The polytunnel in October is starting to feel totally different to how it was in the heat of the Summer. The cooler, shorter days and much colder nights mean that things have slowed right down. But still there is growth and we are still getting lots of lovely homegrown things to eat.
I have just transplanted these sturdy Beetroot seedlings to the bed on the left as you walk in. Beyond them in the small bed of Kohlrabi ...
... and after that we have Carrots and then a half bed of Mixed Salad Leaves.
Further along still near to the other doors is a small new planting of Perpetual Spinach ...
... just in case the original plants at the opposite side near the front doors decide to give up the ghost on me.
Looking back the other way from the the back doors it looks lush and green, and the French Marigolds flash of color is even more appreciated in these gloomy Autumnal days.
The biggest change this week is that the top half of all the doors has been covered with polythene, pinned in place over the mesh that has kept the tunnel aired throughout the Summer, just leaving a small gap for ventilation,
With this additional protection even on a coolish day, with a little bit of sunshine I am managing to reach the giddy heights of almost twenty degrees, not bad for mid October.
The watering I was doing each evening has also slowed right down now, and with the cold nights that seem to come on us so quickly as the sun dips behind the hills opposite, I try and make sure if things do need a drink, and it's not every day that they do now, they get it during the warmest part of the day, just in case temperatures plummet so much that frost appears .... it won't be long now.
This mornings little harvest.
Kale, spinach, lettuce, carrots, radishes and the last, the very last courgette ..... oh and a couple of eggs that I picked up from the henhouse as I went into Chicken World to throw the chickens all the scraps and trimmings from my picking and weeding session, as I made my way back to the house.
Sue xx
