Features
A fresh start
The first job of the gardening year is to prepare our polytunnels for the coming season, and as we are not restricted by bad weather, its full steam ahead.
It is very important to prepare the soil well in tunnels as they are expected to produce multiple crops in any given season. The first thing I do is to check if any repairs are needed to the plastic or to doors, especially wooden ones which need regular maintenance. You can buy special polytunnel repair tape (circa €20 a roll) which is very strong. Clean and dry damaged areas before applying tape and be generous with overlaps.
Letting in the light
The next job, and one not to be taken lightly, is to wash down tunnels of any algal growth. I have tried power hosing to no avail so it was back to the extendable brush with attached hose. On the larger tunnels I place planks along the top and move along from one end to the other.
Today, I cleared a tunnel which had a tomato crop last summer. The dead plants were still on strings so these were taken down and barrowed to the compost heap. The crop was mulched with grass mowings and hadn’t been watered for some time to prevent fungal problems on the tomatoes. The mulch of course had helped to retain moisture but there was the added benefit of almost no weed growth to contend with. Overhear sprinklers were turned on to soak both the soil and mulch to make it easier to till in.
Fertilise well
Next up was manuring the soil for the growing season ahead. Home produced well-rotted farmyard manure is used for the tunnels – approximately seven transport boxes (thirty barrow loads) for a tunnel of 25x75 ft. This is tilled in using a two wheeled tractor. The soil closest to the plastic along the tunnel sides is first pulled out using a cropping hoe, and after manuring and tilling, is pushed back in with a rake. If slugs and their eggs are present, they often take refuge in this space. As this tunnel won’t be planted for a while yet, it will be watered again a day or two before a crop goes in – in this case lettuce which has been started in soil blocks.
Depending on which crop is being planted, some tunnels may require different treatment. For early potatoes, seaweed fertiliser may be given to provide extra potassium. For early carrots, no manure or compost is applied until after harvest to prevent forking of the roots. Roots of any perennial weeds should be dug out before crop planting.
For any crop that is direct seeded, it is imperative that the compost being used is very fine (well broken down) because it will cause an obstruction if using a hand pushed seeder.
Controlling weeds
False seed beds or flaming off the first crop of weeds can be very useful if time allows for this. By this I mean the ground can be prepared and the first flush of weeds allowed to germinate before hoeing or burning off using a flame weeder. Then the crop is seeded in, giving a clean start. There is strong evidence that tilling at night greatly reduces weed germination so I will be experimenting with this for certain crops – more of this in a future article.
Incidentally, if using fresh seaweed for potatoes, it will need to be dug into the soil or placed in trenches because it will wind around the tines and clog up the tiller. Dried seaweed, which comes in dust form, is much easier and can be applied at a rate of 9kg/100sq.m. It is high in potash, magnesium, boron, calcium and trace elements. For certified growers, permission may be required to verify that the seaweed has been ethically harvested. Liquid seaweed which is made from Ascophyllum nodosum, a common seaweed around Irish coasts, is a useful feed to spray on.
A Soil Association report in the UK finds that Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) offers many benefits to members,
communities, local economies and...
