Ancient greenhouse vent opener fixed

Posted on March 19, 2021 by james

I posted earlier that the new no dig greenhouse came with non-functioning vent openers for which I was unable to obtain spare parts.

I ordered a couple of the cylinders for modern openers with a view to bodging something so they’d work. If that failed it wouldn’t be a big deal as I’m sure I’ll end up needing to replace the ones in my existing greenhouse openers at some point.

When they arrived it was clear that they were about 50mm too short when compared to the originals, and needed something to fix the end without the pushrod in position. By chance I found that the cylinder fitted very neatly into a piece of scrap electrical conduit, so I cut a 120mm length, drilled a hole for the pivot at one end and another hole 50mm further up the tube to take a bolt that the end of the new cylinder would rest against and it looks like it will do the job.

I also had to remove the fitting on the end of the original pushrod and drill it out to 6mm to fit over the new one. Given the amount of blackening visible in this photo I was amazed when I started drilling it to find out that it is made of brass.

A few odd bolts to fit it together and it’s now back up on the roof. I’ve not been able to adjust it yet though, as it was too cold today for the cylinder to operate.

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No dig diary, 18th March 2021

Posted on March 18, 2021 by james

Back to the compost heap today, and into the second bin with a view to getting as much of the remaining area covered by compost as possible. The compost from this bin was noticeably darker than that from the first. I’d guess that perhaps I got a better mix of “green” and “brown” material, enabling it to reach a higher temperature and keep the raised temperature for longer. It was also packed with worms, which I take to be a good sign. There were worms in the first bin, but nowhere near the same kind of numbers.

After quite a few wheelbarrow loads, I now have all but one half-bed of plot done. The remaining area is where the purple sprouting broccoli is growing. I know I could attempt to spread compost around the base of the plants, but it’s very lumpy thanks to being so wet and as a result not easy to “place” where I want it. I’ll just wait until the PSB is finished and do it then. I can leave that part of the bed to use last so the compost has time to settle.

I also did a bit of weeding in the existing beds. There are a lot of sycamore seedlings sprouting where the seeds fell on the compost in the late autumn/early winter and it looks as though a few grass and groundsel seeds have also blown in.

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No dig diary, 17th March 2021

Posted on March 17, 2021 by james

I had a bit of a shock this morning when there was an unexpected frost. The weather station on my observatory claimed a minimum air temperature of 0.45C overnight. The pepper and aubergine seedlings aren’t really happy with that sort of temperature and tend to keel over. I would have put some fleece over them, but the forecast was for a much warmer night. Fortunately they all appear to be ok despite one or two plants looking a bit limp first thing this morning.

This afternoon I have been spreading more compost on the vegetable beds and putting down wood chips for the paths. The first compost bin is now empty and I’ve all but run out of wood chips. There’s a rumour that the chap who owns a local sawmill is desperate to get rid of a load of waste wood chips, so I’ll have to chase up on that. Between the veg plot, polytunnel and the new greenhouse I’ve got through three and a half dumpy bags of it so far. I don’t think it would be a struggle to use another three bags worth.

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No dig diary, 16th March 2021

Posted on March 17, 2021 by james

Nine days after sowing almost all of the tomato seeds I sowed (on 7th March) have germinated and we need the space in the propagator, so I’ve moved them to the greenhouse.

I also opened up the first of my two bins of compost from last year and started spreading it on the beds that until recently contained carrots and parsnips. The bins have been open to the elements all winter and lifting the compost out was heavy work because it was so wet. I think the experience is pushing me in the direction of putting a roof on the bins. I can always add a gutter routed into a tank that stores water so I have it available to pour on the heaps if they dry out too much. A roof will probably also help to keep sycamore seeds from the surrounding trees out of the compost.

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No dig diary, 15th March 2021

Posted on March 17, 2021 by james

Never say never…

After yesterday’s impromptu sowing session, today I found seed for some Sparkler 3 radish that I didn’t know we had, so I’ve sown a twelve-cell tray of those, five seeds to a cell. They can sit in the greenhouse to see if they germinate and will eventually go out in the main plot under fleece.

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No dig diary, 14th March 2021

Posted on March 17, 2021 by james

I had no plans for sowing more seeds until the weekend, but whilst I was in his greenhouse with my father-in-law today he discovered three packets of mixed-colour sweet peppers. The fruit can be purple, brown, black, cream, orange, yellow and probably others I’ve forgotten. We like to have the different colours in salads and other dishes. The seeds were a few years out of date and he was going to throw them away, but I was completely unable to find any seed for such peppers this year (except “mini” peppers), so I took all three packets and sowed them in a small tray of compost to see what happens. Anything that germinates is a bonus.

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Culling the winter salads

Posted on March 17, 2021 by james

I need more space in the greenhouse for seedlings, so today I decided it was time to cull the winter salads to get rid of anything I thought wasn’t going to be productive any more.

First out was the leaf radish. It was already flowering and unlikely to provide many more leaves, so had to go. It’s been good value this winter. I’ll definitely grow it again.

