Polytunnel

[Pezza24]

Ah great thanks. My allotment is more of a one man and his dog affair. Although we rent off the council he runs everything with little to no help from the council. But I could ask a few other plot holders of they want to club together and get some bulk stuff.

 

[StoutWolf]

Ah great thanks. My allotment is more of a one man and his dog affair. Although we rent off the council he runs everything with little to no help from the council. But I could ask a few other plot holders of they want to club together and get some bulk stuff.

I think it's something to do with the national allotment society. So if part of your rent goes to pay membership (ours does) it maybe worth asking him if he's got a catalogue.

 

[Clint]

Clubbing together you could get some great savings and buy enough for bulk delivery on anything heavy such as potting compost, fertilizer or manure. Anything really that's a nuisance to transport yourself.

 

[Pezza24]

We're not part of the allotment society as far as I know. I know very little apart from the account I chuck the £60 In to be honest then it's every man for himself after that. No water or services of any kind on site. It's fallen into disrepair over the years but when I was a kid it was thriving. A lot of plots have been renovated over the last year which is really good to see. They did used to have a shipping crate selling compost etc back in the day but it's sat there doing nothing at present.

 

[Clint]

Why not find out if there's any interest in getting the crate going again?

 

[foxy]

After a few hot days tomatoes starting to ripen, trouble is this is the second year in a row my labeling is awry. I buy knives from the $2 shop, trouble is being frugal I reuse them and just write on the opposite side. What I thought were Tommy Toe tomatoes are yellow so they are Sun Gold, heaven only knows what chilies are where. I can distinguish my Medusa and my Birds Eye, but be blowed if I can work out the capsicums and other chili.
Anyhow Beef Steak tomatoes coming on nicely, great on toast and in sangers.

The mixture in the other hot house will be ready within the next week or so, the only ones I can confidently identify are Cherokee Purple and Sweet 100's. And obviously the corn.

 

[foxy]

Corn now up to the roof, a few of the tomatoes are starting to colour up.

I have really seen the error of my ways with labeling, using the same plastic knife twice, writing on the other side. I hate making a mistake, it takes me days to get over it. I have capsicums which I thought were chilies, Birds Eye chilies which I thought were Medusa chilies. A mate rang me today I had given him what I thought were Gardeners Delight, he says his tomatoes are sweet orange ones which explains why I have a shortfall of Sun Gold.
A dozen Sun Gold here.

My other tunnel 24 Cherokee Purple, not a hybrid seeds can be saved, my favourite beef size tomato, very sweet and fleshy.

Cucumbers beans and some cauli in other pots.

Market more from Fothergill's seeds.

Hybrid Burpless.

Simba beans, will probably get two or three more plantings of these before the season is out.

 

[Pezza24]

@foxy you may have already covered this so appolagies but whats the reasoning behind growing in a Polytunnel in Australia?

Is the climate just too hot to grow some of these things in an outdoor environment? Just curious is all as a relative newbie to growing veg I have always thought the more sun the better for most plants.

 

[foxy]

@foxy you may have already covered this so appolagies but whats the reasoning behind growing in a Polytunnel in Australia?

Is the climate just too hot to grow some of these things in an outdoor environment? Just curious is all as a relative newbie to growing veg I have always thought the more sun the better for most plants.

My poly tunnel is not actually a poly tunnel they are mainly insect exclusion netting, not polythene. One has a polythene roof but fine netting around the sides. Another is all fine netting, and another which is all poly carbonate sheeting which I grow my seedlings in during the winter.
To much sun isn't any good for plants when it gets into the 40's C they just burn. Black Saturday (the tragic bushfires) which got to 45 C I lost everything in the garden. This year is a La Nina year so I won't have to use any shade cloth and water as much, Melbourne is a temperate zone, I can grow bananas but bananas can also be grown in the south of England. I did read of a woman who got two lots of fruit from one banana plant in the UK which is unusual, they only bear fruit once then the following year the fruit comes off a sucker.
We get a mild winter rarely gets below 10 C in my garden, if I cut the tomatoes at ground level and cover them with sacks or straw they will grow again the following year. I bet if this was done in a poly tunnel in the UK it would work. Trouble is we grow winter veg so need the room.

