No dig polytunnel #2

Posted on October 30, 2020 by james

Yesterday we moved a trailer full of compost into the tunnel and spread it down the cleared side to make a bed about two feet six inches wide (it’s easier to work in imperial for this because it’s a fourteen feet wide polytunnel, but that’s about 75cm). We saved most of the existing wood chip on the main path and lifted the weed control fabric, partly because it’s now in the wrong place, but also because I’m going to do without it in the future. The new path could then be laid using the old wood chip.

This is pretty much as far as it’s possible to go for the moment. The peppers now need lifting so the other beds can be removed. However, I had some lettuce and radish seedlings that I’d planted in modules as a bit of a last-minute experiment and have been waiting in the greenhouse for space to plant them, so they’re now in the new “no dig” bed.

Sadly I have had to pinch some slug pellets from my father-in-law and sprinkle some around the new plants 🙁 The slugs are absolutely rampant at the moment, not to mention enormous. They’ve already demolished two of the leaf radish plants I put in on the other side of the tunnel and are well into a couple more. It’s not something I like doing, but I feel my options are a bit restricted until I can get the problem back under control. At least birds can’t get into the tunnel at the moment.

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No dig polytunnel #1

Posted on October 29, 2020 by james

Yesterday we began work on converting the polytunnel to “no dig”. It’s a little tricky at the moment as there are still plants in some of the beds, but fortunately they’re all on one side of the tunnel and the beds on the other side are all empty.

The first job therefore was to remove all the rotting wooden sides on those beds and remove the soil we didn’t need after leveling everything out.

Sadly darkness overtook us before we could get much further, though we did also manage to remove the bed on the other side where I stood to take the above photo, which meant a table we had in the corner opposite could be moved there. It’s actually the darkest corner of the tunnel so it makes sense to have it in its new position, leaving the lighter corner for plants.

The next step is to get some compost in to make the bed down the right hand side in the photo. Possibly the plants that I want to stay in the tunnel for the foreseeable future can be transplanted into that and once the peppers have exhausted themselves for the year I’ll remove them and pot some up in the greenhouse to overwinter which will leave the beds on the left empty and ready for removal.

I also have some lettuce seedlings that really need to go out in the polytunnel as well. Perhaps that can be done this coming weekend.

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Swimming, 27th October 2020

Posted on October 27, 2020 by james

Well, today was a bit of a disaster. Again I struggled a bit, but there were three slower swimmers in the lane (two significantly slower) which made the entire thing a bit of a mess. I swam over someone several times and couldn’t settle into a rhythm or leave the wall when I wanted to. In the end I just had to satisfy myself with doing as many reps as I could at the required pace in whatever gaps I could find.

It’s half-term week so perhaps more people are turning up to swim this week. If so hopefully it will go back to normal next week.

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Swimming, 26th October 2020

Posted on October 27, 2020 by james

I struggled with my 50m set today. Despite not swimming over the weekend I still felt quite tired. Could be the ‘flu vaccination that is to blame, though I don’t actually feel any obvious side effects. Anyhow, I managed only eleven reps before my first (and only) failure.

The 25m set was better and I managed thirteen reps again before failing, equalling what I managed last time.

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Veg plot 2020: Goodbye to the tomatoes

Posted on October 25, 2020 by james

We decided this morning that the fruits remaining on the tomato vines really weren’t getting any riper, so this afternoon my daughter and I stripped off all of the remaining tomatoes that were worth having and pulled up all the plants, feeding the stems into the shredder and adding them to the compost heap. The pepper plants remain, but suddenly the polytunnel is looking very empty. Even the peppers won’t be there much longer I think.

The positive side of all this cleaning up is that I do now have the opportunity to remove all the beds down one side of the polytunnel and replace them with a no-dig bed the full length of the tunnel. If I get a wiggle on with that then I should be able to plant out the lettuce seedlings that are currently growing in the greenhouse. There’s precious little chance of doing that in the evenings now we’ve returned to GMT however, so I’ll just have to try to find time as and when I can.

