I’ve been thinking ahead to a time when we might need to put the chickens into covered housing for the Winter because of bird ‘flu. It struck me that a polytunnel would probably do the job, but we’d need a second one because we will have our winter salads growing in the first. During the Summer of course it could be used for food crops and having the chickens in after that would hopefully get rid of any weeds as well as fertilising the soil for the next year.
I looked around and found a whole range of cheap ones on that South American river place and decided that I’d give one a go. They all seem to be much of a muchness, though door designs and bracing sometimes vary. At the same time I ordered some additional galvanised rebar “hooks” to hold it down as we’re a little exposed to the elements here.
When it arrived I can’t deny that the frame felt rather lightweight, but assembly went quite easily despite the instructions not being entirely stunning.
To make life a little simpler, I spread cardboard and compost inside before putting the cover on.
And finally the cover. It doesn’t have a sufficiently long “skirt” to allow it to be buried in the ground so I weighted it down with concrete blocks instead. The ties inside are a bit naff too: they’re made of the same material as the cover and don’t tie very neatly. There are also some velcro ties which do appear to be better.
I plan to use it for squashes that are a bit marginal outside this year (and even have them in the ground already). We’ll see how it goes.