Stormy weather..

I feel very sorry for the people of the Philippines, we are having wet and stormy weather here but it is insignificant to what they have endured.

As winter and stormy weather approaches we take sensible precautions to prevent as much damage to the polytunnels etc. as we can. When I put the first tunnel up I set it out in a south-north direction to get the sun on both sides. Unfortunately I wasn't aware of how strong the winds from the west could be at the Croft. They get funnelled down the valley and come sweeping across our land. One year we had a particularly bad storm which whipped up from nowhere and took the tunnel and a 150 year old oak tree. I managed to save much of the tunnel but it needed a new cover and re-siting.

We reorientated the tunnel to run east-west, hugging close to the bank, and exposing it end on to the wind. To further reduce the wind we built a simple slatted fence, with gaps between the uprights to allow the wind to filter through. This makes a huge difference to reducing the wind speed and also provides a sheltered area just beside the polytunnel. The second polytunnel lies in the same direction in line with the first tunnel. Now the tunnels have been up a number of years and are well embedded into the ground. Even in a strong wind they feel quite safe to work inside.

Outdoors all plastic sheets are weighted down with tyres and posts. Even bags of rocks etc. Any plants in pots are put in sheltered areas, sometimes within old fish boxes etc to stop them being blown over and rolling around. My young blueberry plants (originally planted but then the cows got to them and they needed remedial care) have been buried in their pots in part of the vegetable bed to keep them from becoming frozen solid. Most perennials are less prone to being caught by the wind because their foliage disappears over the winter. These are placed in areas of the Nursery where they won't become waterlogged or frozen to the benches.

Generally the winter isn't too bad, you expect poor weather, winds, rain, snow and ice. Problems generally start once spring is expected, then the fluctuations in weather can cause more difficulties, especially when you are nurturing young vulnerable plants. I understand many farmers in the Philippines have lost all their crops, many mature coconut and banana plantations. Recovery from that makes our vegetable gardening problems pale into insignificance, particularly when it isn't our livelihood at stake.