Scenes From My Polytunnel in Britain - as I Prepare The Soil for My Melon Plants, Cucumbers and Many More :)
It's been nearly a year since I posted about my food growing antics.. I've just been preparing my polytunnel to start growing totally 100% organic food again here.. Here's some shots from the process..
If you are interested to see how I made the polytunnel (from a second hand frame from ebay and some new plastic and wood battens - check this post.
For the last few days I have been increasing the size of the central raised bed (upwards) using some old scaffolding planks. They are much more strong than the old wood I used originally (which has already started rotting). To fill up the extra height I have been manually wheeling about nearly a ton of organic soil/compost mix from a local supplier.. Good exercise!
In this shot I have nearly filled up the new bed and then dropped on some rockdust on top to act as a long term fertiliser for trace minerals (70-90 types) - which is totally organic and non toxic. :)
The only downside is that they take over a year to start being integrated into the soil in a way that the plants can use, however, the old bed is still underneath the new soil, so once the plant roots get down there, they will have access to the benefit of the old rockdust I used previously. I'll therefore be growing deeper rooting plants in this bed this year as most food plants don't root very deeply unless they get particularly big.
Next up I reconnected the irrigation lines for that bed. They are set to a timer and work pretty efficiently and well.
These are some melon plant seedlings I am growing :)
Some people think it is not possible to grow melons in Britain, but they are mistaken. You just need the right seeds and to then germinate them in a polytunnel, plus inside a covered plastic box of some kind to get extra heat to them.
Here's my heirloom cucumber seedlings - I use a lot of cucumbers in juices, so it's good for me to grow as many as possible.
And here's some beetroot and lettuce seedlings.. The tomatoes have done nothing yet for some reason.. :(
I'll share some more photos and tips in the coming weeks!
Wishing you well,
Ura Soul
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Nice! Do you leave that green house up all winter?
Yes, it can survive just fine in the winter. I just need to clean the outside each year. The plastic might last between 5 and 10 years.
I have a big raised bed garden and start my own plants under grow lights in the winter but haven't gotten into greenhouses yet. Maybe some day. Good luck.
Nice work my friend, I have a feeling that the ability to grow our own food is going to become an essential skill over the next few years .. good to see you're ahead of the game. I've never heard of people growing melons in the UK before .. inspired!! You'll have to do a taste test post. :)
Yes, part of the reason for me growing food is to be ready in case SHTF. Also though, homegrown is the only way to get the food that has maximised nutritional value - since shop bought food just doesn't have it - no matter how much you pay.
The first time I grew melons I didn't realise that insects have to pollinate them (or that I had to simulate them doing it) - so I got a lot of melons growing that then died off... This time I will be ready, so will hopefully get quite a lot. I'll post about them, for sure.. The ones I did grow previously tasted great!
Weldon...
This is another strange way to grow melon to me, we are not faced with all these process to grow our own melon in Nigeria, our land are naturally fertile and most of this plants grow almost anywhere in the country without so much special treatment than to prepare the land and plant.... Smile
Notwithstanding, I would love to see the development in the coming weeks.
Learning never end.
Oh for sure, the land here is quite fertile too, but we don't have enough sunshine and heat to grow melons usually. I think we have other plants here that will be difficult to grow in Africa though - like blueberries and maybe strawberries... Can you grow strawberries in your area?
Can you grow strawberries in your area?
Not at all.
Those ones require cool weather to grow, though some of them can still grow in northern part of Nigeria, but they can't do well generally.
It's very honorable to see people getting down to earth with their knowledge in Biology as little as they can be. Biology is my major and I truly respect people who practice home-based farming either for food or commercial purposes.It aids in the fight against global warming. You've earned my respect. @ura-soul
Oh, thanks! I recommend reading the books from the series 'the food soil web' if you haven't already. All about the micro life forms that make the difference between productive soil and dead soil (also the difference between small organic yields and massive organic yields). :)
I'm a final year Biological Sciences undergrad, so I'm pretty sure I have already studied into detail most of the contents of The Food Soil Web. However, I will check it out anyways. Thanks for the recommendation.
I would hope so, but the vast majority of farmers, consumers and just about everyone I have ever met have no clue about it ;)
Particularly the idea of compost tea: http://www.soilfoodweb.com/Compost_Tea_Recipe.html
Compost tea...now that's new to me. The recipe on the website seems very simple. Have often do you try it? I mean the compost tea
It takes about 24 hours to make a brew and you can then treat the soil and even the plants directly. How often to use it depends on the variables involved, I don't use it more than 3/4 times a year - but you could use it a lot more.
Here are a few video links on the subject from my website: https://www.ureka.org/search?q=compost+tea&entity_type=object&entity_subtype=videolist_item&offset=0&search_type=entities
That was helpful. Thanks man
Dear @ura-soul,
you do a lot of things I'd like to do... I must start doing it too, life is short, isn't it?
I aim to focus on the things that make life longer - like growing clean food. ;)
There's no time like the present.
You act vero well! 🙏🏻
And it’s absolutely true: the only existing time is the NOW. 👍🏼
This is an amazing DIY project! I'm sure your tomatoes will start growing soon enough, they take a while, when I had more space I had a small garden and grew tomatoes and sometimes it would take more than usual to grow.
Right now since I'm in the process of moving I only care about my little cactus :-P figuring out how to move the guy to my new place without damaging it!
Thanks, yes - I will wait :/
I would be more concerned about the cactus damaging me :)
It's actually a thornless edible cactus and it's pretty safe to handle :-D
Nice do you leave that green house up all winter . Keep good work .
I resteem your post on my blog .
Your post is always different i follow your blog and upvote everytime , your post is so helpful . I always inspire of your post on my steem work . Thank you for sharing @ura-soul
Interesting way to grow that fruit, from a kind of tunnel. It is very convenient for those places where the weather does not allow its harvest. Thanks for sharing.
I love gardening and i also love your work.its filled with hard work .best of luck
Yes, the plastic lets through more UV light than glass does, so it is better than a 'greenhouse' (made of glass).
Wonderful garden..............
I had a small garden and grew tomatoes and sometimes it would take more than usual to grow. @ura-soul
Yes, they can be slow sometimes - I will wait a while longer ;)
right and thank you dear @ura-soul
Unique idea to grow fruit... this is helpful way to grow plants... thank you @ura-soul for upload this type of useful things..