Clearing Snow on Polytunnels

This winter we are getting more snow that usual.  Here's a method we use for clearing snow from the top of our larger polytunnels. 

A rare visitor to our polytunnel

A solitary Red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) spotted on the chives. I counted another 30 on the same bed all Buff-tailed or possibly White-tailed I think.

Bombus lapidarius

.scot domain - expensive but nice...

Since not all of the plants we're growing in the ‪polytunnels‬ are edible we thought we should purchase a new domain name, so we have opted for foragers.scot which we think will cover all bases. This year we have some Sweet Pea, Antirrhinum (Snapdragon), Lavender and Lemon Balm which will be available for sale at both Kippen Street Fayer and Balfron Primary School Fair on Saturday June 13th.

Foragers Survives Atlantic Storm

While the grass management team are happy with their new sheep shelter (built yesterday before the storm), we are even happier that our two Premier Polytunnels easily withstood last night's major Atlantic storm, with windspeeds of 32mph + and gusts of 60mph upwards.

We had to work under floodlight to get most of the roof on before the storm hit.

It didn't take them long to bunker down with some nice dry hay.
But back out when the winds died down about 9am.

Polytunnel ends which took the battering, partially protected by the
bund created during groundworks last year.

It was raining timber but thankfully none hit the polytunnels.
Another large oak branch succumbs to the strong gusts. 

This branch almost landed in the wildlife pond.

Some repair work required to the windbreak fence
but we expected more damage than this.

Constructing the Raised Beds

We're somewhat behind schedule on the polytunnels due to some drainage issues but hopefully sorted now. We can now build the raised beds in preparation for planting.

Polytunnels Erected

The team from Premier Polytunnels were up this week to erect our two 30 x 60ft tunnels.  We are delighted with them.  Next challenge will be building raised beds and sorting out irrigation.

We have lift off

It's been a challenging start to the growing season but we are getting signs of encouragement and the first herb seeds have finally germinated.

Corriander Slow Bolt