There are many reasons why you might decide to give some of your favourite fruit and veggies a bit of protection. The main reason for me is that the shelter a polytunnel provides allows me to stretch the season by about a month at each end, and in our relatively short season, every day counts.
I can sow a crop of early salad leaves or lettuces in the spring and snatch a late crop of dwarf beans in the autumn. In the UK growing familiar crops such as tomatoes, peppers or aubergines outside can be a hit or miss affair leaving you at the mercy of the summer weather. Under cover the chances of success are far greater and this is magnified the further north you are based.
Other gardeners might like the fact that the cover offers enough warmth and protection to grow a much wider range of crops with success – things like sweet potatoes and melons.
Whatever you grow under it, the cover provided can help protect against certain pests and diseases such as birds, squirrels, and potato blight. It will also reduce weather damage on leafy crops, increasing eating quality and reducing waste.
Of course, polytunnels aren’t the only option – greenhouses can offer similarprotection and even a simple cold frame or mini greenhouse offers many of the same benefits. A glassclad greenhouse would certainly be my preferred option for heated crops, but for cool or unheated crops a polytunnel is usually significantly cheaper per square metre of covered space.
A POLYTUNNEL – THE OPTIONS
If you have decided to invest in a polytunnel, what are the options and what should you look for?
FRAMEWORK
Esta historia es de la edición February 2022 de Kitchen Garden.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición February 2022 de Kitchen Garden.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
EASY DOES IT!
As the growing season gathers pace there's one thing often in short supply: time! Ever feel like you're chasing your tail? Benedict Vanheems offers some tips to save valuable time and effort
A NEW Kitchen garden!
It's time for sowing and planting in the new garden and while Martin is busy with that, Jill is making a tasty asparagus soup
OUR PLOTTER OF THE MONTH
Kitchen Garden readers rose to the challenge when we asked for pictures of their plots to appear in the magazine this year. It's time to meet another of our talented competition winners
MANAGING WEEDS, NATURALLY
Weeds are never far away but you can keep them at bay without recourse to weedkillers
Meet the apple doctor
KG editor Steve Ott chats to Glyn Smith, head gardener for the National Trust's Erddig estate in Wrexham, about his career and love of the garden he has tended for 38 years
A CORNUCOPIA OF COURGETTES
It's time to sow a first batch of tender crops such as courgettes for picking through the summer months. KG editor Steve Ott has some tips for a super harvest
FLAVOURSOME FRUIT CURRANTS
you If I want to plant some soft fruit that is easy to grow and will give you plenty of flavour, how about trying currants?
TRY AMARANTH! The dual-purpose veg
Garden Organic's research manager Anton Rosenfeld extols the virtues of amaranth and how to grow it
A SPACE APART
Instagrammer James Martin shares his love of gardening and how much it has helped him and his family both mentally and physically under very difficult circumstances
HITTING THE SWEET SPOT
Welcome to the wonderful world of sweetcorn as Rob Smith takes a look at both old and newer varieties, with some growing advice too