A kitchen gardener's blog

A Fort for the Boc Choy

August 11, 2009 - While this may look like a fort that my kids would have built when they were younger, it's not. I constructed this to protect my boc choy transplants. Even thought it's hot here, it's time to start the fall and winter garden. Several weeks ago, I started seeding root crops like, scallions, leeks, carrots and beets. And I have been starting flats of transplants, like raab, kale, collards, cabbage, lettuce and the boc choy that is tucked under this "fort". The green is shade cloth, it will be removed in a day or two once the plant roots have settled in. The white is floating row cover. It protects the plants from cabbage butterflies. The butterflies lay eggs on all members of the brassica family; the tiny caterpillars that hatch quickly grow, consuming whole seedlings in a day. The floating row covers will stay in place until I not longer see butterflies, which might be the first frost. At that point I might replace this light weight cover with a heaver version designed to protect the plant in cold weather.

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