by Karen Dunn
A Karen’s Corner Blogette
My carrots were up in record time this year! The new babies were a little pale looking after being in the dark a little too long. As it was a very hot sunny day when I took the fabric and cardboard away I quickly put up my wire hoops, re-covered with the mesh, and added a layer of pretty lace curtains to let some filtered light onto the seedlings. It didn’t take long for them to turn a healthy green colour.
The next day was a nice cloudy cool day so I removed the curtain to expose the seedlings to more light. You can see I have weighted down the edges of the netting with re-bar to seal off any entrance the carrot fly might find. I also use lengths of chain for weight. I love using the chain as it conforms to the garden bed and seals off any openings nicely.
I’d also like to add that in order to extend the life of my net I put a layer of sawdust or hay along the edges where the net meets the soil. This helps slow down any weeds that might try growing through the net. In the beginning my net was damaged by weeds that had made their way through the fine netting.
You can also see in this photo the wire I’ve used to keep the net off the ground. As the carrots grow I will replace the wire with a more permanent and taller PVC pipe structure.
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