Momma P bought me a polytunnel similar to hers and it has
been sat in my shed in its box ever since. I finally decided where it was going
to go and how I wanted it kitted out on the inside, but I have been having trouble
getting a timber order from Wickes. I had a load of aubergine and pepper plants
at home, and a melon, and I thought if I got the tunnel up, they could all be
moved and will have somewhere warm and humid to live, and maybe just maybe they’d
flower and fruit!
So I measured the space and thought it was fine – I was
working on the basis that the tunnel was 8ft x 6ft – and then I pulled up as
much of the bindweed as possible, chopped back nettles and bramble, dug out as
much as I could of the comfrey root, and then I put down a double thickness layer
of breathable weed membrane.
Momma P then came to help me assemble the frame and we laid out the long side to discover that the tunnel is actually 9ft x 7ft, and therefore the space was only just wide enough, and not long enough, so I dug out some more turf and dirt to make it fit.
The full plan is to have weed membrane covering the whole floor, raised beds along each side, a workbench or table at the end, and then a slab path down the middle, bedded into sand. In theory all of this should be sufficient to stop the weeds growing through the membrane but bindweed is horrible and that combined with comfrey means I will never be rid of them!
In the meantime, I have the layer of weed membrane, and it
is temporarily covered in tarps just as an added protection. The lace things on
my boots kept getting caught in the membrane so there are holes in it already.
The aubergine, pepper and melon are now all safely tucked up in the tunnel, each in an individual pot topped off with grit to help retain water. Two of the aubergines have now flowered!! I have tickled them both with a paintbrush and I hope it is sufficient to have pollinated them. There are still lots of flowers to come, so hopefully I will have a very late aubergine harvest.
The next stage is to get the timber to build the beds, and get the slabs. David and I (he doesn’t know yet) can then have a day building and laying and I think I’ll also put down a new layer of weed membrane over the top of this stuff first just to cover the holes. Hopefully by spring this will be all ready and kitted out and I’ll be able to start things off properly.
Next year I want to grow aubergine, pepper, cucumber,
loofah, and melon in the tunnel so I need to get it sorted.
On the outside I am going to dig a trench either side and
plant things in it. I have put some plastic mesh over the tunnel to help hold
it down but I am going to grow clematis and honeysuckle up and over the tunnel.
I also want lots of rosemary, lavender, catmint, and thyme along here to make it
really good for wildlife.
The tunnel is sunk below the surface of the ground by about 3 inches, and each metal upright has a wooden stake attached to it by cable ties. The bottom of the frame is pinned with great big heavy duty marquee pegs, and then the cover is pinned over the frame using U-shaped tent pegs. I really don't want this to blow away! I am going to get more garden mesh and put it over the top at the front end as an extra precaution too. This helps hold it down but also gives me something to grow plants up.
