet a couple of days ago and ordered a quantity of Vege Net from eBay. I was particularly pleased to discover that the seller was located in my home state.

The order was dispatched promptly and I received it within 2 days of placing my order.

Then it was time to wrestle with 120 sq metres of knitted polyethylene fabric.

My plan was to make a reasonably fitted cover to slip over the hoops we had positioned over the garden bed.

I cut a large rectangle which would cover the majority of the bed and 2 semicircular pieces for the ends. Pins are useless on this type of fabric so I used some old pegs to hold the pieces in place while I stitched the seams using a regular sewing machine.

2020-05-21 04

Once this was done, it was simple matter of slipping the cover over the hoops. Because this is a raised garden bed the extra fabric simply hangs down to completely enclose the desired area.

2020-05-21 05

View of the new seedlings safely undercover.

2020-05-21 06

I anchored one end with some rocks so that it will not blow off.

2020-05-21 07

I am considering adding some lead weights to the other edges or making a long elasticised tie to go right around the raised bed.

There is another cover to be made for a second garden bed which is not raised so I will just anchor that one with rocks all the way around.

The total amount of fabric I used to cover the 2 beds was about 24 sq metres or 20% of the total. The remainder is back in the bag for use to cover fruit trees or other garden beds in the future.

2020-05-21 08

I spent $125 on the fabric (including postage) and believe that it has been money well-spent as it is an investment in our future food production.

I would definitely recommend this product if you are considering exclusion netting for any plants. It is available in smaller quantities and you could also simply drape it over the area rather than making fitted covers.