Here’s the first version of my Brassica Cage. It’s based on Brenda’s description from March’s Edible Gardens meeting – a frame of tennis balls from the pound shop and bamboo canes.

I didn’t go for the scaffold netting on ebay that Andy recommended in the end. It’s a lot cheaper but I wanted a width quite a bit greater than 2m to match the 4ft canes. So instead I splashed out on a roll of 3.6m Enviromesh which is just about ideal.

I’m looking forward to getting a decent helping of calabrese this year – ahead of the pigeons and the caterpillars for a change 😮

I couldn’t resist recycling this old newsreel – it is Friday afternoon after all.

And it is about time I gave some thought to planning this year’s growth on the allotment. But if that film hasn’t got you fired up for digging, I lifted this from the NEF blog…

“If your fingers are green enough, growing your own vegetables could save you around £1,500 a year, according to new research by the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners. The study priced the amount of food grown by gardeners at cheapest supermarket costs. (Hat tip to Rob Hopkins)”