Help MBE grow his dinner 2012

Little_Vics

right - serious question. Hubby is going to make me a polytunnel this week and I'm debating dimensions, especially height. I'm just hoping to put in tomatoes and chillies - any ideas?? Don't ask about varieties - that's a step to far. I just know I want red ones.

Sambucus_Nigra

emiff6 wrote: »

I can probably squeeze 10 in a row, no more, so 20 in all just here.

Ok then - just stick long canes where you have gaps, with 2 plants at the bottom, but put the canes at an angle like this / and then the beans hang down for picking. For 20 plants, you need 10 8ft canes and you can then put them where you want and not lose any space underneath that is shaded, and you can really just stick them in odd corners or space them out around the garden to leave your other veg room to grow. You don't get beans near the ground so you can put them near other crops that take up the first 6 inches of growing space [so beetroot, turnips, kohl rabis, cabbages etc]

mrbadexample

Little_Vics wrote: »

right - serious question. Hubby is going to make me a polytunnel this week and I'm debating dimensions, especially height. I'm just hoping to put in tomatoes and chillies - any ideas?? Don't ask about varieties - that's a step to far. I just know I want red ones.

Make sure it is higher than you are tall, otherwise you end up stooping all the time until you get fed up enough to put it up on blocks.

mrbadexample

I've had quite a productive weekend in other respects too.

I've finally got the cat / fox scarer set up:



It works a treat. I've scared myself away from my prize-winning carrots about 4 times already. From where it is in the picture the spray covers both beds and the front of the greenhouse. I'll move it around from time to time so that visitors don't get complacent. The only problem is that the system leaks from both ends (hoselock type connections) as it's permanently under pressure. Obviously this not acceptable. I've got a the half-barrel under one end tonight to see how much it's losing, but I need to make it watertight.

mrbadexample

I've planted out the walking onions:



and the last of the Pentland Javelin that were spare:



I've made some minor repairs to the compost bins, and I bought leeks, garlic chives and Kelsae onions while I was at the garden centre. I still haven't sown any leeks, so a little pot for £1.25 seemed worth it as they were so far ahead of where I am.

mrbadexample

Next big project is the pond. The frog's indicated where it needs to go, so that's sorted.

I was thinking that as I dig it I could use the excavated soil to bank up the sides. This would mean that I create a raised pond. I've have to dig down less far, and should have less soil to dispose of.

Are there any reasons you can think of why this might not be a good idea?

annie123

mrbadexample wrote: »

Are there any reasons you can think of why this might not be a good idea?

Yes, soggy lawn.

We did that 15 years ago, the ground height had around a foot difference coming in from the fence. At fence side it's level and lawn side it has a bank. Used the dug out soil to make the bank.

When it rains water runs down hill (on a small scale of course) so after several soggy years of trying stepping stones etc we dug a small ditch and put gravel in. The drainage ditch does work unless it rains for days on end in which case the clay soil under it still can't cope.

The pond now has a small leak a few inches from the top so this year after frog spawn has finished we will be redoing it but on level ground this time.

I made a pond for a neighbour a few years ago and the top 12" of dug soil we we sifted, added some home made compost, water retaining crystal and used it for pots........that worked really well.
The next lot was quite heavy clay so broke that up bit and put it in spare containers.
This was then added to the compost heap throughout the year......greens/browns/soil/greens/brown/soil etc this made great compost and you'd never have know it was heavy clay to start with. So maybe something along those lines for you too.

If you have sandy soil of course you may not have a problem at all.

mrbadexample

annie123 wrote: »

Yes, soggy lawn.

We did that 15 years ago, the ground height had around a foot difference coming in from the fence. At fence side it's level and lawn side it has a bank. Used the dug out soil to make the bank.

When it rains water runs down hill (on a small scale of course) so after several soggy years of trying stepping stones etc we dug a small ditch and put gravel in. The drainage ditch does work unless it rains for days on end in which case the clay soil under it still can't cope.

Thanks. :think: Maybe if I incorporated the drainage ditch when I built it... I was also considering a bog area as part of the pond design anyway. I don't want to make too much work though.

annie123 wrote: »

If you have sandy soil of course you may not have a problem at all.

My soil's actually pretty good between the rubble, glass and nails. I might add another level of boards to one of the raised beds and start to fill it. I've been musing over this as they're all getting pretty full now.

TallGirl

Peas seems to have survived with the fleece so have the little bean with the bottle top cover on it. Like your cat scarer MBE one of mine was so naughty this morning firstly he was inside the pea frame but no damage then I had just cleaned the glas table top and he had to jump up there. Got friends coming to stay to I wanted it to be perfect.

Good luck with the pond no something I would want MIL has one got it with the house looks a mess but loads of froggies so that is good.

aliasojo

Ok, got a daft question.

When you use fleece to protect plants, what do you actually do with it?

Do you drape it over the plant itself (so it's touching the plant) or put in some sort of cane thing to keep it off the plant and drape the fleece over that?

Is fleece, fleece? Or is there a particular kind of thickness you need to use to protect from cold/frost?

Do you just use one layer?

Or use enough to keep an eskimo warm?

Never used it before but think I started my peas too early and they really need to go out soon but it's still cold at night. :undecided