Brassica & carrot protection

Erecting protective cages against cabbage white butterflies & carrot fly can be expensive & also unsightly.  Here's how to make smarter, cheaper alternatives.  Look for discarded gazebos at your local recycling centre - mine sells them for around £2. These make wonderful cages when covered with fine mesh netting. The gazebo poles slot together & can be extended upwards as the plants grow.  Connectors, obtainable from Mainframe Direct, are used to fit the tubes together at the corners.  For a large cage 4-way connectors allow supporting poles to be put across the 'roof' to stop netting sagging..

My other invaluable items in the vegetable garden are clothes pegs & cable ties.  How ever long you've been gardening, there's always something new to learn.