Tag Archives: Polytunnel

Thank You

Our thanks to everyone

Life under Lockdown

Has our life here changed under lockdown? To be honest, on a day-to-day basis, not that much.

We work from home, we have plenty of space to walk the dogs, and our families live a fair distance away, so we don’t get to see them that often under normal circumstances. Nonetheless, we have still ‘felt’ a restriction – the sense of not being able to go out, even for something trivial, just because we want to.

For others though, we understand that the adjustment has been huge and much more difficult to make, but we have heard so many stories about how creative people have been throughout this unprecedented period and how they have filled their time with new challenges and hobbies. We found it quite inspiring, in many ways.

Escape to the Garden

Lately, we have spent lots of time outdoors in the garden. We have recovered our polytunnel which was lost in a severe storm several years ago.

In early April, the polytunnel looked like this, with the hoops and refurbished rails.

Reconstructing the polytunnel: 05/04/20

And this is how it looks today. It’s amazing how quickly everything has grown and we are looking forward to a bumper harvest. We are already enjoying fresh herbs, spinach and rocket.

The polytunnel today: 24/05/20

We have also taken a keen interest in all the wildlife in our garden and have installed several bird boxes which were occupied in no time, especially this cute little caravan.

https://www.facebook.com/TrainingLines/videos/189481559014772/

Our thanks to key workers

Although we have been lucky enough not to call upon their services, we are truly grateful to NHS and care workers for what they are doing. Just knowing they are there has been hugely reassuring to us.

We would also like to thank all of the other unsung heroes that have kept us going over the past three months. The delivery drivers who continue to deliver stock to us. Royal Mail who have maintained regular postal collections without missing a beat so that we could get orders out the door to our customers. Plus a special mention to the shop workers who have kept us fed and the bin men who ensured we weren’t overrun with rubbish. The many others who work in difficult circumstances, too.

Going forward

How have your lives changed during this awful pandemic? Have you learned lessons that you will take forward, or will you just be glad when it’s all over?

Here are some excellent tips on how to ease your pets out of lockdown: AFTER THE LOCKDOWN: HELPING YOUR PET TO COPE WHEN NORMAL LIFE RESUMES

And how to ensure your dog is not spooked by humans wearing masks have a look at this short tutorial: Teach Your DOG to Accept Masks

Please stay safe, take care and look after each other.

The big polytunnel challenge

Growing wild

We are the first to admit that we are not really gardeners but over the years we have learnt a bit about growing vegetables.  Most years the polytunnel keeps us supplied throughout the summer months but we are not quite so good at producing over winter.  Every spring we prepare the ground, adding fertilzer from our extensive muck heap but this year we had a little bit of extra inspiration from the programme, The Big Allotment Challenge.  It made us realise what we could produce if we put our minds and more effort into it.

The spuds are all planted and starting to show through the weedproof membrane and we have dozens of seed trays full of all sorts (none of which are labelled so we will be guessing what they are when they emerge).  At the moment the only things edible are lettuce and herbs.

However there is one plant that pops up year after year with no input from us, the wild garlic.  This year it seems to be the trendy ingredient for a lot of recipes.  Not only does it have a fantastic flavour but it looks very pretty too.  It seems to grow just about everywhere so whilst you are out walking your dogs, see if you can spot some.  It’s even being sold at some farmers markets – they’ll be selling stinging nettles next!  Every year we use it in a variety of ways and freeze it for use later in the year.  One of our favourite recipes is wild garlic pesto, simple to make and delicious with pasta.  Though traditionally made with pine nuts and basil, it can be made with just about any nuts or herbs.

Why not give it a try?

