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This video shows the early stages of setting up a polytunnel garden and what can be grown at the beginning of the season. It explains how a polytunnel helps protect plants from cold weather and allows earlier planting compared to outdoor beds.
The guide covers preparing beds, organising growing space, starting seedlings and choosing suitable crops for protected growing conditions. It also explains how to plan planting schedules and manage space for future crops.
If you want to grow vegetables earlier in the year or extend your growing season, this video provides practical beginner-friendly advice for using a polytunnel or unheated greenhouse.
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0:00
Welcome to the Poly Tunnel Diaries.
0:02
Welcome to Gardening with Bed, everyone.
0:03
A brand new episode which will drop
0:06
every week on a Sunday. Fingers crossed
0:08
we stick to it and we get this doing
0:10
every single week. So, as you know, I've
0:15
spent quite a lot of money on inside my
0:17
poly tunnel and sprucing it up and doing
0:18
it all good and hopefully getting a lot
0:21
of produce growing in here. We've had
0:23
this poly tunnel now for 16 to 20 years.
0:26
And usually I just grow some tomatoes in
0:28
a tub and some peppers and some
0:31
cucumbers. But I thought this is a
0:33
fantastic growing space. It gets full
0:35
sun, it gets warm, and why not use it to
0:38
its full potential and get growing more
0:40
and more produce in here and hopefully
0:42
all year round. So let's start off with
0:45
our first episode showing you what's
0:48
happening in here and how well it's
0:49
looking.
0:52
So this is inside the poly tunnel. We've
0:54
now got 14 of these raised beds in here.
0:57
We've got to get them all filled up with
0:59
compost and yeah, vegetation to in the
1:03
bottom and then put some compost on top.
1:05
We've got all that to do, which is going
1:06
to be a big job getting all the compost
1:08
down here. But once it's done, it's
1:10
done. And then obviously we'll keep
1:13
topping them up and adding food to them
1:14
because obviously they use the food from
1:16
the compost. So, we'll have to keep
1:18
adding it to keep plants from keep them
1:22
feed fed. So, let's have a look at
1:24
what's happening in here. So, we've got
1:26
14 of these easy fill hanging baskets
1:30
which we got from Oakland Gardens. We've
1:33
got 12 strawberry plants around the
1:35
sides and then we've got three in the
1:38
top. We're going to be having a drip
1:40
irrigation system
1:42
put in and then it'll feed them and
1:45
water them every single day and
1:47
hopefully keep them alive in the poly
1:49
tunnel cuz obviously they'll dry out
1:50
fast when it gets to summertime. And
1:53
these are everbearing strawberries,
1:55
albian variety. So they'll keep fruiting
1:58
all the way through summer. As long as I
2:00
keep taking off the runners, they'll
2:02
keep producing the fruit. Fingers
2:04
crossed. That is the plan anyway. So
2:06
yeah, we've got loads of these. So these
2:09
are going to look absolutely fantastic
2:11
and hopefully produce some beautiful
2:13
strawberries,
2:16
but they're looking pretty good and
2:18
they're looking healthy plants.
2:23
We've also sewn our sweet peas today in
2:25
the root trainers. Again, we got these
2:26
from Oakland Gardens. And yeah,
2:29
hopefully get some sweet peas growing
2:30
down here cuz they add absolute color,
2:32
fragrance, and the bees love them. We've
2:34
got these in the mini greenhouse. We
2:36
ain't got room on his windowill at home
2:38
and they can grow leggy if you're not
2:41
careful which you don't want with sweet
2:43
peas. So yeah, we're growing them in
2:45
here and hopefully they'll germinate and
2:47
look good.
2:49
In here we've got potatoes what we're
2:51
chitting and keeping dry and cool. I've
2:55
put them away this year because last
2:57
year I had them in my shed and the
2:59
squirrels pinched them or the rats. So I
3:02
lost a lot of my potatoes. But we've got
3:05
them all in there. We're going to be
3:06
planting these on Good Friday. It's an
3:08
old gardener's tale and they say to
3:10
plant potatoes on Good Friday. It's all
3:13
to do with the moon, so I've always
3:15
stuck with that and had great crops. So
3:18
yeah, that'll soon be here and we'll
3:19
soon be planting them.
3:22
We've also got this beautiful bulb
3:24
lasagna. We got the bulbs last year from
3:26
U Garden and they're absolutely growing
3:29
fantastic. Obviously, they're growing
3:31
faster in here cuz it's warmer. And
3:33
yeah, they'll soon be flowering cuz
3:35
look, you can see like the little
3:36
flowers coming on the mini daffodil. So,
3:38
they'll soon be popping out and
3:40
blooming. So, we'll take that outside
3:42
soon so that we've got some color
3:43
outside. We're just speeding it along.
3:46
Obviously, we've got loads of bulbs
3:47
outside as well, so they'll be coming
3:51
out soon. We've also got some of her
3:53
plants in here to keep them alive during
3:55
the winter, and then we'll take them
3:57
back outside next year. uh on well this
4:00
year now uh once it warms up a bit and
4:03
yeah we need to tidy them up, trim them
4:05
back and get rid of the weeds what are
4:07
growing in them as well. So that's one
4:08
job that we've got to do.
4:11
But my plan will be to have tomatoes all
4:13
down that back side and then some plants
4:16
in front of them. And then we'll
4:18
possibly be growing cauliflowers,
4:20
broccoli, cabbage in these raised beds
4:23
in the middle, cucumbers and peppers
4:26
possibly in this one. So hopefully
4:29
they'll all grow. And we'll I want to
4:31
grow some carrots and like spring
4:35
onions, beetroot, little veg as well in
4:38
these because they'll grow a lot faster
4:39
and lettuce as well. So I've got plenty
4:42
of ideas of what we're going to grow in
4:43
these. But yeah, fingers crossed it's
4:45
going to look absolutely amazing in here
4:47
and hopefully get a lot more produce. So
4:50
we've got 14 extra new beds to grow in
4:52
this year, which is going to be
4:54
absolutely amazing. it'll just keep
4:57
trouble keeping it watered when it gets
4:59
warm, but we'll keep on top of it and
5:01
hopefully get some great produce
5:03
growing.
5:05
So, I hope you've enjoyed the first
5:07
episode of our poly tunnel diaries.
5:09
We'll produce these each week, showing
5:11
you what's happening in here, what's
5:13
growing, what's not growing. We always
5:14
show the truth. And yeah, stay tuned for
5:17
next week's episode. So, drop us a
5:19
follow to stay up to date. Until next
5:21
time everyone, remember, keep smiling,
5:23
keep shining, and keep guarding the bed.
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