24th April

With the new tunnel yet to be sheeted, I was still waiting for a day of no wind.

And on Monday morning we arrived at work with no wind.

Quickly we pulled the polythene out and over the tunnel, and by 9am we had it on and secure enough that the wind could start to blow.

By 2pm we had the polythene and base net all finished.

On Tuesday morning Rab was doing all the finishing touches, and making the sliding doors, and I was rotovating it, ready to start planting.

By Wednesday morning we had it all planted with salad mix, and the sliding doors hung.

This new tunnel is 50 meters long and 6 meters wide, it has side vents, which will be great for the warm summer weather.

The side vents can be covered with polythene, which we can roll up or down depending on the weather. Just like blinds, these still have to be made and attached.

But with the field now dry, I had to get out and start bedforming, we should be planting in a week or two, depending on the weather.

And I left Rab with the job of bolding, drilling, and fixing everything in place for the polythene rolling sides to be attached.

With the temperature in the tunnels being nice and warm, the blocked plants have shot on, so next week we will start to take them outside to get hardened of, then planted.

Also, the salad mix has shot on, so next week we will be harvesting them.

And not far behind is spring cabbage, which we might cut as a leafy green, and right beside that is the kohl Rabi, again this is not far away from harvesting.

We also have the courgettes, that I had blocked super early.

I was planning on preparing ground for them, and laying the bio degradable mulch film over the weekend, but there is forecast for minus temperatures at the beginning of the week, so I will keep an eye on that.

So far everything has gone to plan, and we will be of to an early start to the season.