Saturday 25 April 2015

Polytunnel Views, Planting .... and Live Below the Line


The view of the polytunnel at the start of this weekend, it's already changing in there, I'm in a busy, busy frame of mind and things are getting done at the moment !!


 Thursday saw lots of activity outside of the tunnel, it was too hot to be inside for long, in the tunnel it was reaching temperatures of well over 30 degrees, so I took myself onto the hillside to plant a few of it's former occupants ... the Courgettes.


This was them before I took the largest and strongest outside. 


And at last it's starting to properly take shape on the hillside now.  

The supports have been put in two of the beds for the Runner and Dwarf Beans, just two fence posts and a rectangle of stiff wire that we had lying around the place.  Beans don't need to be rotated into different beds like some plants and anyway I am thinking of following the 'Back to Eden' method of not rotating my crops, just plenty of mulching and really looking after the soil.

Following the link above will give you access to watch the entire film for free.  The link to watch is under the 'Donate' button, just ignore the Spanish subtitles .... unless you speak Spanish ;-)


Once the Courgettes were in I covered them with my net tunnels, I cut one of them in half ... the deer had chewed through them at our last place anyway, so it was no problem to take scissors to them now.  Two of the courgette plants are covered with my glass cloches and one has to make do with a plastic top from the polytunnel weighed down with a couple of stones.

It's been good this week really getting stuck in with planting food for us to eat.


Unfortunately not much of it will be ready for next week when it's Live Below the Line time again, maybe a few of my Radishes but that's it!!   I have already spent £2.98 of my £5 I have to now sit and plan very carefully what I'll be spending the other £2.02 on to keep me fed for the five days of the Challenge.

To visit my Live Below the Line page click HERE.  Lovely Hubby has once again started off my fund raising with a magnificent donation, now I can't change my mnd, I have to buckle down and get on with it.

I will be starting a day late this time as I am attending a family funeral on Monday and I don't think it's appropriate to have to explain why I wouldn't be eating.  So on Monday I will let you know what foods I have decided to buy and then each day you can see if I do manage to make that little £1 per day stretch to feed myself throughout the Challenge.

Sue xx


12 comments:

  1. Very interesting post!
    I'll look for ward to your challenge decisions!

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  2. Ah, that polytunnel looks wonderful! And you have it so organised already. My kind of lady :) Also, love, love your scarecrow lol

    Thanks for the link to Back to Eden. Will try and watch but there seems to be a lot of buffering going on...

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  3. Good luck Sue, sorry the donation isn't more but I have sponsored Jack as well! ❤️

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  4. You're really cracking on with growing stuff now, must be so satisfying after all the preparation work you've both been doing.

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  5. What a lovely clean and tidy poly....I am very sure than we eventually get ours, that it will never ever look so fantastic as yours does...but well done, you have me feel encouraged to speed up the purchase of a poly!

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  6. The scarecrow must have easy duty! He is very cute though and reminds the "tunnel" it is truly a garden!

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    1. Haha ... she's just waiting to go out onto the hillside.

      I have lost my plastic ties that I need to fix her to one of the posts, otherwise she will blow away at the first hint of winds. :-)

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  7. Hi Sue, I'm very envious of your wonderful poly tunnel! I have a small greenhouse that I'm planning to reorganise later this year, and I was intrigued by your bed underneath the bench. Just wondering if it would get enough light for useful growing? If so, think I might pinch the idea!
    Thanks for th blog - I don't follow, but always read (too many emails without more from blogs - instead I enjoy making good catch up over a cup of tea when I need / want a sit down. So much inspiration!

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    1. I worked this way in my last polytunnel and it was fine. This photo was taken without much sunlight present. Usually that side of the tunnel gets full afternoon and evening sun so there will be plenty of light.

      Once I have finished the majority of the starting off seedlings, re-potting etc the workbench becomes the shelf for all my smaller plants .... Aubergines, Cape Gooseberries, Peppers, Chillies etc, so I then have a two tier and very space efficient side to the tunnel, it works well.

      I did the same when I grew in the greenhouse at our last place, so it works in smaller spaces too.

      You can be a Follower without signing up for any emails. I know too many emails pinging into the Inbox is annoying. Just click on the 'Join this Site' above the little followers pictures instead of the 'Follow by Email' box which is lower down.

      Thanks for reading. I do exactly the same as you when I sit down for a coffee, catch up on as many of the Blogs I follow as I possibly can :-)

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    2. Hi Sue, thanks so much for taking the trouble to reply. I'm hoping to rejig my (not very light) greenhouse in the autumn, so I think I'll give this idea a go, sounds a great idea.
      Will have a look at following without the email bit next time I sit down for a bit.
      Am impressed by your living below the line challenge as well, great idea that I may have a go at when things here are less demanding.
      All the best, Deborah

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    3. I think Live Below the Line is on until the end of June this year if you want to have a go. You can go to this page to sign up. https://www.livebelowtheline.com/uk/the_cause - let me know if you decide to take part.

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  8. It's all happening and looking great, having tunnel envy :)

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