If you live in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland the term 'Polycrub' is trade name synonymous with a polycarbonate garden tunnel which is the updated equivalent for windy places of the ubiquitous polytunnel. Mine is not a Polycrub but is similar so instead of calling it a polycarbonate polytunnel which everyone understands but is long-winded I have decided simply to call mine a polycarb or The Polycarb.
I've already posted photos of it when it had just been constructed. I don't thing they are actually 'built'. Or are they? One builds lego models.
The very first creature (apart from humans) that I am aware of entering The Polycarb was this Red Admiral Butterfly. I thought it had decided on a winter hideout because after two days it was still very reluctant to leave. However it did eventually just fly out of the open door. I regarded it as a good omen. Had it been a cabbage white I might have been less sanguine.
I decided on just one raised bed along one side of The Polycarb. 900mm x 5m will give me quite a bit of space and then any extra I need for growing things, in the first season at least, can be large square planters.
 |
The Polycarb has ventilation at both ends in the form of a barn door (to keep cats out) and a window at the other end. Despite that the biggest summer problem will be keeping plants shaded and cool when needed. In the few weeks since it was constructed the maximum and Minimum temperatures have been widely apart. Particularly given that the outside daytime temperature even in the sun has hovered around a maximum of 12ºC.
Red Admiral Graham. The caterpillars eat nettles so a good butterfly. Nettles are vicious things.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Adrian. Yet another brain fart. They seem to be getting more frequent. As it happens when amending that I noticed that another couple of amendments hadn't been made. I'm not sure what has happened but the 'Update' on my Dashboard has stopped working. Hopefully that will remedy itself.
DeleteWhilst I agree with you, Adrian, that nettles (particularly the older ones) are "vicious" (oh my god, don't they sting), young nettles are actually good for you and your kidneys/urinary tract. Be it in salads or brewed as tea. Trust me. I am a witch with a frog as her credential.
DeleteU
I think you've done very well there Graham, it all looks very well constructed and put together and I'm sure it will come in handy over Winter to grow a few goodies.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amy. I'm hoping that it will be handy for growing goodies year round (given our weather).
DeleteAs a non gardener I am pleased to see the far wall decorated with clock, thermometer, tools and what looks like Xmas decorations in a couple of glasses. A comfy chair would be good near the Bar area. Lesley
ReplyDeleteLesley, I wonder if your 'Christmas decorations' are, in fact, my gardening gloves on their drying sticks. A comfy chair is very tempting. Some people are using polycarbs for outside leisure spaces for hot tubs and the like.
DeleteGosh, it all looks so very neat, tidy and well built. I shall show these photos to P to give him an incentive to up his game in our garden.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of summer shade, we use simple greenhouse shading net in our greenhouse which helps a little. Perhaps you could make some sort of blinds from something similar that can be raised or lowered as needed?
Jaycee, thanks for that tip. I have some windbreak fine netting I'd though of using but I shall look for some of the netting you mentioned.
DeleteI know very little about gardening but do remember seeing greenhouse glass with whitewash painted on it.
DeleteThe difference in temperature is amazing! Like you say, keeping it reasonably cool and shady inside will be a challenge next summer.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it all looks very neat and well thought out. I hope you will show us more pictures as things progress.
Thank you, Meike. I shall bring updates to the blog when I think they may be of interest.
DeleteMy polytunnel is full of cuttings in pots and Japanese onions growing in homemade compost in fish boxes.
ReplyDeleteNorthsider, I already have pots of cuttings and some plants that I have removed from the flower beds as I re-design the garden. I'm sure that by the time the spring comes the place will be up to the gunnels in seedlings and plants.
DeleteAs a fellow past the age when many of us are contemplating construction of any kind, you are a brave fellow for tackling this project, Graham, and based on your pictures, you are doing an excellent job. I was about to add that certain species of Lepidoptera may well merit a welcome mat, but someone else has already made the point. Good luck with the balance of the work. Better lay in the liniment for sore muscles. I understand that a shot of single malt at the end of the work day is wonderful medicine!
