"Rod" wrote after...
"Russel Sprout" wrote in reply to
"Rod" ...
Just took a few photos this morning while the ground was too wet for
any gardening - I want to dig the last of the new deep beds I've been
preparing. Photos at

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/rodsgarden/Rod's%20plot01/page1.htm

No captions, they are mostly self explanatory. The big cage is a
legacy from when shoots were held on the Estate and pheasants were
reared just over the wall.



Man, that's bordering on industry, not gardening.
Like I said, we like our veg ;-)
Q. Do you really need all that iron-work and plasic?

The big cage is a legacy from when gardening here was like gardening in a
b****y big fowl pen - however it does protect from pigeons. Eventually
though I aim to have all of the brassicas under enviromesh to protect
against cabbage root fly, aphids and caterpillars.
It's also impossible to grow decent carrots here without protection from
carrot fly.

When we tried to grow under environmesh the plants didn't seem to like the
reduced light but if it's high on your frame then it will be more like a
giant polytunnel.....there's a thought.
I think the Carrot Root Fly is everywhere these days but an 18inch high
solid barrier seems to help as does planting lots and discarding the damaged
ones, a bit like White Rot in onions. With environmesh over them we had a
significant germination problem. I've started trying to breed root fly
resistance into our Long Red Surrey carrots by choosing perfect untouched
ones to replant to flower/seed etc. but it will be a long process which I
doubt I will ever achieve 100%.

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK