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Skinny Leek Lasagne Each month we will be looking at the nutritional value of a particular fruit or vegetable in season. Whether you are growing in a Polytunnel, Greenhouse or outside in the open garden, there will be bag full’s of natural goodness in anything you sow. This month we look at the Leek. Part of the Onion family, along with garlic, Leeks can add an oniony tang to most dishes, perfect in soups and when cooked down can add another layer of flavour to ingredients such as ham, cheese, potato and pasta. When not providing good flavour, Leeks do...

Starting Off Onions In The Polytunnel Onions from seed can be sown in January but unlike tomatoes who like it hot, you want the temperature around or slightly below 15C for onions. Watch out on sunny days, it may be cold outside but the temperature can shoot up in the polytunnel. Onions like a good long period between sowing and the summer solstice so ideally sow as early as possible if you have a polytunnel or a greenhouse you can start them as early as February. The link attached gives information on how to grow your onions. http://www.allotment-garden.org/vegetable/onions-growing/grow-onions-from-seed/

Polytunnel Growing Issue 1: Rhubarb... A look at our new monthly growing series begins with an interesting article snippet regarding Rhubarb. Whilst the stalk can be used in crumbles, jams and preserves...a good thing to remember is that the leaves on the Rhubarb plant are toxic... This is due to high levels of oxalic acid. Every serving of rhubarb provides 45% of the daily value in vitamin K, which supports healthy bone growth and can limit neuronal damage in the brain, even to the point of preventing Alzheimer's. Basket of Rhubarb -

Polytunnel Pest Remedies All you garden lovers will already know about what slugs do to your beloved plants. An easy way to rid of these pests is to bury some cups in the soil near your plants just enough so the rim is just over the level of the soil and fill the cup about half way, beer attracts slugs so the slugs will slide into the cup and it will be stuck in there. This is a great method of getting rid of those pests. Slug Trap in the making

Reasons for buying a Polytunnel Polytunnels are great for growing in the harsh winter months They absorb the sun and achieve the most productive germination and Spring growing temperatures two to six weeks ahead of the open garden according to your location. Polytunnels give the ability to start seedlings early... They provide shelter for your plants and protect growing plants from rain, frost, snow, hail and gales and therefore enable more autumn, winter and early spring crops to be grown. Another reason to consider when buying a polytunnel is that Crops grow quicker, earlier and in most cases larger. Polytunnels...

A guide for growing during January It is always better to be prepared for each upcoming growing season. But this does not extend to just seed sowing; there are a whole load of other tasks to be completed each month such as weeding, harvesting and general maintenance. As we are a retailer of Polytunnel products, we have found two very good and informative month by month guides to preparing your Polytunnel and/or allotment over at Allotment Garden. The site, run by John Harrison, offers an allotment diary based on his own experiences and growing expertise on an allotment plot (nearly...