After getting the spring cleared out and usable, (and after Duncan thoroughly cleaned out our water tanks!), a pump was installed behind the sales area. This is to increase the water pressure allowing us to water all our plants. Which we spend most of our day doing!!!
Back to the polytunnel! After the relocation of the poly we built the wooden framework, putting windbreak netting on the lower half. Then came the polythene… We learnt pretty quickly that even a slight wind is not ideal conditions! We got one side attached and pulled over the polythene, only for Duncan to realise he hadn’t charged the drill!! So Lynne, Ryan and Megan sat holding it down until eventually we all gave up and the polythene had to be pulled back and weighed down for another day. 3 days later (and on a completely windless day) we got our first ever polytunnel fixed! All in all, a great sense of a achievement and a fab family bonding exercise!!
We are incredibly lucky at Pine Trees, all of our water comes from a natural spring just a little bit further down from the site. This provided us yet another challenge!
The flow rate is approximately 2 litres per second of pure clean water. That is approximately 172,800 litres per 24 hours!!
Whilst the foundations and pump were already there (this spring was always used to water the nursery since it opened), we had to clear the area, relay the foundations of the holding tank, and finally put a cover over the top to stop debris falling in.
The grass area had been pretty destroyed from constantly having heavy machines going over it. So, we got it harrowed and Duncan designed borders which were laid out before we sowed the grass seed. This area is still a work in progress and we are hoping to get it planted up in the near future 🤞
Remember the glass house? Well the first 2 pictures show where that was located (next to the original first polytunnel) and were we built the sales area, also the relocation of the first polytunnel gave us extra space. Duncan designed the space beautifully, it maximises our plant areas but also allows easy access around the sales beds (whilst being extremely aesthetically pleasing of course!) All of us often worked late into the evening and it took a lot of man (and woman) power to get to our finished result.
