It only seems like yesterday that the plastic went up on the tunnel and there was the huge task of making vegetable beds ahead of us. I can't believe we have come so far. For quite some time it was hard graft, all day, every day ... digging, weeding, planting seedlings, potting on, planting out, plumbing in water systems (both overhead and seep hoses), making doors, building chicken proof gates ... and then one day Dan and I found ourselves sitting on the garden swing sweat sipping on cups of tea ie taking a break .... 'Janey Mack', I exclaimed, 'we haven't done this for 3 months'! And so it was that all of a sudden, we were on top of the polytunnel, and small pockets of spare time began to present themselves again for such luxuries as a 'cupan tae' (Irish for cup of tea). Having a polytunnel is a bit like having a baby, nobody can prepare you for the amount of work it is going to take to get it up and running.
We are now in the toddler phase. We are reaping the benefit of all our hard work. The huge variety of salads are all in full bounty and we eat lush salads at every lunch and dinner ... parsley, dill, chervil, sorrel, 3 types of basil and coriander are some of the herbs. We have about 7 types of lettuce - curly, frilly, straight, green, red, purple! Perpetual spinach, rocket, lambs lettuce, chicory (disgusting by the way!), radish and baby swiss chard bright lights are great in salad, and are also big enough to cook with now. Courgettes, squash, pumpkin and cucumber are all fruiting and will soon be big enough to eat. French, runner, climbing and broad beans are all flowering as are 4 types of tomatoes. 4 kinds of chillis, sweet peppers, baby sweetcorn, new zealand spinach (bizarre plant!), and 2 types of aubergine all look promising. 3 kinds of carrots look healthy - round, early and multicoloured. I've also planted flowers and more perennial herbs, because there is space. I've sage, ordinary and broad leafed, rosemary, savoury (mind blowing unexpected hot flavour), sunflowers, French marigolds and sweet peas. I plan to also plant some borage and nasturtium. These should all tempt beneficial insects, including my honey bees, into the tunnel for pollinating the plants.
Work outdoors still goes on, just! I have purple sprouting brocolli and dwarf curly kale in with cabbage, beetroot and calabrese almost ready to plant out. There are outdoor beds of potatoes, squash, pumpkin, courgette, broad and runner beans, jerusalem and globe artichokes, and strawberries. I suppose I should also mention the raspberries, black, white and redcurrants, and heres hoping the apples, pears and plums do ok after that late frost the other night.
So now we are finally stepping back its a great feeling to admire the work, and have plenty for the dinner table. Its so satisfying I can't begin to explain it. The veg tastes so deliciously sweet as its eaten within minutes of being picked, and so its vitamin, mineral and natural sugar contents are still intact. Once picked all these factors begin to plummet. More than half the satisfaction of growing our own is seeing our kids, 3 and 5, merrily chomp through salad and greens with glee! That is truly a miracle! I'm also pleased to realise that we have surplus, and friends are beginning to ask if they can buy it.
Your tunnel looks very impressive - I wish that ours looked 1/10th as good.
Every year I swear that we shall get on top of the vegetable care but every year the cut flowers seem to take precedence and the veg gets left unsown or untransplanted.
Our tunnel is a mess of astroturf (salvaged from the Country Living Scotland show skip) which is waiting to become paths, old unsorted pots, wallflower seedlings and one solitary nice healthy row of tomatoes.
I should print out your photo, pin it to my fridge and take inspiration
J
x
Posted by: Jane | June 08, 2007 at 05:35 PM
Looks great.
We tried that once, and the Kansas wind tore it to shreds.
Posted by: Phelan | June 09, 2007 at 12:46 AM
Yay! Go, girl! Yup, there's a very satisfying moment every year when the light intensity gets up high enough to kickstart all the plant growth, and the tunnel goes mad. You'll be wondering what the hell to do with it all very shortly, so I suggest you get yourself a good book on storing and preserving things. Unless you intend to sell your excess of course!
Posted by: hedgewizard | June 09, 2007 at 03:39 PM
Sounds absolutely blissful :-)
Posted by: Tech | June 10, 2007 at 09:24 PM
OH Poly is looking fantastic and I can't even imagine how delicious all that organic home grown veg tastes.
Congratulations and good on you too for putting in so much hard work in search of your dream.
I've put Sally in my favorites and will visit often through your summer and get inspiration for my winter.
Posted by: Maddy | June 12, 2007 at 12:16 AM
Glad to hear that you can sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour and a well-deserved cup of tea.
Good luck with the bees - just think of all that delicious honey.
Marie
Posted by: marie | June 12, 2007 at 09:47 PM
Your tunnel looks brillient and very full of goodies, yum yum. If you do get problems with it blowing away. I will come to Ireland and build you a plastic bottle green house, like the one I built at the Children's Livesey Museum in London, with sustainable inititive communities from scotland. Keep all your two litre bottles for my arrival.
Posted by: http//:eloiseohare.blogspot.com | June 16, 2007 at 12:53 PM