A new home for our brassicas

There's been plenty of activity at our community garden recently, as our volunteers have been hard at work building something a little different – a brand new 4 x 3 metre walk-in brassica cage!

Using a polytunnel frame as the structure, the team carefully assembled the frame before covering it with fine insect-proof mesh. The result is a sturdy, walk-in growing space that will give our brassica crops the protection they need throughout the growing season.

Our volunteers tie the special mesh covering to the tunnel frame.

If you've ever tried growing cabbages, kale or broccoli, you'll know just how popular they are with hungry insects. Our new cage will help keep out pests such as cabbage white butterflies, whose caterpillars can strip plants in no time, as well as cabbage root flies and other unwanted visitors that love brassicas just as much as we do.

Inside the cage we'll be growing a range of delicious vegetables, including kale, cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower. By protecting the plants naturally with mesh, we avoid using pesticides while giving our crops the best chance to thrive. This is critical as our garden is organic and a pesticide-free zone!

A huge thank you goes to all of the volunteers who gave up their time to build the cage. It's another fantastic example of what can be achieved when people come together. We can't wait to see it filled with healthy crops and, before long, plenty of fresh vegetables to harvest and share.

If you'd like to get involved with projects like this, we'd love to welcome you. Whether you're an experienced gardener or just keen to learn something new, there's always something growing at Rooted Chippenham!

Find out more about how to get involved in our community garden.