easy brassica tunnels & bellpepper "greenhouses"

Last year I got some row covers from GardensAlive.com to help with cabbage worms on the broccoli and green cabbage plants. Up until then all my little transplants would be devoured by caterpillars but after using the row covers we had both a good crop of broccoli and cabbage...

I used two designs to keep the fabric off the plants, one a permanent wooden a-frame on which I stapled the fabric and another a bent into a "v" shape metal rebar sheet which I just covered with the fabric but removed it when it was not needed anymore and stored overwinter. I found that the mice went to town on the fabric of the wooden a frame but that the fabric and metal frames of the other set up were in perfect second year use - and very easy and light to set back up!


The fabric is a light weight insect and frost barrier, also good for zucchini, cukes etc. It is pretty affordable and I got mine (and left over) from GardensAlive.com. The width 61 inch of the fabric matches perfectly with the folded in half metal frames with just enough skirting left over to weight down with dirt. If the plants are fairly sturdy the fabric can be placed right on top of them and pinned into place. You can make your own pins by bending old rusting metal wire into a "u".

Last year I reused the metal frames as a climbing frame for the cukes when they were large enough and the cabbages did not need anymore insect protection. I got the rebar sheets from Lowe's for about $6 each (all the way to the right, last row of store at the contractors end, at left on bottom row about 20 feet from corner), and when bent in the short direction they also make perfect tomato cages!

Another experiment that is going real well is growing bellpeppers in old window frames. With scrap wood 2x4 and 2x3 we've made permanent window boxes (no lid necessary, only at beginning and end of season). My two are one window wide and two windows long, about 4 feet wide and 8 feet long. When there is a frost warning they're easy to cover and the glass keeps in heat overnight to keep the peppers warm. I find that peppers in the "greenhouses" produce more, bigger and faster than ones planted outside of them! I also immediately mulch with grass clippings, and that way you'll only have to weed occasionally, the windows & mulch do a good job discouraging weeds.

p.s. keep an eye out on gardensalive, they have 50% off coupons regularly, especially early spring...

Enjoy the summer!