Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Few jobs done
Well I have made a start to my mammoth task's ahead of me.
Managed to get the old polytunnel down, clear the ground and lay the foundations for the greenhouse, along with the breeze blocks to sit the actual greenhouse on. I have just about finished putting the 16.5 x 8.5 greenhouse up at the weekend despite the rain, nothing can wait as I'm running out of time.
(Pic here later)
I have a few paths to lay now which will have to wait until it dries up I'm afraid. So while it is raining I will make a start on rebuilding the old tunnel with high sides for my stump carrots and parsnips for next year.
I still have 7 ton of sand to shift outside from my main large tunnel which next year will be used for my leeks and onions. I am hoping I can move the sand this week so I can make a start at building the raised beds ready for the mix to go in. I also want side vents in this tunnel but to be honest that can wait until May if not later. My onion bed will have heating cables underneath so I can warm the soil and plant my onions a lot earlier. Air temperature is not a big concern for onions when strong healthy plants, and I only cover them if we have hard frost for a few nights. I should in theory be able to plant out March/April with the leeks being planted out around May.
My 3rd tunnel will again be used for cucumbers unless I decide not to bother with them as they do take an entire tunnel up. I may well just grow more tomatoes as they are more productive and are used up quicker, unlike the 40 cucumbers I threw away just last week. My greenhouse will be used mainly to grow on my onions, leeks, cuttings, seeds etc over winter with a heater and after that planted up with tomatoes.
Need to get the tractor out this week and sort the allotment out aswell, and work the 24 ton of manure in. I have so much to do I will be amazed if I get it all done before winter is here.
Managed to get the old polytunnel down, clear the ground and lay the foundations for the greenhouse, along with the breeze blocks to sit the actual greenhouse on. I have just about finished putting the 16.5 x 8.5 greenhouse up at the weekend despite the rain, nothing can wait as I'm running out of time.
(Pic here later)
I have a few paths to lay now which will have to wait until it dries up I'm afraid. So while it is raining I will make a start on rebuilding the old tunnel with high sides for my stump carrots and parsnips for next year.
I still have 7 ton of sand to shift outside from my main large tunnel which next year will be used for my leeks and onions. I am hoping I can move the sand this week so I can make a start at building the raised beds ready for the mix to go in. I also want side vents in this tunnel but to be honest that can wait until May if not later. My onion bed will have heating cables underneath so I can warm the soil and plant my onions a lot earlier. Air temperature is not a big concern for onions when strong healthy plants, and I only cover them if we have hard frost for a few nights. I should in theory be able to plant out March/April with the leeks being planted out around May.
My 3rd tunnel will again be used for cucumbers unless I decide not to bother with them as they do take an entire tunnel up. I may well just grow more tomatoes as they are more productive and are used up quicker, unlike the 40 cucumbers I threw away just last week. My greenhouse will be used mainly to grow on my onions, leeks, cuttings, seeds etc over winter with a heater and after that planted up with tomatoes.
Need to get the tractor out this week and sort the allotment out aswell, and work the 24 ton of manure in. I have so much to do I will be amazed if I get it all done before winter is here.
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7 comments:
Looks like you are going to have seriously impressive set up for next year.If you get the chance to upload some pictures it would be interesting to see it when finished. Good luck with all the work.
Will upload a few pics of progress so far tomorrow.
The modified tunnel is going to fun to build I'm sure, knowing my my luck it will blow away.
Hurry up! You can help me make my polytunnel then! LOL
By the time I have finished your poly tunnel would have been planted.
You made a start on that yet?. I'm going to get some old scaffold and use that for extra height on my existing tunnel that is currently layed on top of all the roses. Hopefully this will enable me to get the extra height needed on the pipes without to much messing about for the parsnips.
Hi,
I am James' daughter and I noticed that a few posts ago. He mentioned a propagator or heat mat for Xmas can you give me some advice on what I should be looking for to avoid my dad ending up with a Terrys chocolate orange for Xmas again!
Thanks
Abi
Hi Abi
Heat mats are very convenient and easy to use.
Some advice would be to make sure you get one with a built in thermostat so you can control the temperature.
Downsides are they are expensive compared to alternatives such as soil warming cables but these are more tricky to set up and require a separate thermostat.
If you have massive areas to keep warm under plants then soil warming cables is the option as it is just more cost effective. This requires you to make a bench up, lay the cable in, fill it with sand and always keep it moist. Not as easy as the mats which you just plug in. You can get the mats in quite a few sizes and most places stock them, shop around but heres a few that stock them:
http://www.jungleseeds.co.uk/
HardwareOrders/index1.html
http://www.suttons.co.uk/
pd_600_Propagation_Warming_Mat.htm
You really need to decide how large an area he would like to keep warm and find the best price you can.
Propagator's: Don;t be fooled by these cheap propagator's, they have no thermostat in them and your plants will just cook. Pay a bit more and get one with a thermostat so you can control the heat.
Again jungleseeds have a great range, search "propagator". I'm going to buy the "130 Three in One Propagator" this year as it looks great for seed stages.
Hope this is of some help, any other questions I'm happy to help.
"Some advice would be to make sure you get one with a built in thermostat so you can control the temperature"
Sorry don't want to confuse you: Some mats have them built in and other's are external via a "temperature rod" as long as it has a thermostat with controllable heat it will be fine.