ReplyDeleteThanks, David. So many insects may be good for one thing in the garden and a pest for others. I've always had a relaxed approach to insects in the garden but then I've not so far in the years I've been gardening had too many problems with anything except slugs and snails. Those I do my utmost to eradicate because the blackbirds and thrushes are just not doing a good enough job.
DeleteWow, it looks so neat and new. You are handy with contructing things. The shelves are totally rustic chic. Polycarb sounds like one of my soup recipes.
ReplyDeleteMaywyn, the idea of polycarb soup sounds a bit iffy to me. The shelves are pretty basic. Their colour is because that is the colour of the wood preservative with which they are pre-treated when the wood is bought.
DeleteThink many carbohydrates
DeleteLooks a nice place to work in winter - a feeling of having been outside.
ReplyDeleteTasker, being out of our strong and biting winds will be the biggest thing on the plus side for working.
DeleteWell, I learned something this morning. I had never heard of a polytunnel before. It looks like you will be able to do much more gardening as you can extend your season.
ReplyDeleteRed, I have to confess surprise. Polytunnels from tiny domestic ones to ones covering many acres (and in Spain may square miles) are very common in the UK and, I think, much of Europe.
DeleteNever heard of a polycrub, a polycarbonate, or a poly tunnel. Are they common where you are? Yours looks like a cross between a plastic greenhouse and a Quonset hut. Am I close?
ReplyDeleteBob, I'd not heard of a Quonset hut but, having looked it up, I discovered it is a corrugated iron version of a Polycrub or polycarbonate tunnel. A polytunnel is a less substantial version at a domestic level. See also my comment on Red's comment.
DeleteSo far it looks sturdy and substantial. Will it hold against your gale winds?
ReplyDeleteJill, it is sturdy and is guaranteed for winds up to 130mph. We occasionally have winds almost that strong although even higher speeds are recorded in more remote locations.
DeleteThe gardener's lot is a challenging one. Many years ago my mother sent me a hilarious article explaining why, on the whole, gardeners are such a miserable lot. I do understand the sentiment. There you are battling with snails, slugs, squirrels, blackfly and when most comes good DESPITE OF IT ALL there'll be hail and wind to piss on your parade. Never mind. These things are sent to test us and our patience. It's why I am so fond of apples. It takes a hell of a lot to destroy an apple. Enter a worm.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your poly. One of my mother's cousins and his family ran a gardening business (both flowers and vegetables). I loved walking around their green houses. It was so warm. It smelt so good. And not a snake (cabbage white) in paradise in sight.
U
Ursula, your cheeriness knows no bounds. I lived in the middle of orchards when I lived in New Zealand and I can assure you that there are a million ways of making an apple uncommercial. Fortunately an armoury of pesticides see that they survive. Thanks for your good luck wish. Just working out of the wind makes me happier.
DeleteI would enjoy reading about your New Zealand days, Graham. A country I wanted to visit, now never will.
DeleteNew Zealand apples intrigue me. The N.Z. novelist Maurice Gee published a novel *Trespassers* with a fictional hero from a botanical background, a man who developed his country's apple growing potential by leaps and bounds.
I had lunch with Maurice Gee and his wife in London in 2017, if memory serves. He lived in precipitous Wellington for years and described it so graphically in his novel *Going West*: a perfect gentleman and still very much alive.
I am havering, Graham. My lunch with Maurice Gee was in 1997 or so. He had returned from a writers' retreat in France where he had friendly talks with James Kelman, and spoke at the Cheltenham Literary Festival. The Sunday we had lunch was the same day the Gees were flying home again, after months away. Mrs Gee said they took a homeopathic remedy for the long flight.
DeleteIt is the thought of the long flight that does my head in, even without the Covid-19 risk. So I have become an armchair traveller like so many. Which is why I would welcome your evocative writing and snapshots of New Zealand.
I am havering again, Graham. The Gee novel about New Zealand's apple grower is called *Prowlers*: since it appeared decades ago it now enjoys classic status. There is an interview with Maurice at the N.Z. Literary Festival, on Vimeo.
