The above picture was taken just the other weekend and since then we have had days of drizzle and 6pm type darkness at 9am and the clocks haven’t even gone back yet!

We heard a good thing this weekend from a gardening mate. They were saying don’t expect miracles from a polytunnel as the temperature inside during winter is only a couple of degrees warmer than the outside but those couple of degrees do make a difference when it comes to frost etc. We are making sure during the colder spells we only open the ventilation flaps at the side for small amounts of time and that no heat can escape thanks to some bubble wrap around the door frame (above).

The more delicate plants in there are going to covered too so we can create a greenhouse within a greenhouse type effect. We have already lifted some of the plants in pots off the floor on pieces of wood and even stuck some on some old tea trays. Anything to stop them touching the cold ground.

Last week we noticed that a seed tray in there with a lid on the top is now home to some germinated star-of-Bethlehem seeds that we were kindly sent by Debby H earlier this year. We have now moved them to the kitchen windowsill, and we will keep you posted on how they do. They are usually propagated by bulbs but we’ll give the seeds a try.

Also started off from seed, we have a couple of Korean Mint (Agastache rugosa) plants  and the leaves taste and smell of aniseed. They supposedly have some great purple flowers which the bees and butterflies are attracted to as well. We don’t want to lose these to the cold weather (even in the polytunnel) so it looks like the bubble wrap/net curtains will be draped over these too when the cold comes. Please weather, be kind to us!