Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
As the outdoor summer comes to a close, the tunnel will be a great place to dry
and cure onions. A suspended bench or shelf is ideal, as it is dry and genuinely
mouse-free. Melons will be ripening and when cut (by the end of September) are
likely to be the envy of neighbouring growers. The beds will now begin to empty
in earnest, leaving space free for plantings for the hungry gap and quick-maturing
catch crops for autumn and winter.
Autumn (October to November)
As the growing season winds down and the remaining hot-weather crops are
stripped out, the tunnel will suddenly look much more spacious and calm, and this
is a golden opportunity for a general tidy-up. Any remaining tender plants, such as
celery and fennel, that were grown outdoors may be heeled into the tunnel beds to
prolong their usefulness, and will keep fresh that way for a couple of months.
Autumn can be an anxious time for tunnel gardeners, as variable weather will
decide whether those vital hungry-gap plantings have been timed just right -
established, but not too far along. Too warm, and the harvest may start while
there is still plenty of stored produce; too cold, and you may be tempted to eat
them young - and while this means they won't be available later, they will be so
delicious that it's unlikely to be too much of a disappointment.
Winter (December to early February)
As the days become shorter, activity in the polytunnel slows down for the winter
and practically stops in the depths of the season. Some of the beds will be empty
in preparation for sowing early in spring, some will have relatively hardy crops
ready for harvest, and others will be full of established young plants that will
grow away as the days lengthen, providing a great start to the gardening year.
In winter the polytunnel will have a dual role, as a 'holding area' for hungry-gap
plantings established, but not yet fully grown, and as a walk-in larder for fresh
produce through the winter. Your part in all this will simply be to prevent as
much damage from frosts as possible by getting the moisture and ventilation
levels just right, to protect plants that need it, and to watch for signs of fungal
infection. In addition, even in mid-January the simple coat-and-sweater approach
of having a cold frame or cloche within the tunnel will provide enough warmth to
germinate lettuce, rocket, carrot, beetroot and a variety of other salad vegetables.
Provided you have chosen your plants and varieties sensibly, and especially if
you put a fleece cloche in place for particularly hard frosts, your tunnel will
shrug off even very cold weather with a minimum of damage, leaving you free to
enjoy a much wider variety of fresh food through the winter than if you were
growing in an outdoor garden alone. Don't be tempted to clear away slug-nibbled
