I'm really happy with our vegetable garden. I've never grown cabbage, but it's doing so well I decided to try and keep the moths away. Make-shift protection with some burlap. This beauty, Endless Summer, is always this gorgeous blue color. It is mother plant of a white one blooming just 3 feet away. Soil difference I guess.
Same here with the cabbage Columb I only used to grow it over winter but last year I made a similar netted tunnel and also grew some in the polytunnel over winter
Good to hear @Zigs . My son and I want to try keeping some through winter as well. My problem will be wind. They are so appreciated with their huge head of blossoms @Pacnorwest @Oreti
We have terrible trouble with the wind here, it comes straight off the North Sea and there's nothing inbetween that and the Arctic ice sheet I've put ground cover all the way round the lower veg plot and I'm building a turf wall to keep the wind off the veg. It's made hell of a difference, nearly 10 degrees warmer by just cutting the wind off. (A lot nicer to work in too)
@Zigs good work! Your wind sounds awful too. It's not unusual for us to have 80 mph winds from November through February and in January usually accompanied by ice. When I planned these new garden boxes I put them against a terraced hill. This was intentional to block wind. But time will tell. Food security seems to be getting more important every day so we're germinating new cabbage now for late planting. Seems like a good nutritious food to keep. I look forward to comparing notes with you @Zigs
Columbia— nice solution. Surely that will make a difference. I hear what you say about wind. No surprise that wind is a large and constant part of our lives over here. We have enviromesh over our broc’s and cauli’s. Bad as the wind is whipping over the dikes…it is knolvoet that is our major problem with brassicas here. Good luck with your attempts.
Winds is a huge issue here too. The winds come up from the canyon below and whips up thru the nearby mountains and can really become a critical drying out issue during fire season. I planted lots of trees to surround the home to protect the garden during summer heat. Trees are a great wind break and can also keep temps of Summer heat down by 10 or more degrees by shading and transpiration. Shading directly blocks sunlight, reducing the heat absorbed by surfaces like pavement and buildings, while transpiration, the release of water vapor from leaves, cools the surrounding air. You can feel the light mist coming off the trees cooling the ground temps and keeping humidity at a higher level.
This is the lower veg plot and fruit tunnel with added ground cover.... Inside the fruit tunnel is more like the South of France now I've just cut down all the currant bushes due to scale, cabbages are in there to keep the butterflies off and I've replanted all the strawberries on the right hand side. Ferns at the back are just to look at
Oh @Zigs I envy you that beautiful tunnel! You must grow a lot of delicious food. @Pacnorwest thats brilliant. Ive never broken it down like this. Love your description. Thank you @Sjoerd I look forward to sharing winter stories. Similar challenges for sure
Zigs—That is a good-looking tunnel. Do you use it in the winter. Sorry about the scale. They can be a pain. Had them on my Blueberry bushes one year. Columbia— yeah, they are a challenge in my garden. I have to use quite a bit of chalk.
