Monday 27 May 2013

New polytunnel

polytunner May 13

When we decided to refocus the main allotment on fruit growing and poultry and Dad's smaller allotment on producing vegetables, we knew we would still need to use some of our main allotment for growing veg. There simply isn't enough land to grow all the veg we need on Dad's plot. Any bed with veg on it however will need netting for protection from the hens, ducks, wood pigeons and rabbits. Alas, when we did the calculations of the price of the timber and netting, we were a bit shocked at the costs we were facing. And then we discovered the above polytunnel on Amazon which cost only £80. Not only was it far cheaper than building our own timber frames, it would provide us with protected growing space than can be used through the winter as well. They are a good size as well - 5m long, 2m wide and 2m high. So we bought two.

We discovered they were very easy to assemble and they are very effective at retaining heat. We have already planted out the one we have assembled with tomatoes though there is a vast amount of space to plant more. We need to prepare the ground for the second polytunnel. At the moment, that patch has a manure heap on one side and a gravel heap on the other. The manure needs to be dug into the ground elsewhere and the gravel is due to go into more drainage ditches, one of which I dug yesterday. Hopefully this will all be sorted over the next few days.

4 comments:

Sidders said...

£80 seems cheap for a tunnel, will it stand a bit if harsh weather?.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the tip...this polytunnel is now on my Amazon wishlist!

Jonathan Wallace said...

It is very sturdy and I'm confident it can survive most of what the weather can throw at it.

elfriide tramm said...

i also need some more greenhouses/polytunnels, but in our climate the plastic needs to be changed in every 2-4 years. but i am considering it as i want to grow more peppers, cucumbers and also eggplants in addition to tomatoes. the one issue is fresh food for summer, but also the endless varietis of different canned salads are awesome for winter and a important for us.

btw, if to build a wooden frame (base?) around it on the ground in the future, it will keep more heat on cold times.