Wild Garlic Pesto

Ingredients

  • 80g wild garlic leaves
  • Couple of sprigs of lemon balm (optional)
  • 50g grana pandano (or parmesan) cheese
  • 50g walnuts
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp ground black pepper
  • 50ml sunflower oil
  • 50ml olive oil

Instructions

  1. Wash the wild garlic leaves, lemon balm and dry them carefully
  2. Chop the leaves finely in a food processor or blender
  3. Grate the cheese
  4. Roughly chop the walnuts
  5. Add the cheese, salt and pepper to the wild garlic mix and blend
  6. Add the half of the oil and blend
  7. Add the walnuts and blend
  8. Add the remaining oil and blend
  9. Spoon the mixture into a sterilised jar and top up with olive oil so that the pesto is covered
  10. Store in the fridge until used

A freshly made bed

Preparing the polytunnel

The polytunnel is such a valuable resource allowing us to grow crops all year round but for the last couple of years we have lacked enthusiasm and motivation.  Recently we came across a new book – The Polytunnel Book by Joyce Russell – which is filled with ideas and advice for each month of the year.  We are not natural gardeners and although we have experimented, this book should help us get on the right track and stay there.

Last year we had deep snow for what seemed like months and planting was the last thing on our minds.  We grew little else apart from potatoes, tomatoes and a few lettuce leaves.

This year we are raring to go.  We have cleaned out all the rubbish, gotten rid of the raised beds and rotovated in tonnes of muck from the dung heap.

Already we have first early potatoes snuggled under a layer of weed suppressant membrane.  Thanks to advice from the book we have also planted garlic, carrots, lettuces, broad beans, mange tout and aubergines, although the aubergines are on the kitchen windowsill.

Here’s hoping for a bumper crop.

Digging a hole for yourself

Working in the polytunnel

Now the weather is starting to improve (the last few days of gales and snow excepted), work has started to prepare for the growing season.

The contents of the polytunnel have been hacked into submission to clear some space, and some initial plantings have begun. Even though the temperature outside of the tunnel has been quite low, the protective layer of polythene does wonders for the inside. Jackets off!

Even daisy gets in on the act by helping the digging effort. Not quite sure what we’ll be planting in that deep hole, but it’s the thought that counts…

Wine ripening on the vine

Keeping an eye on our prosective wine crops

As we continue to work through our wine collection from last year’s fruit, it never hurts to keep an eye on the makings for this year’s batch!

Our grape vines are doing very well and we hope for a similar size crop to the one we had last year, and the blackcurrants are just coming up to the point where we will have to watch them very closely.

We didn’t manage to harvest many blackcurrants last year so the blackcurrant wine was missing unfortunately, but the grapes more than made up for it. We believe that last year’s red grape wine is the finest we have ever made.

Polytunnel produce

New cover increases our output, but blight strikes

Our polytunnel has been producing well this year, thanks to some imaginative planting and regular care. We have enjoyed meal after meal of fresh vegetables (to accompany our pork and lamb), and hope it will continue through the colder seasons too.

Our tomato crop started well with some lovely red specimens (we have had problems with pounds of tomatoes staying green and being used for chutney), but unfortunately, our harvest was cut quite short by blight.

Potatoes also suffered, but thankfully not until we had eaten our way through most of them.

The new cover has definitely made a difference to the ambient temperature in the tunnel, and this is almost certainly helping with the increased yield.

Recovering the polytunnel

Windy weather gives us a break to do the job we had been dreading

Windy weather in early March gave way to a couple of days of fairly still air, and the job we had been dreading for quite a while.

The polytunnel we inherited when we moved in has been in need of a new cover for some time – something neither of us wanted to do (or knew anything about) – but necessity eventually won through!

Having bought the cover (and timbers, bolts, nails, etc) in Feb, and armed with a couple of knowledgeable friends, we finally took the old cover off and removed the rails.

New rails cut and bolted into place, then the beading attached, we were ready for the new cover. With all 4 of us pulling and moving and adjusting it, we drew the polythene fabric over the top and secured it with more beading and nails. Once pulled reasonably tight, we lifted and secured the hoops of the tunnel to tighten it.

Sounds easy, but it took 4 days to do! Little did we know at the time, that this was to be the only 4 days of calm weather for almost the whole of March!

Cover on