PLANTING OUT BRASSICAS
Make sure young plants are well protected from pests like rabbits and caterpillars
The weather on the island here was amazingly dry throughout April and it certainly wasn’t the best time to be planting out the brassicas. In the end I just had to plant them and hope I would get rain soon. Luckily the last weekend in May gave us a few welcomed heavy showers which was just what they were waiting for. Immediately after planting, the rows were covered over with a large fine mesh sheet anchored down with old tyres, otherwise the plants would have vanished by the morning, making a nice meal for the rabbits. The mesh not only prevents rabbits from having a feast it also stops the cabbage white and cabbage root fly from getting at them to lay their eggs. Most of the brassicas I have sown will be ready to eat well before the National Championship at Malvern, particularly cauliflowers. I therefore need to make another couple of sowings to make sure that I will have some ready for that date. The three varieties I have chosen are ‘Fairway’, ‘Boris’ and ‘Idris’, all F1 hybrids and all well proven on the show bench. Once germinated they will be transplanted into small cells and then 9cm (3in) pots. The main task will be keeping weeds down and there is no better way than using a swoe. It is ideal for weeding around plants in tight situations, using a push/pull action to sever weeds from their roots, killing them while they are small. Pick a sunny day and start early in so that by teatime the weeds will have shrivelled up and died. Should we have a very dry summer then I will have to give water. Luckily for me, when I bought the land I invested in boring a hole where the old divining rod knew there would be plenty of water. During a couple of past summers I have had three sprinklers running at the same time for a few hours that haven’t cost me anything. me on Twitter as I grow a range of different vegetables for exhibition– @medwynsofangles.