31st March

With us getting the two fifty-meter tunnels re sheeted last week, the next job was getting the irrigation sorted out.

After the polythene got destroyed in the storm, it then left the irrigation exposed.

Each tunnel has two lines if irrigation running the full length of the tunnel.

The irrigation pipes are plastic, which are glued together, and the sprinklers are screwed in every meter, plastic pipes don’t really enjoy getting blasted around with 70 plus miles per hour wind, so there was a lot of re pairs needing done.

Finally, that was re paired and tested, we then got compost spread in both tunnels, and one is now rotovated, this week coming we will get some blocked lettuce and oriental mix planted.

We did have three tunnels to repair after the storm.

Two fifty-meter ones which are earthed in at the sides, plus one ninety-meter cosy tunnel.

The cosy tunnels are a different design, they have open ends, and the polythene is held down by ropes which are tied onto hooks on legs.

These legs are about a meter long with a screw end and a u-shaped top where the tunnel hoops slide over.

There are two hundred and twenty-two legs in total, three rows of seventy four, the middle row has the hoops of both tunnel attached to it, so there are two ninety meter cosy tunnels side by side.

But the wind had broken forty legs, usually legs do break just with age and fatigue, and it is easy enough to put a big bar in between the u shape at the top and screw them in by hand, it does take a bit of time but easy enough to do.

But this time there was forty to do.

That’s a really lot of energetic screwing in by hand, and a lot of time.

Time to make something.

I have a petrol post hole bored, this has three different size cork screws that you attach to the bottom of the petrol engine, the engine has two handles, and all you do is give it throttle and hold on tight, and you end up with various size holes depending which cork screw ( auger ) you use and a meter deep.

So, my plan was to weld up a u shape that would fit over the tunnel legs, then attach like the auger does.

After a bit of grinding, welding and drilling I had a tunnel leg screw in machine, time to try it out.

Usually screwing legs in by hand can take up to 20 minutes per leg.

But with my new attachment and the petrol engine I had fifteen done in an hr.

But I ran out of time to get them all in.

This week coming I will have all the new legs screwed in place.

I also have three bays at the end to re attach the end bracing bars, and a couple of other wee bits to sort out.

We won’t manage to re sheet this tunnel this week, as Rab that works with me in the field and tunnels is out delivering as Andrew is of for a week.

But I will be planning on getting it re sheeted at the beginning of April.

This tunnel is going to have two hundred and fifty courgettes planted in it, which we blocked last week.

So we do have a wee bit of breathing space if the weather doesn’t play ball.