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Polytunnel benefits Crops grow quicker earlier and possibly larger. They are per square metre less expensive than glass or polycarbonate greenhouses. There is a wide range of sizes available. 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.They protect growing plants from rain, frost, snow, hail and gales and therefore enable more autumn, winter and early spring crops to be grown.

Materials needed: Glass bowl Wine or juice Dish soap Cling film Tooth pink Step one – Fill the glass bowl 1/3 of the way full with your wine or juice. Next take a piece of the fruit that the flies are attracted to and put it into the bowl, this will attract the fruit flies. Step two – Put a few drops of dish soap in the bowl and give it a stir. Step three – Cover the bowl tightly with the cling film. Next poke holes in the cling film with the tooth pick, just big enough for the...

Ever heard of "Glass Gems"? Well it’s a variety of corn, not just any corn though it’s very peculiar as it is multi coloured using colours such as pink, blue, red, white, orange, brown and many more. Glass Gem was created by a corn farmer in Oklahoma called Carl Barnes, he created this special vegetable by collecting seeds from his corn. He noticed that every so often, a cob showed signs of unusual colouring shining through. Barnes collected and saved those seeds and luckily for us he knew a lot about corn breeding, so after many years of breeding his...

Cabbage April is fast arriving which means it's almost time to harvest your cabbage crop. Not only is cabbage highly nutritious but it can be stored for a number of months without any processing and by fermenting. Harvesting is simple, just cut the head off the stalk and remove loose outer leaves. A bread knife is useful for this. However, it is good practice to fork up and remove any roots as soon as possible as these can provide sustenance for pests and disease. Here is a great recipe to use once your cabbage has beenharvested. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/26661/stuffed-cabbagerolls/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringId=2437&referringContentType=recipe%20hub&clickId=c ardslot%2011

Tomato sowing in polytunnels It may sound surprising but you can actually sow your tomatoes in your polytunnel in January. It is recommended that you start them off with a heated propagator which can be found online. The propagator allows you to set the perfect temperature for your tomatoes. This link gives some handy tips when sowing your tomatoes. http://www.allotment-garden.org/vegetable/how-to-grow-your-own-tomatoes/sowing-starting-offtomatoes/

Top tip When using a polytunnel although its great and gets you ahead it does have limited space. To maximize your space use shelves and hanging baskets or shelves instead of just floor space.