So as promised, this is a thread on growing in my new polytunnel (construction and planning thread here. I started planting in the last few days, so hopefully things will move along pretty quickly. There are still a few things to finish off on the tunnel itself:
1) The guttering on the uphill side is not collecting the water yet - I need a dry day to get that finished. That will water most of the polytunnel from underneath
2) The wicking bed is still under construction. I don't think I will have it ready to grow much till much later in the year.
3) The windows and doors don't have catches so I can't control the ventilation very well
4) I haven't set up a dog resistant door, but they don't tend to be unsupervised in that area so it shouldn't be a problem
5) I'm wanting a max/min thermometer, so I can keep an eye on the temperatures
6) I'm needing more stepping stones for the paths. I collected flat stones intending them for a patio area, but they make pretty good stepping stones.
This is my plan of how the polytunnel planting might go.
Polytunnel planting plan
It won't be exactly like this, as I have already planted my roots (yacon and sunroot/sunflower hybrids) where it is labelled cucurbits, and I put the pomegranites where the murtillo is suggested. The idea however is to have a four way rotation so as to move the tomatoes each year, with each area divided by a permanent planting area with shrubs and herbs and climbers. The grains area is going to be mainly sweetcorn. I love corn on the cob, and have managed to grow some in the past, but often have problems with germination. I also like experimenting, so have some Italian millet to try. I'd love to try the edible form of jobs tears if I can ever get hold of some.... The roots bed is actually for perennial and replant perennial roots, so Dioscorea yam, mashua and yacon. The curcubits is all things gourd - courgette, squash, achocha, pumpkin. If I ever get to try chayote, that would be here.
Exciting! The Italian millet is an interesting thought.
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