The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: NorthEssexsmallholding on May 11, 2011, 10:16:42 pm
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just bought a big roll of it, to grow brassicas under it, got some water pipe to make hoops, but once its down I'm guessing I wont be able to weed, it would be too much hassle to roll is up to weed.
Is there any method to growing under enviromesh, or once its over the crop do you just leave it?
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I have fixed panels of enviromesh on the hoops at either end, so the main body just lifts up .
My end panels are semi circles of water pipe with permanent panels of enviromesh attatched to them.They are about 3 foot high and six foot wide.A fence post holds the panel up at each end. Then between the two fence posts I have nailed an old hosepipe, this is attatched to each hose pipe hoop along the bed so the structure looks like a rib cage.The hoops are fixed over copper pipe hammered into the ground . The structure is kept taught by the fence posts. Then the body is covered in envromesh held down with tent pegs and tied to the panels. In all it must be twenty foot long.
It does not get weeded as much as the open beds but where I am going to plant brassicas I cover the plot with about six inch deep layer of poo in Autumn and leave till late spring to dig in then I leave the bed to set.This mulches the bed and only the odd weed grow through all summer.It does work as brassicas dont like distubed ground too much. Just make sure you lift one side up at a time and hook it on the hosepipe then when you see a pesky Cabbage white you can drop it down before it gets in!
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Great idea about the copper pipe hermit :) I have been using short lengths of cane which rot away and just don't work very well, so I shall start collecting copper pipe from now on.
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Any chance of a pic Hermit? I can't quite picture it....
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sounds like a good structure you have made hermit, I might try to do something similar.