Unless you want to spray your brassicas for the dreaded cabbage white butterfly’s caterpillars some sort of netting is essential at this time of year. A couple of years ago I made 4 enviromesh tunnels that you can see here which do the job nicely. But the purple sprouting broccoli have outgrown this tunnel and I needed to rig up a new net.
Using 4 long stakes I attached the mesh with a staple gun and then wrapped it arround the stakes leaving one end secured with wire so I can access. The extra material on top was wired together as a roof over the plants. This just needs to in place for a couple of months until the cabbage white season is over and then I can carefully remove it and replace with a cheap net to keep the pigeons off over winter.
Under the net the second batch of calabrese is coming along nicely.
And a cabbage walking stick plant.
My local Hort Soc runs a competition to grow the tallest walking stick plant (also with prizes for the shortest etc). The following year there are prizes for the best implement made from the plant, either walking stick or other – I think last year someone fashioned the stick with a shoe iron attachment on one end. Anyway my plant is doing OK at the moment approaching 4 ft high and hopefully by November’s AGM it’ll be over the 6 ft mark.
And finally to add a bit of colour to this post, here’s the latest Dahlia in bloom, Bristol Stripe.
Harvesting – Lettuce, Rocket, Radish, Spring Onions, Beetroot, Potatoes, Onions, Shallots, Calabrese, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Mangetout, Broad Beans, Runner Beans, and French Beans.
Two Chances Veg Plot Blog 
Hi Damo, that was a timely reminder that I need to get my act together and get netting for the brassicas once the dreaded cabbage white’s are out of the way and for the raspberries if we are to eat any. Your brassicas look wonderfully healthy, some of mine are suffering, I suspect from lack of water. Never heard of cabbage walking stick plant, very intriguing, am off to look it up…
Once my brassicas are up and running I just give them a very good soak once a week and they seem to be OK. I plant quite early so the brussels and PSB are between 3 and 4 foot high now. I’ll have to see how I get on with the walking stick!
My brassicas have been attacked by the Cabbage Root Fly. I may not need a net! š¦
Our seed sown dahlias are starting to produce flowers at long last!
Do you still have pigeon damage once the plants grow large? The pigeons tend to go for young plants on our site.
Sue I’d be wary of pigeons at any stage, the 1st year I grew PSB I had 4 large plants only to wake up one morning look out of the window and see 4 pigeons sat on them having a free feed. They have been netted ever since.
Sorry to hear that Mark I’ve not had root fly….yet!
It’s like Cabbage White Central out there. I netter over the beds, but the bloody cabbages have exploded and now they are pressed against the netting. Time for a rethink!
It’s war IG, they’re everywhere. Even the best defences may not stand up to them!.
I’m quite glad that I don’t grow any brassicas. I don’t enough eat much of the stuff and a plot neighbour always gives me too much as it is!
I like the dahlia.
Thanks very much Flighty. They certainly are a bit high maintenance but very rewarding if you can keep the root fly, caterpillars and pigeons away!
I wish I had netted my sprouts – the catapillers are everywhere!
Been there myself Matt and I sympathise, since they devastated my veg 3 years ago I net religiously!