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Old 06-04-2004, 10:46 PM
Chris
 
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Default Brassica cage?

This year pigeons have eaten all my spring cabbages and broccoli.

Belatedly I have chucked some netting over - and they are recovering.

Next year would it be feasible to make some kind of cage?
Maybe keep off butterflies too?

Cage would have to be movable for crop rotation
and accessible for weeding, harvesting.

Has anyone tried anything that works and is not too much trouble?
--
Chris
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Old 06-04-2004, 10:46 PM
Mary Fisher
 
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Default Brassica cage?


"Chris" ] wrote in message
]...
This year pigeons have eaten all my spring cabbages and broccoli.

Belatedly I have chucked some netting over - and they are recovering.

Next year would it be feasible to make some kind of cage?
Maybe keep off butterflies too?

Cage would have to be movable for crop rotation
and accessible for weeding, harvesting.

Has anyone tried anything that works and is not too much trouble?


We have. Modular 'hurdles': mild steel framed chicken wired flat structures
which can be moved easily and don't take much room to store when not used.
They tie to each other with wire, string, baler twine, whatever's available.
They don't need to be absolutely rigid. They can be lifted and replaced
easily to access for harvesting, seeding etc. when we've had flighty hens
we've laid them across the vertical ones but mostly that's not necessary.

We use them to keep our hens off the tasty crops. Our plots are small, it's
an inner city garden, but pigeons don't find their way into them when the
hurdles are round them.

They don't stop butterflies though. You'd need very small mesh to prevent
any insect attention.

Mary
--
Chris



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Old 06-04-2004, 10:46 PM
Mary Fisher
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?


"Chris" ] wrote in message
]...
This year pigeons have eaten all my spring cabbages and broccoli.

Belatedly I have chucked some netting over - and they are recovering.

Next year would it be feasible to make some kind of cage?
Maybe keep off butterflies too?

Cage would have to be movable for crop rotation
and accessible for weeding, harvesting.

Has anyone tried anything that works and is not too much trouble?


We have. Modular 'hurdles': mild steel framed chicken wired flat structures
which can be moved easily and don't take much room to store when not used.
They tie to each other with wire, string, baler twine, whatever's available.
They don't need to be absolutely rigid. They can be lifted and replaced
easily to access for harvesting, seeding etc. when we've had flighty hens
we've laid them across the vertical ones but mostly that's not necessary.

We use them to keep our hens off the tasty crops. Our plots are small, it's
an inner city garden, but pigeons don't find their way into them when the
hurdles are round them.

They don't stop butterflies though. You'd need very small mesh to prevent
any insect attention.

Mary
--
Chris



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Old 06-04-2004, 10:46 PM
Sacha
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?

Chris4/4/04 8:57 ]

This year pigeons have eaten all my spring cabbages and broccoli.

Belatedly I have chucked some netting over - and they are recovering.

Next year would it be feasible to make some kind of cage?
Maybe keep off butterflies too?

Cage would have to be movable for crop rotation
and accessible for weeding, harvesting.

Has anyone tried anything that works and is not too much trouble?



In 'the old days', people had fruit cages to keep birds away from soft
fruits. My outlaws grew sweet peas up the inside of theirs and all the
fruit in the middle. Why should you not do that with a veg. cage? The mesh
could be small enough to exclude everything, if that is what you want.
Indeed, the mesh could be the size of an American 'screen porch'. I've
never really understood why we don't have those in UK - nothing, including a
political canvasser would get past that kind of mesh! ;-)
Depending on your circumstances it could be on wheels or on long 'legs'
which would push into the ground by a foot or three and leave the cage on
top of the earth, doing its job; there could be many variations on this
theme.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds to email me)


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Old 06-04-2004, 10:46 PM
Sacha
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?

Chris4/4/04 8:57 ]

This year pigeons have eaten all my spring cabbages and broccoli.

Belatedly I have chucked some netting over - and they are recovering.

Next year would it be feasible to make some kind of cage?
Maybe keep off butterflies too?

Cage would have to be movable for crop rotation
and accessible for weeding, harvesting.

Has anyone tried anything that works and is not too much trouble?



In 'the old days', people had fruit cages to keep birds away from soft
fruits. My outlaws grew sweet peas up the inside of theirs and all the
fruit in the middle. Why should you not do that with a veg. cage? The mesh
could be small enough to exclude everything, if that is what you want.
Indeed, the mesh could be the size of an American 'screen porch'. I've
never really understood why we don't have those in UK - nothing, including a
political canvasser would get past that kind of mesh! ;-)
Depending on your circumstances it could be on wheels or on long 'legs'
which would push into the ground by a foot or three and leave the cage on
top of the earth, doing its job; there could be many variations on this
theme.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds to email me)




  #6   Report Post  
Old 06-04-2004, 10:46 PM
Stephen Howard
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?

On Sun, 4 Apr 2004 20:57:35 +0100, Chris ] wrote:

This year pigeons have eaten all my spring cabbages and broccoli.

Belatedly I have chucked some netting over - and they are recovering.

