Kale

Not one of my celeriac seeds germinated - my fault for trying to kick them off in the heated propagator I think - anyway, its now way too late to start some off again, so I am going to give them a miss this year; in Sainsburys on Friday, I was left without any adult supervision for a while, and found myself at the seed stand, so ended up getting some kale seeds (will post the variety later when I find the packet) which I am going to sow today.

Any tips? Are they best sown direct or started in trays? Also, on a windowsill, outside or in the greenhouse?

I'm planning on growing them in one or two half barrels that are about 2ft deep.

 

I always start mine in a cell tray in the greenhouse. Plant quite deeply to final position and they go great guns Cover with netting as they are a magnet for cabbage whites

 

I'm going to put them in a barrel next to a barrel of brussels sprouts, with my thinking being that they both wanted butterfly mesh?

 

Actually, can anyone recommend a good butterfly mesh that doesn't cost the earth? I've had a quick look at Amazon etc and the cheaper stuff seems to be a 1cm weave which I don't think is sufficient to keep butterflies out?

The stuff that is more like a sort of fleece is anything from £15-£60!

 

Ah, well if the 1cm netting will be sufficient, I have that already (and can easily get more); I'm thinking a couple of half barrels each for brussels and kale (I have 14 half barrels total), then three half barrels for carrots with 6 of the front 7 being dedicated to lettuce, spring onions and radishes (the 7th barrel is for strawberries)