Tunnel of love

GARDENS:A good polytunnel can provide a year-round supply of food. Here is some expert advice on these plastic wonders

WHEN JOYCE RUSSELL took delivery of her polytunnel 16 years ago, it arrived by courier, an unnerving puzzle of metal hoops and struts, a shiny wad of polythene, and sundry other bits. “We just looked at this great pile . . . ” she recalls, and pauses as she views it in her mind’s eye. “But, we’re very handy people,” she says briskly. Within days, she and husband Ben had erected the monster at their home in the mountains near Gougane Barra in Cork – despite the bony knuckles of rock just under the soil surface.

It was the start of an unlikely love affair, between one woman and her plastic-encased hoop house. “I am a polytunnel fanatic,” says Russell, with some warmth. “I adore my polytunnel. The amount of food that comes out of it is extraordinary.” Even now, after the prolonged sub-zero temperatures this winter – it was minus 12 outside in the west Cork garden – the heroic tunnel is pouring out food daily. “I’m giving away salad”: mibuna, mizuna, lamb’s lettuce, rocket, ‘Winter Density’ cos, and an old-fashioned lettuce called ‘Venezia’ with “jagged edges and long, pointy leaves” from the Organic Gardening Catalogue. Also ready for harvest are Swiss chard, spring cabbage, broccoli, kohl rabi, beetroot, spinach and coriander. The overwintered peas and broad beans, meanwhile, are coming along nicely and will be cropping in just a few months. “I’m a good gardener,” she says , “but I’m not unique. I think people are just afraid of trying things like this. It’s perfectly possible for anyone to have stuff through the winter.”

Russell treats her nine by 4.5m plastic cocoon with uncommon solicitousness. She repairs all nicks and splits immediately (do order a repair kit when you get a tunnel, she advises, so that the rips don’t have time to enlarge) and she washes the covering regularly. “People change the polythene because they say that the light levels are right down, but if you wash it, it comes back and looks great.” She scrubs the polythene at least yearly with environmentally safe washing-up liquid and a natural citrus-based disinfectant, such as Citricidal or Citrox. The latter helps to repress algal growth – the main light excluder on polytunnels. Her ministrations have meant that her tunnel has had the same polythene skin since it was assembled, 16 years ago.

The key to its longevity isn’t just her particular level of care, but the fact that she made sure to get heavy=gauge polythene: “Don’t get the cheapest. You save yourself such a small amount of money, compared to the work of replacing it. Get the best you can. It is so worth it.” Another thing that helps to extend the life of the plastic film is to fix it on the frame on a warm day, and to pull it as tightly as possible. The material then shrinks as it cools, and fits snugly.

Russell, who comes from the Yorkshire Dales, arrived in Ireland with husband Ben 33 years ago. Their story is the same as that of many of west Cork’s recent colonists: “We came on holidays, and decided to stay.” Their garden and polytunnel give them food all year round. “We freeze a lot, and I do sun-dried tomatoes. We could be self-sufficient, but I don’t feel like penalising myself. If I feel like buying a pepper for something, I’ll do it.”

Russsell has put her abundant knowledge of growing under cover to good use, and has been a contributor to Kitchen Gardenand Organic Gardeningmagazines for years. This spring sees the publication of The Polytunnel Book,a common-sense and practical volume, with photos by Ben. In it, she leads the reader through the scary business of setting up the tunnel, gives a month-by-month guide to the year, and explains the requirements of more than two dozen crops. She also discusses common pests and diseases, advises on the care of the structure and the soil within it, and describes how to make a hotbed, potting mixes and liquid feeds. Her writing is straightforward and without frills, which makes my next bit of information all the more surprising. When she's not gardening or working on her articles, Joyce Russell does a bit of creative writing. But not just any old, self-indulgent, half-formed stuff. Her story Fishing for Dreamswon first place (in a field of nearly 900 entries) in the most recent Francis MacManus short story competition, run by RTÉ Radio 1. It was only my probing questions that winkled this information out of her: a clear case of hiding her light under a polytunnel.

The Polytunnel Book: Fruit and VegetablesAll Year Round by Joyce Russell, with photos by Ben Russell is published by Frances Lincoln, £16.99

For polytunnels in Ireland, Joyce Russell recommends: Colm Warren Polyhouses, cwp.ie; Fruit Hill Farm, fruithillfarm.com;

Highbank, highbank.ie; and Polydome, www.polydome.ie

An Offaly good fair

Head to Offaly today (March 5th) for a plant fair at Bellefield House, Shinrone, 11am-4.30pm. There will be nurseries, garden goods, and teas, and talks by Mike Snowden, former head gardener at Rowallane Gardens in Co Down. €5, directions and details at angelajupe.ie