Next year would it be feasible to make some kind of cage?
Maybe keep off butterflies too?

Cage would have to be movable for crop rotation
and accessible for weeding, harvesting.

Has anyone tried anything that works and is not too much trouble?


I've tried several variations on a theme - and they all work (
depending on the type of mesh you use ).
What I would say is if you make such a cage, make it a good one - and
by good I mean something that isn't going to fall apart after one
season - preferably with some sort of hinged arrangement so's you can
simply lift or open the top/sides to weed or crop.

For brassicas, I'd go for 'enviromesh' - look for the stuff that's
sold for preventing carrot and onion root fly. It's quite sturdy,
though I don't believe it offers the frost protection that the finer
mesh does.

If you can find metal mesh, go for it - but I'd imagine it's pretty
pricey.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk
  #7   Report Post  
Old 06-04-2004, 10:46 PM
Stephen Howard
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?

On Sun, 4 Apr 2004 20:57:35 +0100, Chris ] wrote:

This year pigeons have eaten all my spring cabbages and broccoli.

Belatedly I have chucked some netting over - and they are recovering.

Next year would it be feasible to make some kind of cage?
Maybe keep off butterflies too?

Cage would have to be movable for crop rotation
and accessible for weeding, harvesting.

Has anyone tried anything that works and is not too much trouble?


I've tried several variations on a theme - and they all work (
depending on the type of mesh you use ).
What I would say is if you make such a cage, make it a good one - and
by good I mean something that isn't going to fall apart after one
season - preferably with some sort of hinged arrangement so's you can
simply lift or open the top/sides to weed or crop.

For brassicas, I'd go for 'enviromesh' - look for the stuff that's
sold for preventing carrot and onion root fly. It's quite sturdy,
though I don't believe it offers the frost protection that the finer
mesh does.

If you can find metal mesh, go for it - but I'd imagine it's pretty
pricey.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk
  #8   Report Post  
Old 06-04-2004, 10:47 PM
David Hill
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?

Fruit cage netting will do the job, fencing posts (Of your chosen height)
hammered into the ground at about 6 to 9ft intervals with pop bottles (with
the tops cut off) put over the top of the posts to stop the netting
snagging. then drape the netting over as required. This will also keep the
butterflies away as long as you have no leaves touching the netting.
Pigeons mostly want to settle amongst the crop rather than land and walk
over to it.

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk




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Old 06-04-2004, 10:47 PM
David Hill
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?

Fruit cage netting will do the job, fencing posts (Of your chosen height)
hammered into the ground at about 6 to 9ft intervals with pop bottles (with
the tops cut off) put over the top of the posts to stop the netting
snagging. then drape the netting over as required. This will also keep the
butterflies away as long as you have no leaves touching the netting.
Pigeons mostly want to settle amongst the crop rather than land and walk
over to it.

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk




  #10   Report Post  
Old 06-04-2004, 10:47 PM
Jaques d'Alltrades
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?

The message
from Sacha contains these words:

In 'the old days', people had fruit cages to keep birds away from soft
fruits. My outlaws grew sweet peas up the inside of theirs and all the
fruit in the middle. Why should you not do that with a veg. cage? The mesh
could be small enough to exclude everything, if that is what you want.
Indeed, the mesh could be the size of an American 'screen porch'. I've
never really understood why we don't have those in UK - nothing, including a
political canvasser would get past that kind of mesh! ;-)
Depending on your circumstances it could be on wheels or on long 'legs'
which would push into the ground by a foot or three and leave the cage on
top of the earth, doing its job; there could be many variations on this
theme.


You can get two grades of that screen - a green one with holes about
half a millimetre square, and a fine grey one with much smaller holes -
small enough to keep out mushroom fly.

Decent hardware shops keep them.

I think the green one is sold as greenhouse shade.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/


  #11   Report Post  
Old 06-04-2004, 10:47 PM
Jaques d'Alltrades
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?

The message
from Sacha contains these words:

In 'the old days', people had fruit cages to keep birds away from soft
fruits. My outlaws grew sweet peas up the inside of theirs and all the
fruit in the middle. Why should you not do that with a veg. cage? The mesh
could be small enough to exclude everything, if that is what you want.
Indeed, the mesh could be the size of an American 'screen porch'. I've
never really understood why we don't have those in UK - nothing, including a
political canvasser would get past that kind of mesh! ;-)
Depending on your circumstances it could be on wheels or on long 'legs'
which would push into the ground by a foot or three and leave the cage on
top of the earth, doing its job; there could be many variations on this
theme.


You can get two grades of that screen - a green one with holes about
half a millimetre square, and a fine grey one with much smaller holes -
small enough to keep out mushroom fly.

Decent hardware shops keep them.

I think the green one is sold as greenhouse shade.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/
  #12   Report Post  
Old 06-04-2004, 10:47 PM
Derek Turner
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?

On Sun, 4 Apr 2004 20:57:35 +0100, Chris ] wrote:


Cage would have to be movable for crop rotation
and accessible for weeding, harvesting.

