Row Cover Update

A few months ago we set up our row covers in hopes that we would have added protection for our greens from insects. Although the barrier seems to stop moths directly it still doesn’t stop ground insect activity. However, the damage done by ground insects is far less than that of the caterpillars from last year. We did have a little bird that accidentally wandered and got caught in one of the covers. Thankfully, we saw/heard the bird and got it out relatively quickly, and hopefully it learned a valuable lesson.

With all things, the learning curve is ever present and we have discovered that certain varieties prefer not to be in the covers. Maybe it is because of how warm it has gotten or because of the increased sunlight exposure, but our spinach and blue Ethiopian kale decided to bolt rather quickly this year. We tried our best to keep them in a more shaded area of the garden, but it seems that did not stop the bolting process. We will try again this fall to get some spinach going in the cover along with some more winter greens. It will be interesting to see how the covers fare over the winter. Hopefully it will be mild enough at least for the beginning of winter to allow the greens to grow more. As far as harvest, we have been blessed with an abundance like last year. We have been able to make delicious salads, sautéed spinach (with the non bolted spinach), sautéed kale, and we are looking forward to harvesting our broccoli and brussels in the next few months.