DeleteJulia O'Faolain, the daughter of Sean, wrote a brilliant memoir titled *Trespassers*: witty, modest, wryly honest about the brilliant father she loved. Can't think how I got the two books confused.
Hameldaemepal, I used to have a New Zealand blog (see my sidebar). Your knowledge is impressive.
DeleteDidn't look at the sidebar, thanks. My knowledge is zilch; you are leading the Life, Graham: your botanical observations and photos are compelling. I had never followed anyone's blog until I discovered Tasker's. Through Tasker I discovered Yorkshire Pudding, Meike the Librarian, Ursula, and yourself. Serendipity opens many good doors.
DeleteThis looks like it will provide a great place for your gardening. Do you plan to grow all of your vegetables and also include flowering plants? When we lived in VA years ago, we had a greenhouse, but moderating the btemperatures was usually an issue there. Hopefully you will find a solution on how to do that.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice, I won't grow all my vegetables by any means but I'll certainly try to grow a good variety in an extended summer. Designing and making some blinds will be a job for during the winter.
DeleteYou have done a good job with The Polycarb. It looks great and I look forward to seeing what you grow there in the year ahead. Well done Graham!
ReplyDeleteThanks, YP. I'll try not to disappoint.
DeleteI keep a cheap Badminton racket at Haddock's to deal with the Cabbage Whites. It keeps me fit at the same time. The Polycarb looks great; I could use one here!
ReplyDeleteCro, fortunately cabbage whites are not very plentiful around here (possibly not enough brassicas for them these days) which is good because I hate killing things (except wasps).
DeleteLove the Admiral butterfly. We see them here sometimes in summer but it's not the most common. Hope it found a good place to hibernate if that's what they do. Maybe it thought your place a bit bare still ;) - I have trouble going back and edit posts too from time to time in the new Blogger. Very irritating. Usually ok if I try again the next day, but then it's also a question of remembering!!
ReplyDeleteMonica, interestingly you have now stopped appearing in my email notifications. Yes, the butterfly, was looking for somewhere more rustic. In reality I think it was so warm in there that he got confused and sent out for a trip in the sun.
DeleteGraham, if you have received them before, it puzzles me even more if you suddenly don't now. One or two others have told me before that they don't get comment email notifications from me, but that goes way back (years)... I've never been able to detect why. I've suspected some issue between blogger/google and yahoo; but if some get them and others don't, that's even more mysterious. (On the other hand, perhaps no more so than the fact that emails of your new blog posts sometimes land in my inbox and sometimes in my spam folder...)
DeleteYou have been, and are continuing to be, a busy lad! You will be rewarded a-plenty for your efforts, I am sure. :)
ReplyDeleteBest wishes, Graham. :)
Lee, I can just hope that the efforts are worthwhile. Even if they are not I will have enjoyed them and the exercise is good for me.
DeleteI'm having a good old catch up, Graham. Looks like your Bloggers Block has been put to rest. You've reminded me I really do need to do some maintenance on my blog. I'm sure the butterfly in your polycarb is an excellent omen. It (the polycarb) is looking impressive, you have been busy! While keeping an eye on the clock I see.
ReplyDeletePauline, I have a deep-seated need to know the time at certain times of the day when things are due. I haven't worn a watch (except when travelling) since I retired from office work in 1995. The pottery work often involved heavy, dirty manual labour so it was easier just to do without a watch on my wrist. I have a friend who will not have a clock in her house so it can be hard to tell if one is overstaying one's welcome.
DeleteTerrific, there must be such a sense of satisfaction of putting it all together just as you want it. I am wondering what you'll be growing in it when it's ready (You probably said, but I haven't been reading comments as regularly as usual in the last few months). If I had a place to grow tender plants I'd probably keep a scented pelargonium in some out of the way corner. I have a "Fragrans" whose scent is not very sweet -more like a mixture of pine and mixed spice - but it somehow creates such an atmosphere of wellbeing.
ReplyDeleteJenny, I shall be growing winter salad stuff and then tomatoes, courgettes, salad stuff and plenty of plant will be sown from see and cuttings for the garden.
Delete