Has anyone tried anything that works and is not too much trouble?


I use hoops of 1" blue water-pipe (cheap enough from B&Q) covered by a
fine mesh from Chase Organics. Means you have to plant the taller
stuff in the middle (sprouts, kale, PSB) and the shorter stuff towards
the sides (cauli, cabbage). Once butterfly weather is over I remove it
- by then they're big enough to withstand pigeon damage. 8ft of pipe
in a 4ft raised beds does it for me.
  #13   Report Post  
Old 06-04-2004, 10:47 PM
Derek Turner
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?

On Sun, 4 Apr 2004 20:57:35 +0100, Chris ] wrote:


Cage would have to be movable for crop rotation
and accessible for weeding, harvesting.

Has anyone tried anything that works and is not too much trouble?


I use hoops of 1" blue water-pipe (cheap enough from B&Q) covered by a
fine mesh from Chase Organics. Means you have to plant the taller
stuff in the middle (sprouts, kale, PSB) and the shorter stuff towards
the sides (cauli, cabbage). Once butterfly weather is over I remove it
- by then they're big enough to withstand pigeon damage. 8ft of pipe
in a 4ft raised beds does it for me.
  #14   Report Post  
Old 06-04-2004, 10:49 PM
Rod
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?

On Sun, 4 Apr 2004 20:57:35 +0100, Chris ] wrote:

This year pigeons have eaten all my spring cabbages and broccoli.

Belatedly I have chucked some netting over - and they are recovering.

Next year would it be feasible to make some kind of cage?
Maybe keep off butterflies too?

Cage would have to be movable for crop rotation
and accessible for weeding, harvesting.

Has anyone tried anything that works and is not too much trouble?


Ours is a variation of Mary's. The wire netting covered frames are
made from a 6"x1" bottom board and 3 lengths of 2"x1". These frames
are 10ft long x 6ft High. Covered with 1.8metre wire netting 50mm mesh
for pheasants/pigeons or 25mm mesh for fruit cage sides. These are
fixed with cable ties to a frame of 3/4"nb galvanised water pipe.
Uprights at 10ft square. Horizontal top bars fixed to uprights with
'KeeKlamps' Top cover is 2"mesh pheasant netting from Knowle Nets of
Bridport. For the fruit section the top net is heavy duty bird netting
from LBS. We deliberately don't exclude small birds and insects (wasps
esp) from the veg cages. We need all the predators we can get working
on those caterpillars. Another advantage of the larger mesh is that
all but the wettest snow drops through it and the wet stuff can easily
be shaken off. Small gauge top netting can be destroyed (and the
supports with it) by heavy wet snow when your overwintering veg are at
their most vulnerable. We have 3 cages for rotation. We installed
these when the Estate ran a shoot here and the gardens were overrun by
pheasants. We even needed the cage over the spuds to stop the
pheasants kicking down the ridges and wrecking the crop. Unprotected
peas didn't last 5 mins and we had a hen pheasant lay a clutch of eggs
in the onion bed one year when I was working single handed pending a
replacement undergardener.

Rod

Weed my email address to reply
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html
  #15   Report Post  
Old 06-04-2004, 10:49 PM
Rod
 
Posts: n/a
Default Brassica cage?

On Sun, 4 Apr 2004 20:57:35 +0100, Chris ] wrote:

This year pigeons have eaten all my spring cabbages and broccoli.

Belatedly I have chucked some netting over - and they are recovering.

Next year would it be feasible to make some kind of cage?
Maybe keep off butterflies too?

Cage would have to be movable for crop rotation
and accessible for weeding, harvesting.

Has anyone tried anything that works and is not too much trouble?


Ours is a variation of Mary's. The wire netting covered frames are
made from a 6"x1" bottom board and 3 lengths of 2"x1". These frames
are 10ft long x 6ft High. Covered with 1.8metre wire netting 50mm mesh
for pheasants/pigeons or 25mm mesh for fruit cage sides. These are
fixed with cable ties to a frame of 3/4"nb galvanised water pipe.
Uprights at 10ft square. Horizontal top bars fixed to uprights with
'KeeKlamps' Top cover is 2"mesh pheasant netting from Knowle Nets of
Bridport. For the fruit section the top net is heavy duty bird netting
from LBS. We deliberately don't exclude small birds and insects (wasps
esp) from the veg cages. We need all the predators we can get working
on those caterpillars. Another advantage of the larger mesh is that
all but the wettest snow drops through it and the wet stuff can easily
be shaken off. Small gauge top netting can be destroyed (and the
supports with it) by heavy wet snow when your overwintering veg are at
their most vulnerable. We have 3 cages for rotation. We installed
these when the Estate ran a shoot here and the gardens were overrun by
pheasants. We even needed the cage over the spuds to stop the
pheasants kicking down the ridges and wrecking the crop. Unprotected
peas didn't last 5 mins and we had a hen pheasant lay a clutch of eggs
in the onion bed one year when I was working single handed pending a
replacement undergardener.

Rod

Weed my email address to reply
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html
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