Polytunnel

[Clint]

I've had three hours on the allotment...managed to move two gooseberry bushes. What a pig of a job!
My back feels a bit sore now!

 

[Pezza24]

Finally put the cover on my Polytunnel earlier. It's only a cheap one but I'm going to strengthen it right up so it doesn't end up in the Bristol Channel!

Leeks finally fattening up and the overwintered garlic looks ok. Awaiting on some supplies to finally get some seeds going.

 

[foxy]

Was given some heirloom pumpkin seed, Gramma Trombone, don't know if this is what the Butternut came from.

 

[foxy]

Finally put the cover on my Polytunnel earlier. It's only a cheap one but I'm going to strengthen it right up so it doesn't end up in the Bristol Channel!

Leeks finally fattening up and the overwintered garlic looks ok. Awaiting on some supplies to finally get some seeds going.

This is what I do with leeks, keep potting them up before their final destination. These are mine which will be going into a bigger pot before going into the bed.
It will ensure you of a long blanched stem when harvested.

Lorikeets were eating my apples, tried to get away without covering the apples and pears, my wife came out an shooed them away while I was watering the garden.

My labeling was right up the Khyber, went out today to the $2.00 shop and bought 200 plastic knives. tomatoes were labeled wrong as was the chili, capsicums and tomatoes.
A bank of chili looks like Medusa and Birds Eye, or could be all Birds Eye.

Tomatoes, Cherokee Purple, why are the plants closest to the inlet of nutrients bigger and healthier than the tomatoes at the end of the line?
Surely the plants can't suck up the nutrients as the water passes by? That seems to be the only explanation. It isn't an ebb and flow system I made, so the system seems to allow the plants closer to the inlet suck up the nutrients. This is beyond comprehension but that is what seems to be happening.

The more that one studies the world of plants, the more fascinating they become. Where on earth do they get all the silicon from? And what do our bodies do with it?

 

[Barleylass]

We have put a new cover on an old frame of a 35ft polytunnel last summer. We put cardboard down to suppress weeds but it didn’t stop the well established nettles that grew round the edges on the inside. Does anyone have any idea how to get rid of them this year?

We already have a 35ft polytunnel and I have had some fantastic crops from it, as well as outside plots, so I would welcome ideas of what to grow in this one. I was going to put 3 vines down one side but a frost (-6c) at the end of May last year killed all the grapes on the small one I have, and it was covered in fleece at the time. The other one will have all the usual crops; sweetcorn, leek, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, brussels, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cucamelon, courgette, spring onion, so I need something different.

 

[Clint]

Nettles...you need to get the roots out.

 

[Barleylass]

Nettles...you need to get the roots out.

They are really well established and are right up against the cover so not easy to dig. The ground is very solid there as it has been left overgrown without a cover for many years. I was hoping the cardboard would do it but there is a gap between the cardboard and the cover. Do you think sheep fleece might smother them?

 

[Clint]

Get some weed membrane..

 

[Barleylass]

Get some weed membrane..

Never thought of that thanks

 

[aamcle]

Nettles, the lastime I dealt with many I used a mixture of 245T and 24d that's it I remember the designation correctly. I forget which but one was the active ingredient in "Agent Orange" of Vietnam fame.

Did a good job on them :)

Aamcle

 

[Clint]

Black polythene will be ok but the better stuff is the thicker polypropylene.
Put it down then cut some slits in it and when the time is right,shove a chitted seed potato in...they won't need earthing up. You'll get an easy extra crop with virtually no digging as they'll be just under the membrane..

 

[Barleylass]

Black polythene will be ok but the better stuff is the thicker polypropylene.
Put it down then cut some slits in it and when the time is right,shove a chitted seed potato in...they won't need earthing up. You'll get an easy extra crop with virtually no digging as they'll be just under the membrane..

I will give it a go, thanks Clint.

 

[Barleylass]

Nettles, the lastime I dealt with many I used a mixture of 245T and 24d that's it I remember the designation correctly. I forget which but one was the active ingredient in "Agent Orange" of Vietnam fame.

Did a good job on them :)

Aamcle

Oh heck, not sure I’d want to grow food in the soil after that!

 

[foxy]

Get some weed membrane..

Or a goat. Maybe Chippytea should move this thread into the other Polytunnel thread, otherwise it will get confusing.

 

[Clint]

Good point...

 

[Barleylass]

Or a goat. Maybe Chippytea should move this thread into the other Polytunnel thread, otherwise it will get confusing.

Well it’s been a temporary home to 3 alpacas when their shelter got too muddy, and now 2 geese are in there because of bird flu, but unfortunately none of these like nettles!

 

[foxy]

Well it’s been a temporary home to 3 alpacas when their shelter got too muddy, and now 2 geese are in there because of bird flu, but unfortunately none of these like nettles!

What do Alpacas taste like, are they a bit like Camel?

 

[Barleylass]

What do Alpacas taste like, are they a bit like Camel?

I hear it’s tasty, what does camel taste like?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Or a goat. Maybe Chippytea should move this thread into the other Polytunnel thread, otherwise it will get confusing.

Threads merged.

 

[foxy]

I hear it’s tasty, what does camel taste like?

I have only had a burger of camel meat, the steaks are much like roo, buffalo, venison, far to lean for my liking. They mix fat in with the minced camel meat for the burgers.