Next was the chervil, which again has been good value, but was starting to look a bit scraggy. It also had a few greenfly. I have some more in the polytunnel, so it’s not the end of the world to lose this.

The coriander also had to go, again because it was flowering. This did ok before the middle of the winter, but has struggled since.

The Red Little Gem lettuces weren’t growing that well and had a lot of greenfly, so they went on a one-way trip to the compost heap too. Again, they’ve been ok, though I did lose a couple in the middle of winter and they’ve struggled in the colder weather.

The salad rocket was also trying to flower, but had new leaves forming at the base of the stem, so it has a reprieve for the moment until I see what happens. I have chopped off the flower stalk though.

That leaves me with some lettuces and mustards that I’ll to get more from over the next few weeks, though the polytunnel is starting to provide salads now and I won’t need them for much longer.

Overall I’d say thus far it’s been a useful experiment. We’ve needed to buy very little in the way of salad leaves over the winter even though some plants (notably the salad rocket) haven’t been as successful as I’d have liked. Next winter I should have the no dig greenhouse to sow with salads for the winter, but I may well repeat this experiment. I will make a few changes however. I think I’ll sow slightly earlier and start harvesting a week or so later, to allow the plants to establish themselves better. I’ll also absolutely brim the trays with compost to the point where it’s not possible to fit any more in. I might even be tempted to line the trays with cardboard rather than newspaper as the newspaper has provided a few places for slugs to hide, but the jury is out on that one for the moment.

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No dig diary, 12th March 2021

Posted on March 17, 2021 by james

Almost thirty of my Cayenne peppers sown three weeks ago have germinated and some were starting to get a bit tall as they actually germinated over a period of more than a week, so I removed them from the propagator and potted them on into 3″ pots. They’ll stay in the greenhouse until it’s time to move to the polytunnel now. Depending on the weather I may need to pot them on again before they can be planted, but I’m hoping that won’t be necessary.

I sowed another couple of twelve-cell trays of peas for shoots, again three seeds per cell. These should be the first ones to go out into the main plot, but they’re starting off in the propagator. At the same time I sowed three trays each of Hurst Green Shaft, Kelvedon Wonder and Sugar Ann peas, for pods this time, two seeds per cell. They’re also in the propagator.

Finally for the vegetables today I sowed a tray of French Breakfast 3 radish, five seeds per cell which I’ll probably thin down to four, to germinate in the greenhouse. Those will go outdoors under fleece once they’re ready.

I also sowed some flower seeds today, specifically nasturtiums. They are edible and we may well pick the flowers to add to salads, but my main goal is to use them as a sacrificial plant to try to keep the butterflies off my brassicas. I love having the butterflies around and wish to encourage them. I just don’t want to encourage them to eat my cabbages 😀

Other sowings are coming along nicely. Lettuces and other salad leaves sown on 21st/22nd February. Where possible I will thin these to a couple of plants per cell in the next day or two.

Jalapenos (top left) and aubergines (bottom right), sown on 20th February, together with the calabrese that hasn’t germinated yet.

Sweet peppers, and cayenne peppers in the tray top right, before pricking out. Again sown on 20th February.

My first and second sowings of peas for shoots (5th and 19th February) and beetroot (top right, also sown on 5th) with my “extra” tray of beetroot and spinach sown on 19th.

Spinach (top right, 5th February), red onions (top left and bottom right, sown 21st/22nd February) and parsley and dill (sown 20th February).

Broad beans (sown on 5th and 19th February) that are desperate to get outside, but the weather just hasn’t been suitable so far. On the left are two trays of radish (22nd February) that are also in need of planting out.

And finally the coriander, sown on 20th February.

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My greenhouse vent opener may be an antique

Posted on March 16, 2021 by james

I removed one of the openers for the greenhouse vents. Amazingly the company that made it (Thermoforce) is still around, so I emailed to ask if they could help with spares.

Sadly they couldn’t. A very polite response came back to the effect that it’s very old and they just don’t make anything like it any more. The only suggestion they could offer was to replace it with two modern openers (because the vents are actually twice the size of the ones that tend to be on modern greenhouses). I’m not sure I like that idea though, as it means the vent may not open evenly.

So, we’re off to Bodge City then. I’m going to order a couple of standard vent opening cylinders and see what I can come up with.

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Almost there with the no dig greenhouse

Posted on March 16, 2021 by james

All the glazing is now done on the new greenhouse; vents and the door are fitted and only a few small jobs remain.

The most important issue for the moment is probably that the door can flap about (yes, that is why there’s a concrete block in front of it). It needs something to retain it at the bottom. I’ll see what I can find in the way of aluminium angle on Ebay. I should be able to screw some to the sleeper under the door to act as a guide and stop it rocking backwards and forwards.

I need to get the vent openers working, so I’ll take one off and investigate.

Ideally I’d like to get some seals for around the door. I’ve not found anything suitable yet, and I’ve not seen any advertised that look like they’d match the originals.

Finally I need to fix the door runner to the frame a little more neatly.

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