Growing crops under fleece, fields in Norfolk

They must use a lot of pegs to stop that blowing away

Hi Amy ..... I see, as we discussed. Makes you wonder how they make any profit taking into consideration the price of fleece. Does it help stop carrot fly too.

Brian it's unrolled from the back of a tractor it is approx 6ft wide and it's tucked into the soil at the same time along the edges by the same tractor / machine to prevent it flying away, a bit like putting the bottom sheet on a bed :o) although by the end of the season a lot of it can be seen hanging from the trees/ hedges ,
Hi Dawn ,I hoped you would see this :o) yes is does help to stop carrot fly ,it is a wonder they make a profit carrots are cheap to buy as it is , I suppose they are getting them out onto the market earlier than they normally would have been able to making it a longer season .....

Thats very interesting Amy, when I first saw the picture I thought you had snow lol

The fields look like lakes from a distance Carole , it's often dangerous for swans as they try to land on what they think is water and harm themselves poor things :o(

Thats a shame Amy a pity they cannot think of something to deter the Swans!

It's been so cold here the last couple of days I feel like going under a fleece too, Amy :)

hi Ami, that fleece is fleece like material from which sport jackets are made? Why do they do it?

It's been cold here as well Gill the sun was shining today but without much warmth ...
Kat It's a much thinner fleece than that, it's similar to the kind that you might buy in a roll to lay over your plants in a greenhouse for protection , they lay it on the land after they have set the seed to both warm the soil and to encourage the plants to grow earlier than they would otherwise ,the fleece will stand up to -6 degrees of frost , The plants are able to push their way through the fleece and will be removed once the danger of frosts is over ....

How do they remove the fleece if the plants have grown through it without pulling the young plants out at the same time ?

LOL that's a good question Pam , I believe it is normally removed before they are that big ,we have seen them poking through but carrots have a good anchorage and are quite tough to pull up ..

And..... is the fleece recycleable??? Just wondered :))

Pam24, you are giving good questions, girl!.:):)
Greenpeace is loving you :) Lol.

That is something I don't know Pam , I must find out !

It is better than the plastics that you see in Spain , though . It's hard to juggle the need for food with the long -term wellbeing of the environment , isn't it ?

Very true Driad , if we don't start looking after it what hope will there be left for the future ? , when you see the world population multiplying year after year something will have to give it can't go on ........

Just seen today enormous field upon field of nearly full-bloom rape . It seems more than ever this year !
We were wondering if it is going to oil , or if Bio-fuels are being grown here . I think alot is grown in South America for fuel ; and that the 3rd world finds it hard to resist growing what is required in the "western world ".

I listened to a radio program about Bamboo being the next cash crop in south america..It is, so they say, a near perfect bio crop..better than carbon neutral.

Most of the Rape grown here is for oil at the moment that could possibly change for fuel ,they have been growing fields of Miscanthus here for a long time for nuclear power stations ..

Was the bamboo for a fuel , Pp , or furniture ?
What is miscanthus , Amy ?
I just worry about 3rd world countries , especially South America , they were encouraged to grow GM foods and they are felling virgin forests for grazing and crops .

Miscanthus gigantous is a very tall reed like grass Driad , it's 6 / 8 ft tall, it looks nice at the back of a border we have some , I thought I had a photo to show you but I can't find it at the moment , the stems go like canes at the end of the season , in fact we cut and use them to support plants the following year ..The forests are a worry aren't they especially as so many animals are being forced from their natural habitats ......
found a photo ...
Driad if you click on my photos then popular tags ,then click on more ,then on grass you will see a photos of the Micanthus in my garden 1st pic 2nd row down .......

Thanks for that Amy , I'll have a look at the pics tomorrow , I'm late on here tonight so haven't much time .
It sounds like elephant grass that was supposed to be for power- stations , but I didn't think that they were nuclear . Not heared much about it lately .

Driad I'm sorry about the misunderstanding ! you are quite right it is used in power stations , I've no idea why I put ' Nuclear ' in front of power station ,perhaps I was thinking about them :o( also you are right again it's common name is Elephant grass . :o) .......

Thanks for that , Amy .
"Man's " quest for clean energy sources is a bit daunting , wind farms , nuclear etc; non wholly satisfactory !
I've found the picture , and I could do with some for an area at the back of my garden , so , would you recommend from seed or to buy a plant ?

Driad I will PM you :o)