Autumn in the tunnel September 26, 2007

Having had a pretty disasterous year in the veg patch, and only a moderately good one in the tunnel I am now focussing on wintery things and hoping that there will be enough warmth over the next few weeks to ripen my squashes and allow the kales to recover from the complete decimation they suffered at the gobs of the slugs! I resorted to slug pellets in the end, in an attempt to get something to sustain us through the winter in the veg patch. If the kales do have a growth spurt (which is looking possible) then we will have kales, spinach, leeks and celery in the veg patch. I’ve already harvested some of the celery and made a delicious soup. Alas it is a bit stringy, but once the outside is removed it is yummy. So, fingers crossed for the kale!

In the tunnel I have planted loads of raddichio plants, and they are doing pretty well. This is the second lot I have planted out as the first were devoured – slug pellets have worked! Although I have also discovered a new and exciting sport involving my welly boot and a paving slab and a slug, the results have been quite impressive, with the innerds of one slug shooting a good 5m across the tunnel! The buddists would clearly not approve, and I do feel a slight twinge of guilt when I stamp my foot down. But, they have eaten all our vegetables! Payback I think! We’ve decided that a more stringent slug policy is needed next year – my mum recommends a bucket of salt to dispose of them in.

The squashes I planted in august (4th attempt at getting them past the slugs!) are doing really well, and I just hope they will have a chance to ripen before the frost start. They’re in the tunnel so should be ok as its still up to 30 degrees in there on a sunny afternoon. The beetroots, spring onions and endives are doing ok too, so hopefully we should have something to show for all the hard work! The last of the pepper plants are still producing prolifically, so we now have a freezer full of peppers, but I’m not sure they are going to last much longer…..

 I’ve been out blackberrying most days too, and made a couple of bottles of blackberry vodka last night – only have to wait until christmas to try that. The damson gin I made last month will have to be next years treat (i opted for more expensive gin than Tesco value this year as the stuff I made last year is perhaps best described as ‘interesting’!). We’ve got tons of blackberrys in the freezer, and will have more later today! Hurrah, a winter of crumbles, pies, cakes and other delights to look forward too! I have done a spot of scrumping for apples from our landlady’s trees, but alas there are hardly any this year – the windy april and may we had seems to have done for the fruit trees this year.

 Oh well. I’m now hoping for a really cold winter so that all the slugs will die off! Plus we will have our new Bullerjan stove to keep the house toasty and warm! Hurrah! I’m thinking of knitting the chooks hats to keep them warm…..

Spring inside….. March 23, 2007

 Despite the slightly chilly late winter weather of earlier this week (snow, hail and freezing winds), it is currently 26 degrees in the polytunnel, as I sit in the warmth recuperating from a bout of the lurgy that has had me off work for the last couple of days.

The tunnel is now all finished, and dug over, with very professional-looking paths running through the planting area, and a gravelled area at the door end, for us to use as a wee conservatory. Here, we’ve planted a couple of honeysuckles up a trellis to attract lots of pollinting insects into the polytunnel. We’ve also planted the two agapanthus plants that we got in Scilly last summer, that weren’t overly happy in the welsh outdoors. In the main planting area, its all starting to spring into life, with lettuces, spring onions, rocket, potatoes, parsley, coriander and basil all starting to come through, and peas and curly endive sown. In the heated propagator on the windowsill in our dining room are the chilli and aubergine plants, that have already been assigned a place in the planting scheme, and will hopefully be transplanted sometime over easter.

I’ve got lots of seeds planted in pots too: leeks and celery (which are starting to sprout), broad beans and peas (for outside), tomatoes, and lots of herbs (borage, summer savory, dill, purple basil), some of which will be destined for the herb patch in the garden.

In the veg patch, the shallots, parsnips, carrots, radishes and beetroot have been planted, and the no dig area is gradually being covered with a cardboard and straw mulch. Half of this area will be used for potatoes, and I have decided to dump a load of manure on the other half, mixed in with the straw, and plant the squashes in there. Hopefully this will mean a bumper crop of squashes, as they love compost and manure.

Its all getting very exciting……!

In anticipation of the bumper harvests coming up in the next few months, I have invested in a new seasonal cookbook, which is full of loads of delicious looking recipes….can’t wait to try them out!

 We had our first harvest of purple sprouting broccoli from the old veg patch last weekend. It was rather meagre, as the plants have only just started sprouting, but it was delicious nonetheless. Rhubarb crumble too, mmmmm.

Polytunnels cont…. February 20, 2007

Horray!! We have ourselves a (nearly) complete polytunnel – currently just without doors! Needless to say, the instructions proved just as uninstructive as last time, but with the combined brains of 5 adults and a large alsatian we managed to fit the door frames, dig the trench, add the anti-hot spot tape, apply the cover, bury it in the trench and tension it around the door frames with only the minimum amount of confusion, kerfuffle and general head-scratching. It is currently standing proud in the field, awaiting the weekend and the hanging of the doors and the commencement of the big digging adventure, and perhaps a spot of seed sowing in the comfort of the indoors environment. Roll on saturday!!

 A huge thanks to both the Feakins’ and the Pannetts (and Mark and Chaz) for their help with the construction of our new horticultural space, we would never have managed it by ourselves!

Photo’s will follow….I promise….

Easy Assembly?! January 26, 2007

So, the polytunnel kit arrived, and it was time to put all the theory learnt through reading lots of books on the subject into practice and build us a polytunnel…..

Easy assembly kit, with step by step instructions is what we bought.

 1. Read the instructions. Hmmm….what?!

2. Help arrives in the form of the Cornish end of the family, including a DIY expert and his dog.

3. Give him the instructions to see if he can understand them.

4. Lay out the site, ensuring the ground is completely level. But, we live in Wales where level doesn’t exist. Never mind, hammer in the ground tubes having calculated a few angles here and there. In the right place (hopefully).

5. Read instructions again with all hoop poles and various fittings in front of you to see if that helps with comprehension. Not really.

6. Put the hoop poles together and then place over the ground tubes. Ok. But they wont stay together.

7. Read instructions again to figure out what actually holds the hoops together. Decide to leave that for the moment.

8. Put the bracings on. Ok, this bit looks easy. Hmmmm, they are all at angles that don’t make any sense. After a good half an hour of persistance, moving things around and general frustration (in a hail storm), finally one fits! Realise that they are each intended for a specifc corner. Is it me, or would it not have been sensible to include that in the instructions?!

9. Decide now to just ignore the instructions and start fitting the ridge pole in the hope that it will hold the hoops together. Find special spanner that fits into the space in the fittings, and after much kerfuffle, horray the first one holds together!

10. More hail.

11. Work our way down the frame, fitting the ridge pole and bringing the hoops together.

12. Even more hail

13. Stand back to admire our work, and see a couple of minor flaws….wonkiness being the main one.

14. Oh well, it is easily fixable next weekend.

15. Retire to the house for a warming cup of tea.

16. Decide that the process would have been accomplished far quicker if we had just thrown away the instructions at the start!

Lets hope the polythene fitting goes as smoothly!