Oven dried Tomatoes
Our local ASDA (related to Walmart) had grape sized tomatoes marked down to 20p for a half pound bag, so I bought five. I should have bought more….
Looking at various recipes, they seemed similar so here is mine.
Cut them in half length ways, when they’re all done put a splash of olive oil, some freshly ground pepper and salt. I also threw in a sliced up clove of garlic. Pop them on a lined backing tray and into the oven at 120C / 250f for a couple of hours. Keep an eye on them as some of them crisped up and chew almost like toffee, Sara likes those. The fatter ones are a little juicy and perfect for a pizza topping. They have a sundried tomato flavour with added sweetness. When we have a glut I’ll know what to do with them.
What’s an inch of water?
Some of the podcasts talk about giving certain varieties of plants so many inches of water a week. I guessed it was the same amount of rainfall as an inch of water. But how to translate that into a unit of measure I understand.
Let’s just do it imperial and calculate the other way 1″ x 12″ x 12″ = 144 sq inches of water for an inch of rain falling on a square foot. Using the converter cubic inches to litres is 2.4 liters per sq foot.
I have two watering cans, one is 6 liters/1.5 us gal and the other 10 liters/ 2.6 us gal
The six liter normally holds five so I don’t slosh it all over the place. 5 liters will water 2 sq foot and the bigger can will do 4.
Before I go pouring all that water into the beds, they are filled with coir, compost and have a high organic/soil ratio, so the bed will be able to hold more water than you usual soil.
I normally push my finger in and you can feel if it is dry, moist or wet. Water as required.
The other option is to use blumats. They are relatively expensive in the UK £46 for 12 so I’ve tried copies from China or £12 for 12. These are touted as high tech watering system and in fact is ancient.
If an unglazed pot is sunk into the ground and filled with water, it will only seep out into the soil when the soil is drier than the outer face of the pot. The irrigation pots were called an olla, but you can just standard teracotta pots and some silicon sealant. Those ancient folk had a few good ideas.
First bed
My original plan for the raised bed walls was to use wood. I had some concrete block I’d used for a foundation to support an old railway goods carriage I wanted to upcycle but life got in the way. Rather than waste them, I used these blocks as a bed wall. They are about 8″ deep and with a layer of manure at the bottom of the bed, it took five wheel barrows to fill the bed.
All the seedlings have been pulled out of make shift fleece bed and into the poly-tunnel. There has been some frost damage – some of the tomatoes have their tips burnt and the french beans are not looking well. One of the purple corn plants was left in the grow room by mistake and is perky and happy while it’s brothers are looking limp and sad.
What did I plant? with a nod to square foot gardening:
- Pak Choi and Oriental greens – they can keep each other company
- Rainbow chard, I tried to keep them colour co-ordinated
- Bird Eye Chilli along one edge, I have no idea how big they will grow
- sprouting little red shallots sold to be eaten that I bought in chinese food shop in Peckham, London. It was an Aladdin’s cave of surprises; chili sauces, soy, fish sauces, beans and peas I’d not heard of and interesting looking frozen fish that looked delicious. Fortunately I’m on a budget or I would have bought so much more. I did buy turmeric tubers, and two fish heads that I’ve put in a large glass jar with brown sugar to make FAA (Fish Amino Acid ala Korean natural farming)
- Red Brussel sprouts and Snowball cauliflowers
- Broad beans
- Purple corn
Rory built a compost bin using three pallets and loaded it with horse manure. It followed a discussion where I was considering ways to keep the poly-tunnel warm. He’s got a good head for ideas. Some of the manure was a little dry so I watered it and put all the heat loving plants on top of it.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I pick up meds for my wife. As we were out of milk I popped into the co-op and bought 2lb of sugar and 2lb of over ripe bananas. On my return home, I chopped them up (skins and all) and wizzed them with the sugar in a food processor. It filled a quart jar to the brim. In 10 days, I should have some FFJ (Fermented Fruit Juice) that I can feed the plants who like a little more potassium than just nitrogen. Nettles are ideal for nitrogen and I’ve eyed up a few patches that have young (and very stingy) nettles I can use in the same fashion, equal weights of brown sugar to nettles.
It’s on
Long covid had left me breathless even walking at normal speed. Pushing that envelope, my breathing has eased and now I can work as I used to. Although I’m overweight and unfit, working yesterday and today to the point of exhaustion, has given me a new lease on life. My hands and fingers ache, as does my back, but that fades when I think of the achievement, the goal I’m striving toward.
