Polytunnel or Greenhouse?
Bill Morgan, Yeovil

Most of we serious amateur gardeners who dream of spending all of our time working on the land, rather than have our gardening interrupted by the need to work, would like to have access to a poly tunnel and a greenhouse as well as at least half an acre more ground than we actually have.
A stream would be handy too and space for a decent sized chicken coop and a large secure area for them to run wild in but as we’re dealing with the practical here rather than the wish list I’ll get to the point. Most of us would like to have a good greenhouse with lots of head room, a vented roof, shading and staging for the more delicate crops. What would complement that perfectly is a poly-tunnel that we can pack with the less temperamental plants to bring them on a tad earlier and extend their growing seasons. The poly tunnel also provides great space to preparing cuttings and potting things on – all the jobs that are much better done under cover, especially if it is wet and windy outside and “her indoors” is always shooing us out of the kitchen. For this season the majority of us would now be enjoying much more success with our home grown crops had we been able to afford them some protection from the elements. .
Not all of us have the space for both tunnel and greenhouse so it is a simple choice - one or the other. My neighbour went for a new polytunnel bought on eBay for just £40 – not a massive commercial sized one or all that robust but it is a good 12 feet long by 8 feet wide and is fine in his sheltered garden. Well staked it is up to the job but probably only has a couple year’s life to it. He grew an absolute mass of tomato, cucumber and chilli plants last year – but there again it was a brilliant summer for everyone and hasn’t been as good with the damp, cloudy summer we’ve had this year. He is testing aubergines though along with gherkin type cucumbers and cantaloupe melons but that hasn’t been the sun or the warmth to get them really going. He has an old table in there and some old metal kitchen shelf units that came from a closed down café, as well bins he has made for stacks of pots & trays etc.. What he doesn’t get with the poly tunnel though is really good clear sunlight or the heat retention that you get with a greenhouse. He plants straight into the ground along the two long sides and has a grape vine growing up on a small trellis type arrangement at what would usually be the sunnier far end. Last year he picked more than 100 kgs of tomatoes from his tunnel – most were sold locally at one of the farmers’ markets. All grown without chemicals of any kind but not on organic land.
I managed to get my hands on a beauty of a second hand cedar greenhouse a couple of years ago. The frame work was in lovely order but I did have to replace the glass which was expensive but I now have a greenhouse with built in staging that would have cost at least £1800 new for a few hundred. It is only 8 feet by 6 feet so I have to plan what I can fit into it. I did very well with peppers last year – capsicums as well as cayennes – and also had some very good early strawberries. I use the greenhouse mostly to help bring on the seeds I have planted which are destined for outside and it is also a good place to over winter some of the more sensitive patio plants like the blueberries and the figs – but as both of these grew like topsy last past year I am going to pushed to fit them in for much longer.
What my neighbour and I found is that by working together we can get a lot more done. Many hands make light work and more space means we can grow far greater variety of fruit and vegetables – choosing the best conditions we have between us for each type. My side garden is usually ideal for runner beans and peas. His side garden which gets less direct sunshine has proved to be brilliant for the early potatoes… I used to laugh at people getting excited by gardening but these days I am a real convert and so is he. The other great thing about working together is that we look after each other’s gardens (and houses) if ever the other is away. Gardening brings people together in the best of ways though the competition at our village show does sometimes bring out the worst in some folk…