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Veg plot 2020: First pick of winter salads

Posted on October 25, 2020 by james

Some of the leaves on the winter salads were getting quite large, so I felt it was appropriate to have first pick from them today. I left the mustards alone though as they’re not really big enough yet. I managed to get enough to completely fill a small basket: 130g in total. I think that should be enough for four of us with dinner tomorrow or on Tuesday.

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Veg plot 2021: First seeds

Posted on October 24, 2020 by james

Today I bought my first seeds for sowing in 2021. It is a bit early, but I was mainly making up an order to the point where it was worthwhile.

My in-laws are big fans of a particular tomato variety that was nigh on impossible to get hold of this year and because it’s an F1 variety there’s little point in saving seed. A couple of days back however I found some available at a reputable seed supplier so I’ve ordered them. For future years I think we’ll try over-wintering cuttings from the plants rather than relying on being able to get seed.

To make up a reasonable size order I added Costoluto Fiorentino tomatoes, yellow Corno di Toro peppers, Grenoble Red lettuce (something else I’ve struggled to get seeds for this year) and Aquadulce Claudia broad beans. The lettuce may not get planted for another four or five months, but as I couldn’t get any at all earlier this year I decided to grab some whilst the opportunity was there. The tomatoes, peppers and broad beans I’ll probably kick off mid-January depending on how the weather looks. That’s seems surprisingly close at the moment.

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Swimming, 23rd October 2020

Posted on October 24, 2020 by james

Had a bit of a mixed session today. My 50m set was tough from the start. I could really feel the tiredness in my arms and was already struggling when timings got messed up because several people arrived late and I lost track of where I was. I think I’ll just forget it ever happened 🙂

The 25m set however was much better. I don’t entirely understand why. Perhaps because I’d not tired myself out doing the 50m set. Anyhow, I clocked up one more rep than last time before I had my first failure so was happy enough with that.

The 50s haven’t gone as well as I’d have liked this week, but it’s not all doom and gloom so I’m happy with progress. I’m not entirely sure what next week is going to be like. I’m booked in for a ‘flu jab on Saturday morning and I don’t know how I’ll react to that, if at all. And then the session timings are all messed about next week because it’s half term and there are other things happening at the pool. I’ll just have to see how it goes.

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Swimming, 22nd October 2020

Posted on October 22, 2020 by james

It was exceptionally quiet in the pool today. Only four people including myself, and one of those was a member of the staff. That may be why there’s no session at the same time next week, unless they’re using it for a half-term swim school or lifeguard training session.

Anyhow I felt a little sluggish during my 50m set today, with times perhaps a second off where I’d really like to be, but actually it went pretty well and managed sixteen reps before failing on seventeen, one more than last time. Finishing off the set wasn’t exactly troublesome at that point.

After a rest I started on the 25m set and felt that was going really quite well. Times were better than they have been and I managed twelve reps before my first failure, again one better than last time. I didn’t quite get to finish the set though. I ran out of time with one to go, mostly because we were a bit late getting in as there appeared to be a shortage of lifeguards.

So, things feel good today. Not entirely sure what to expect for tomorrow though. I think my arms might be quite tired by then.

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Swimming, 20th October 2020

Posted on October 20, 2020 by james

Almost didn’t make it to the session today. Unintentionally I left home late and then was stuck behind a van being driven very slowly for the first couple of miles, then behind a heavily-laden articulated lorry with a trailer, also going quite slowly, for the next couple. Fortunately I arrived just in time, at the back of the queue to get in. On the positive side, I was the only one in the fast lane and no-one else from a slower lane decided it would be a good plan to “share”.

It occurred to me last night that as I probably have sufficient recovery time between my 50m and 25m sets, I could spend a little more time at the start warming up. That’s been an issue since the pool reopened because the sessions are only fifty minutes long and until recently I’ve only just been able to get through everything I wanted to in that time.

Perhaps the longer warm up helped as in my 50m set I left behind the disaster of yesterday and managed fifteen reps before failing on rep sixteen, after which finishing off the set was hardly a struggle. Despite the improved performance, the 25m set also went well with some pleasing times early on and I didn’t fail until rep twelve. Again finishing the set wasn’t really a struggle, but I did push fairly hard on the last one just to make sure.

So, one better than my previous bests for both sets. I’m pleased with that, and will reward myself with my usual recovery day tomorrow.

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