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| All my brassicas in one basket |
Of course there was lots of preparation to do.
First rule of brassicas - never plant out until you've got pigeon protection. So up went the chicken wire and out comes the plastic netting (and repair kit) . I managed to salvage an old one.
Second rule: Ground preparation is vital. and plenty of water. Boy is that ground dry and dusty!
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| Wet and dry |
Fourth rule: slug pellets (the more expensive "organic approved" ones). Otherwise you can forget it.
End result:
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| All planted |
OK I just made up those rules but they're the ones I follow.
The yellow flowers (can you guess?) They're parsnip flowers from the one plant I've left to go to seed. I'm wondering now if it was such a good idea now it's in my brassica patch. Oh well.
After that it only rained! (a little) Woopee.
Ali. I have my nursery beds in my wee garden at home and grow plants on 3 or 4 miles across town at my allotment!
Hi Lorraine, Ruth (hope your Dad is supplying you with veg from his plot) and everyone who has joined me in my allotment blog adventure. It's great to see you, and get your interesting and encouraging comments.
I need slug protection, pigeon protection, caterpillar, butterfly and next doors cat protection too! it's a war out there looking after brassicas!
ReplyDeleteI learned the hard way about the use of netting! I do at times seem to get caught in the netting :)
ReplyDeleteCleve West used parsnips on flower in his Chelsea garden and won best in show.
ReplyDeleteVery neatly planted brassica!
Oh Mal, that is slightly hilarious and quite fabulous too - a nursery for your plants... I kind of like it!
ReplyDeleteThink the bloom on your parsnip will likely attract lots of beneficial insects to the garden and it looks beautiful besides. Lovely spacing of brassica.
ReplyDeleteA well tended garden.
I've discovered how to post comments again! (By using the Google Chrome browser - talk about blackmail)
ReplyDeleteMatron, thanks for mentioning the butterflies and caterpillars, I might have got complacent! For these, and fleabeetle too, I work on the theory that a well grown plant will shrug them off. Having said that I'll probably get an infestation now.
Jenni, Nets are a a hazard for humans. I can feel my back aching already as I scurry around underneath them. Oh and always wear a hat without any catches on it!
Sue, perhaps I should have paid more attention to Chelsea after all.
Ali, If not "nurseries", what do they call those smallholdings where they bring on plants in Oz then? Please tell me they're not all "garden centres" are they?
Bren, Now you can believe parsnips are umbellifera. All the brassicas are 18 inches apart (not that I used a ruler). As I didn't know which ones were the brussels and which the summer cabbage I adopted the 18 inch rule - Aha! another rule!
I didn't put up netting on my first lot of brassicas as i still hadn't replaced it so I am now waiting for a new batch to be big enough and I have the net ready and waiting!!
ReplyDeleteI never have used 'collars' though...what are they and what is there purpose??
Hi Tany, Cabbage Fly is the pest that lays it eggs on brassicas just at the point where they come into contact with the soil. The collars act as a skirt, blocking access to the lower part of the stem, and so frustrating the fly and saving your cabbages. They are a disk of carboard and might be impregnated with some (tar based?) agent. Some people use cereal packets or even roofing felt. I'm happy to use (and pay for) the proprietary ones from the garden centre.
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