It is now almost mid-July and I thought as a record for me and as a nice little peek for you it was time to do a tour of the plot, the plot on our hillside that provides the majority of our food.
So today, in the first of a little mini series (there would be too many photos for a single post) it is the turn of the polytunnel. So grab your mug of coffee and lets go for a little wander to see what is growing where.
As you approach the front doors (top photo) to your right you can see the Belfast sink next to the tap so I can wash the vegetables before they come into the house, this isn't plumbed in at all but there is a bucket to catch the water under the plughole, this way the soily water gets thrown back onto the other growing vegetables and doesn't end up in our septic tank ... what a waste of good soil that would be!! It also means that all trimmings can legally be given to the chickens as they haven't been brought into our house for washing.
To the left of the doors are the tyres containing the Blackberry bush that I bought on special offer a couple of years ago ... not many of the fruits make it into the house but it's nice for a hungry worker to enjoy a sweet snack every now and then ;-)
At the right side of the doors the tyres contain a few onion bulbs that I discovered forgotten about in the polytunnel so they got planted very late ... but they should get big enough to give us a meal or two, so I'm glad they didn't get wasted. In the zinc planter are some Jerusalem Artichokes, only just breaking through the soil as they must have been right at the bottom of the planter when I harvested last years crop.
Stepping into the polytunnel we enter a world of green lushness that makes me smile each time I go in. The first bed to the left has Spring Onions at the front and a row of Tomato Plants at the back.
The next bed has three Cucumber plants, now giving us at least one fruit each day ... oh and a French Marigold that should be giving us a splash of color any day now.
Stepping further along and you come to the next bed which has Curly Kale at the front and once again a row of Tomato plants at the back.
The final bed on the left hand side, as you can see right at the back of this photo has yet another row of Tomato plants, this time fronted with two Courgette plants and in the center a large bottomless pot of Potatoes. That is a plant pot with no bottom, so the roots can make their way down into the raised bed and give us more spuds ... not a never ending pot of potatoes ;-)
Looking to the center bed in the photo above there is Spinach at the far end, then a large pot of Carrots, a couple of Spring Onions from last years planting that I am letting set seed and then nearest to us a plant pot with some more Tomatoes and a tray of potted Chives that I have grown for us and to sell at the next car boot sale.
The next bed in the center currently just has all the potted on plants for us and for selling. Two trays of Ox Eye Daisies and one of St John's Wort.
The last center bed is currently the Lettuce bed with two types of Lettuce and some tasty Mizuna.
The right side of the polytunnel is home to shallower beds than the left as they are under my work and seedling bench. The first section has another crop of Spring Onions ... we like Spring Onions!!
The middle section is currently waiting to be planted.
And the end section under the working area is now home to two Butternut Squash plants and a cheerful French Marigold.
Turning round and looking the other way you can see the hanging baskets of Cherry Tomatoes and above them all the pots and tray covers on the hanging shelf. This just hangs from the polytunnel frame with chains and clips, and makes good use of what would be wasted space.
If we spin around and step out of the back doors we can see the raised bed made from old sleepers that now contains four Marrow plants, three Tomato plants and two small rows of Beetroot.
And that concludes the tour of the polytunnel.
If you would like to have a peek into the Net Tunnel come back tomorrow armed with another cup of coffee ... oh and a bowl to pick yourself some Blueberries, they're pretty prolific this year.
Sue xx