 

[Pezza24]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I seemed to get two crops of a few of the fruiting plants that I inherited on my allotment this year, possibly the prolonged good weather we seemed to have during lockdown.

Hoping for a lot more yield this year as I've got the full season to prepare the ground and get seedlings started. Just bought a very cheap version of a Polytunnel on eBay to try out but also looking to get a greenhouse.

 

[foxy]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I seemed to get two crops of a few of the fruiting plants that I inherited on my allotment this year, possibly the prolonged good weather we seemed to have during lockdown.

Hoping for a lot more yield this year as I've got the full season to prepare the ground and get seedlings started. Just bought a very cheap version of a Polytunnel on eBay to try out but also looking to get a greenhouse.

What makes gardening a challenge is get it wrong and we have to wait until the following year to fix what went wrong. Read as much as you can to avoid making mistakes, doesn't seem that long ago I couldn't even grow lettuce. But just like brewing it is fun learning.

 

[Clint]

I find things change from year to year...a warm spring can provide a huge boost in the tunnel as the soil warms and things can be planted earlier.
This year the cucumber were poor,year before we must have had 100!

 

[foxy]

I find things change from year to year...a warm spring can provide a huge boost in the tunnel as the soil warms and things can be planted earlier.
This year the cucumber were poor,year before we must have had 100!

I tried warming the soil up to get an early start on some dwarf beans, planted them and covered the soil with a black plastic sheet, got a 30+C spring day and killed off the beans.

 

[foxy]

My first Cherokee Purple almost ready for harvest.

 

[Pezza24]

Started to put up my cheap Polytunnel the other day, only photo I've got of it. £55 on eBay.

It's quite flimsy but I've strengthened it up inside with pallets that will then double as a workbench/potting table and I've staked it to the ground with re-bar that was left over from a project in work.

Someone kindly dumped a huge mound of chippings in the access area so I've helped myself to some as me and my dad both went flying in all the mud. Hope to get the roof on and get some seeds started as soon as possible.

 

[foxy]

My first Cherokee Purple almost ready for harvest.
View attachment 38679

Roast pork shoulder last night, this mornings breakfast 2 slices of toast, pork dripping and the Cherokee Purple.

Delicious.

 

[foxy]

The reason why you should wash your rice hulls before putting them in your mash.

Rice growing among my spring onions, this is the result of rice hulls in my compost. It has to be well washed before being used for animal fodder. Pays to wash before chucking into the mash.

Tomatoes starting to colour up, won't bother with Gardeners Delight again, I did read that it is not the tomato it was when first released. The Sun Gold, I was excited to get these seeds but disappointed with the size and barely much sweeter than the Tommy Toe, which is an Australian heirloom and not an F2 so I can save the seeds.

Not long before I will be harvesting the corn, within the next week or so.

 

[Clint]

Had a nice few hours down the allotment today.
Main job was tidy the inside of the tunnel,clear old plants and weeds,dig it over and applied chicken manure pellets.
Outside I've a few tricky jobs...one is to move a couple of gooseberry bushes...these are a bit wild and covered in vicious thorns...so they'll be cropped to the ground...I gave up with my hand snippers as I was getting ragged by the thorns so will return with the heavy duty,long handled choppers...
It was great to get out. Must start planning and planting asap!

 

[foxy]

Got a big bug on me beans!

Harmless to beans and humans the Cicada. Biggest pest I have at the moment are greenfly on my chili and capsicums, blast them of with the hose one day and they are back the next.
Best thing I have found for getting rid of them is soapy water, it is pain taking spraying each leaf then wiping them of with fore finger and thumb

 

[foxy]

Set up my hose to blast my chili plants out in the garden, found no need, I have some little helpers, looks like these lady bugs have been chomping their way through them.

Searched my Nectarine tree last night for any remaining fruit, what I couldn't find the birds did.

Can't pick tomatoes fast enough now have a plate full on toast every morning for breakfast.

At last my first cobs of corn. They will make it to the kitchen, though they go hand in glove with chicken these will be going tonight with a nice barbecued steak, a couple of new potatoes, beans, baby carrots and served with creamy mushroom sauce. The mushroom sauce is for the steak, the corn will have melted butter.