My father, 80 this year, helped to cut the carpet we used as hotspot tape, gave sage advice and really helped in the whole process. Rory, my son, is generous with his time and I love bouncing ideas off him. He has a dry sense of humour that is incredibly funny. Lynda our neighbor, who has also struggled with depression has been a stalwart, and Lewiss her son, helped out too. Fraser, who lives with the kids next door, is ever upbeat and worked really hard.
In the time it took us to put the cover on, the temperature inside the tunnel was about 40C and outside was just 10C with a wind that could cut a nipple off. I can’t wait to see what happens tonight when the temperature drops to freezing.
On a final note, the cover was supplied by First Tunnels. Their calculator is great, their packing and posting ensures the cover arrives in good shape and they threw in an extra meter. The cover itself seems great and I look forward to ordering more covers.
Prepping for the cover
Most of the trenches were dug using the mini-digger, I did need to dig about four or five yards of trench by hand. The tree roots held up work but nothing a bit of sweat could not fix.
The next job was to cut the door posts and fix the end water pipes to the door posts using metal strips wrapped around the pipe and screwed into place. The rest of the water pipe hoops were put in place and fixed to a batten running from door post to door post. The distance between each hoop, was measured at the base and same distance marked on the timber.
It’s now looking like it’s a polytunnel.
Mini Digger
Lynda, our neighbour, hired a mini digger and I was given a chance to use it for the afternoon. The hoops are 1.5m apart, and the digger was able to squeeze between them. I did manage to knock into one of the door uprights and dislodge one of the foundation pipes. Compared to digging two trenches 12m/40ft by hand, its a reasonable tradeoff for my poor operating skills.
The trench will be used to lay the plastic cover of the cold frame, and soil will be placed over it to keep it in place. A few you tube videos have given me an idea of what is required.
Sunday’s weather
Digging Holes
There is a lot of prep work needed when you build a poly-tunnel including a lot of it is digging holes. I’ve dug four holes, each 2ft back from the door and will be a corner of a raised bed. It will act as a support to prevent the door frame from bending inward. Postcrete is an instant mix that sets in 10 or 15 minutes letting me get on with more work.
Hail stopped play and went into my workshop and installed the stairs to the lower section of my shed; its mahogany and very very heavy. Rather than have an odd sized top step with the treads perfectly horizontal, I lifted the stairs so the top step is level and the tread slopes slightly downward. It’s a very slight slope.
A new Door
With some old fence posts donated by Brian Goodfellow, I’ve made a door for the East end. The wind from the North is really a north easterly so this gable end will keep out the cold. In hindsight, I may need a base board but making a slight change will be quick, everything is screwed together.
The orchard is beautiful, full of plum and damson blossom.
The mouse trap did it’s job but if there is one, there are normally more, so I’ve reset the trap. They seem to love lettuce so I’ve now nothing left. I’ll need to just take it on the chin and plant some more.
Not sure how squeamish you are but I’ve a photo of the bugger in the trap….
Layout of the Poly-tunnel
The layout has gone through several design iterations. My constraints that have been through various changes are: 3 ft wide path down the center, allowing easy access for wheelbarrows and wheelchairs. 2ft reach, so a 2ft bed if accessed from one side, and 4ft beds if accessible from both sides. Any side paths to be 2 ft wide’ just enough to get a barrow through.
The idea of island beds appealed, but I was shocked how much was pathway. By cheating a little, I made the edge beds 3′ not 2′ and had a long 4′ wide bed. This would be a pain, walking around the bed and I would make paths through the bed, eventually. This does use the least amount of wood. The key hole bed uses the most amount of wood but, it offers the most bed space that is easy to access.
| Bed Area m2 | Bed are Sq Ft | % bed area | |
| The Poly-tunnel | 60 | 645.834 | 100 |
| Islands with 3’ all round | 26.58 | 286.104462 | 44% |
| 3’ wide beds + 4’ wide central bed | 39 | 419.7921 | 65% |
| Key hole beds | 39.84 | 428.833776 | 66% |
Mice
While I was away for the weekend, the little buggers have enjoyed a diet of broad bean seeds with seedling lettuce on the side. Crunchy peanut butter will be their last supper…. One of the courgette stems has split, and I’m blaming them too.
I’ve replanted a tomato and in the process planted it a little deeper and removed some side shoots, that are now under a dome and dusted with rooting hormone. I hope they root.
The plants outside are doing okay under fleece, we have a little wind and rain, the latter is welcome although throws a spanner in the works with regards to finishing the poly-tunnel
