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Cheap crop netting for your Brassicas
Hi everyone
You are all going to think I'm a right cheap-skate but if you can do it cheaply, then why not.
When I first started I was told by my neighbors on the allotment that I MUST net my Brassicas or the pigeons will have them before I've even locked the gate on my way out. Another plotter who started the same time as me didn't bother because it was getting dark when he put his cabbages in and was going to net them in the morning, only to find stumps when he came back.
When I looked at the price of netting I was gobsmacked how expensive it was until, my partner pointed out some in a shop we were walking around and I bought a pack just to see if it would do.
Here is the pack:
You can get this netting from the 99p store or the Pound shops, I've noticed they all seem to stock it. When I went back to the 99p shop and bought 10 I also got one free so it was even cheaper.
Now I hear you all saying 'its not big enough'
but here's the clever bit. The sides of the netting are very close weave compared to the rest which gives the edges strength but also allows it to be joined together. 
So what I did was join it using a hot glue gun, in fact I joined four of them to get a net 8m x 4m which was ample for what I needed and only cost £3.96 to make. The hot glue doesn't dissolve in water so is weather proof (you can pick one up for a tenner from Screwfix if you haven't got one), or you could use something like fishing line and stitch it together but the hot glue method is the easiest.
Mine has lasted for two years and it's going to see out its third year and is still going strong, looks like my forage to empty the 99p shop of the netting wasn't needed as I still have 15 of the packs lol.
You are all going to think I'm a right cheap-skate but if you can do it cheaply, then why not.
When I first started I was told by my neighbors on the allotment that I MUST net my Brassicas or the pigeons will have them before I've even locked the gate on my way out. Another plotter who started the same time as me didn't bother because it was getting dark when he put his cabbages in and was going to net them in the morning, only to find stumps when he came back.
When I looked at the price of netting I was gobsmacked how expensive it was until, my partner pointed out some in a shop we were walking around and I bought a pack just to see if it would do.
Here is the pack:
You can get this netting from the 99p store or the Pound shops, I've noticed they all seem to stock it. When I went back to the 99p shop and bought 10 I also got one free so it was even cheaper.
Now I hear you all saying 'its not big enough'
but here's the clever bit. The sides of the netting are very close weave compared to the rest which gives the edges strength but also allows it to be joined together. So what I did was join it using a hot glue gun, in fact I joined four of them to get a net 8m x 4m which was ample for what I needed and only cost £3.96 to make. The hot glue doesn't dissolve in water so is weather proof (you can pick one up for a tenner from Screwfix if you haven't got one), or you could use something like fishing line and stitch it together but the hot glue method is the easiest.Mine has lasted for two years and it's going to see out its third year and is still going strong, looks like my forage to empty the 99p shop of the netting wasn't needed as I still have 15 of the packs lol.
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