Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Articles
I write regularly for Gardeners World, Kitchen Garden, Country
Smallholding, Optimum Nutrition and Dove (Bruton parish) magazines,
occasionally for the Daily Telegraph and others. In November 2015 for
example I am featured in GardensIllustrated, have a piece on why not to
dig in Gardeners World magazine and one on no dig asparagus in Country
Smallholding. Also this in the Guardian of November 14th.
BUYING A POLYTUNNEL
How big?
I would buy the largest you can t into your area, because the space is
useful for storage and drying washing as well as for growing! and one
always nds more to plant in a tunnel. Hoops are usually 5 feet (1.5m) apart
so length is multiples of that. I reckon that 20-30 feet is a good length for
even ventilation, whereas tunnelsof say 60 feet length can have pockets of
dead unventilated air in the middle.
Orientation
Ventilation
Plants like fresh air and its important they have enough, rather than
striving for maximum heat. Air in a polytunnel circulates from one end to
the other, and if possible I recommend leaving a gap between the top of
doors and the frame above them, say 6in (15cm), so that a small amount of
air can always ow through and increase carbon dioxide levels, without a
draught at ground level. I nd that winter salads stay healthy, without
mildew problems, yet without any need to open and close doors for much
of the winter. One job saved!
The option of side vents (instead of the polythene going to ground level) is
in my opinion not necessary or suitable for vegetables, because it reduces
temperature too much in windyweather, and the doors offer enough
possibility to admit fresh air. Its cheaper, simpler and more effective on
other ways to cover the hoops with polythene only, to ground level and
below. Keep side vents for long tunnels only, above a length of 40-50 feet
(13-16m).
Foundation tubes
When burying polythene in a trench, tubes simply need to be hammered
into the ground about 12-18in (30-45cm), where their role is to giv
e the
structure some rigidity, that is all. When polythene is bured, the tubes are
not anchoring the structure in place, but keeping it steady in wind.
In contrast to this, when polythene is attached to a rail and not buried, the
foundation tubes have more importance as they are what holds the
structure in the ground (rather than the buried polythene) and so you need
more expensive tubes with metal brackets on their ends, and each one
requires a dug hole, sometimes with concrete.
Exceptions to the above are sheltered gardens, and sites where you cannot
dig a trench e.g. too much gravel, concrete etc. But then it is dif cult to dig
holes for foundation tubes too.
Doors
You use these a lot so suf ce to say, they are worth spending money on to
have the ones you like. Home-made is certainly possible, note my tips on
ventilation. Its the area where you can be most creative, especially if you
enjoy carpentry. For door frames, 42.
In the rst of a new series on growing veg organically, veteran grower and
organic guru Charles Dowding goes back to basics and reveals why success
lies under your feet.
Conventional wisdom has us digging over our plots every autumn but what
are the bene ts and could a no-dig approach be wiser?
Val Bourne explores the pros and cons
with help from no-dig enthusiast Charles
Dowding
BASKET
1 15.95
How to create a New Vegetable Garden
Signed?: Unsigned
1 18.00
Organic Gardening - The natural no-dig way
Signed?: Signed
1 15.50
Subtotal: 49.45
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