Protecting carrots with Enviromesh

Years ago, Carrot Root Fly used to be a real nuisance to me. In fact, the damage they caused made it more or less a waste of time trying to grow carrots. But then I discovered Enviromesh. The flies cannot penetrate the fine mesh of this product, so they are unable to lay their eggs on the carrots. Since then, I have managed to produce decent carrots every year.

This week I have replaced the net over my carrot bed with Enviromesh, so this...

Has been changed to this...

Notice the pots of potatoes in the foreground, their foliage sticking up well above the openings in the "Seedling Greenhouses". I just hope we don't get any more frost, because closing the zip-up covers would be difficult now!

I had been hoping to leave this task until after the parsnips had germinated, because it is easier to see through a net than through Enviromesh (I look for them at least twice a day!), but there is still no sign of the parsnips and the carrots are getting big enough to attract the attention of the Carrot Root Flies, so I decided not to delay any longer. Here's a view of the mesh and its support from a different direction.

Another job I have done recently is move the tomato plants into bigger pots. They have gone from 3.5-inch pots to 5- or 6-inch ones.

I only had a few 6-inch ones left, because many of my chillis are in that size, so the biggest tomatoes have gone into those and the rest are having to make do with 5-inch. I suppose I could go out and buy some more pots, but I'm trying to do my bit towards reducing plastic use. Many of my pots have been in use for maybe 10 or even 15 years, so my conscience is clear!

These are my chillis, currently outside in a coldframe - lid open during the day and lid closed at night, unless a very low temperature is forecast, in which case they get brought indoors.

Thinking about tomatoes and chillis reminds me to show off this:-

It's Comfrey of course. If I get enough of it, I shall make some of into plant-food for the "fruiting vegetables" - that's to say, the tomatoes and chillis! Last year my Comfrey didn't do well, because it was in the deep shade cast by my neighbour's conifer tree. Now that the tree has been felled, I'm hoping the Comfrey will have a new lease of life.