Wednesday I went to install a server for someone. True to form it tried to foil my attempts at every turn but I beat it back bravely. I continued and was close to finishing Thursday but not wanting to rush went to finish the job Friday. On Friday BT pulled the plug on the internet service as it was switched from AOL to BT. This was supposed to happen Friday night - not Friday morning! Fortunately I was there to make the appropriate router changes and get them going again. I finished the day early despite taking some time for training and tuning - something I don't normally get time for and so I finished the week on a real high. Sounds sad but if you haven't been there then please don't knock it!
So this morning came and I went down the allotment for the first time this week and got a shock! Yes there's been wind but I still wasn't prepared for what I found. The polytunnel had taken a battering with some of the internal struts sheared off while others were badly bent. This poly tunnel was erected by the previous tenant and been left behind with three vines in. As well as bent metal work one end of the tunnel is badly torn as well. Unfortunately this structure is too flimsy a structure for the open location it is in, it should be in a garden where fences and trees will help to break the wind.
We are now licking our wounds and trying to decide it's future. We had been thinking about doing more fruit in the garden and less vegetables so I think we will now move the vines to garden locations and try to salvage a summer-only 'greenhouse' for tomatoes or cucumbers or similar. It is a real shame that this has marred an excellent week.
Gerry, if it's any consolation, I was chasing bits of greenhouse around the garden during the storm the other night. Half of me was glad that it wasn't a glass house (no broken panes), the other half was cursing the light fly-away plastic safety panels.
ReplyDeleteI took a look around the other allotments and most were in good shape although 1 had some glass blown out. I thought we might go glass but the wind runs mainly onto our plot - the last one - so any debris and we would constantly be replacing glass. A few years ago our neighbours fence came down in wind and his plastic garden furniture totalled about 4 glass sheets in our greenhouse. No, we will go greenhouse free on the allotment and use plastic plant houses for summer only. Also being on the allotment - this is something Mary said earlier, you can't nip out and check in the middle of the night.
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