Three weeks at the #allotment:
We completed the #polytunnel.
The whole plot has been strimmed down to ground level
2 of the pallet built #compost heaps have been removed, the wood will, where possible be reused, and the rest recycled, or chipped and composted.
While digging out and sorting the compost from one of the heaps, we found some red-skinned #potatoes, which we may be able to use as seed potatoes.
Today at the #Allotment.
We completed the #polytunnel.
Purple Queen, my favourite bean. 2.5kg 
Zero chemical, minimal watering despite the heat
It was going to be a lazy day. Not any more.
We got confirmation of our #allotment tenancy overnight, so we're going to get started clearing the over-growth, and see what lies beneath.
A #polytunnel has been ordered, and I've sent a message to my boss asking permission to take some scrap pallets from the factory.
I've also got some chores to do at home. It's going to be a long day.
Right, some initial notes on these #RP2350 Melopero Perpetuo #LoRa boards: https://yvan.seth.id.au/melopero-perpetuo-first-notes.html
Long story short: they work... I can make LEDs flash, that's the key thing... right? 
Can also read the internal temperature sensor and check battery status.
A few "bugs" in the examples and a slightly faulty board.
So far, so good... Next job is to get one of them transmitting the temp and battery status to the other. Will need to think about how to "package" that data for reliable tx/rx, probably need some redundancy, etc, maybe a buffer window of data. Then I need to dig out some of my various sensors and decide what to hook up to the "remote" to send to the local. The local will probably then relay data to a connected computer via the serial console I guess.
Project #Polytunnel Telemetry is GO! Well, if I can get a signal that far, otherwise this becomes project #Greenhouse Telemetry... the greenhouse is about 30 metres away, the polytunnel is a kilometre.
Another postcard from our #allotment... kinda went a bit long with this one. Not a lot of tasks ticked off, but a good bit of hard yakka. My arms and legs ache!
The octagonal shed is now upright on cinderblock plinths.
We have a #polytunnel rat!! 
As captured by CCTV...
Something has eaten a bunch of our polytunnel crops! 
(The rat?? 
)
Right, REPOST (with the right month and year, lol)
#allotment postcard done already! https://youtu.be/iyCxKCzIBYE
Because not much has happened this week! It is cold, everything is frozen. Whilst we certainly don't get as chilly as many do at this time of year, it's still enough to grind things to a halt when it happens.
What did happen this weekend is the CCTV in the #polytunnel caught us a Great Tit! Which inspired us to sort out some bird feeders for the plot.
So in this week's postcard we visit one of our local garden centres, buy and deploy bird feeders, and talk potatoes — what we're going to grow this year and where we buy them.
When nipping out to go to the post office I noticed it was fairly still, so I grabbed the shitty little drone and managed to take some iffy #allotment photos without losing it (it tried to bugger off elsewhere a couple of times, as usual, bastard thing.)
For the uninitiated, our plots are the one with the biggest #polytunnel in the middle and the one next to it with the glassless #greenhouse frame adjacent to one end of the polytunnel... and lots of junk (current main work-in-progress).
No rain here so far today, but cold and drab outside, uninspiring weather - apparently rain or even snow tonight, I'd like a bit of snow... snow is fun.
For comparison here is where we were at in late October: https://toot.ale.gd/@yvan/113375010347200497
The one small #allotment job today was fitting this 4G CCTV camera inside the #polytunnel - so now we have PolyCam!
The camera is leftover work detritus, a ReoLink Go PT Plus, we got this so the warehouse would have a secondary CCTV option not reliant on site internet or power. It never actually got deployed (shit happened, per se). In the recent "Black Friday" times someone here pointed out a good deal on a 4G SIM* - so I decided to get that and dig out the camera.
The video attached was captured from home, so it's up and working well. I can now remotely watch our poor polytunnel seedlings get battered by the wind. Need to do something about polytunnel doors really.
Going to be interesting to see if the little solar panel it came with can really keep its battery topped up through winter.
* one-off £30 for 25 gigs of data per month until Feb 2027 on the Three network which has a pretty strong signal at the allotment site, it's back up to £60 now.
3 weeks since I began laminating the new wooden #polytunnel. My clamps didn't like the rain, hail and snow we had that much. So when I took the last hoop out of the fixture for lamination today, the tools got a spa treatment after 3 weeks outside.
The rust was removed with a wire brush on an angle grinder and then the clamps were oiled.
Picture shows state of two clamps before and after the treatment.
Now I need a shower and a good brush too - not made of wire though.
#gardening #DIY @gardening
Whilst I am at it, current #allotment #polytunnel temperature graph is interesting... we plunged so low to -4.4°C last week, but the cold-snap was short-lived and that is one weird hump on Saturday where the temperature didn't go down at all overnight, it just kept going up!
Righty, one storm*-delayed #allotment vlog! https://youtu.be/EEcSXiSMN44
This is our first year attempting overwintered greens in the #polytunnel and as with most things it was a bit of a late start for these. Shall be interesting to see what, if anything, works out from the 6 leaf crop varieties we're trying out in here. Left to right:
Pak Choi (Colour Crunch Mix)
Spinach (Mediana)
Mustard Greens (Giant Winter)
Nine Headed Bird (another mustard green)
Lambs' Lettuce
Chard (Bright Lights)
Alongside the garlic we popped in these beds as per last week's vlog, and the earlier sowings of carrots, coriander, dill, rashishes, celery seedlings, and a bonus volunteer wild rocket.
Bar far the most winter action the polytunnel has ever seen!
We also re-secure a wobbly Ume tree, and drop off gathered leaves for making Darlek leaf-mould.
* Storm Brian, and also storm-Yvan-mistyping-a-rm-and-deleting an hour's work!
All change!
In this week's vlog the #allotment #polytunnel has been stripped and tidied, and the over-winter polytunnel garlic crop is in.
Meanwhile Kat has been burninating the countryside.
Re. earlier repost... today was well oorlich! The damp greyness certainly seeped all the way to my bones. Now on a couch under a blanket with the laptop warming me.
Rain and dark stopped play at #allotment. We really need to work on getting earlier starts now these so so short days are upon us.
The #polytunnel garlic is now in... 26x Kingsand Wight, 25x Picardy Wight, and 60x of the fattest "Wonky" bulbs. Not quite as many as I'd hoped to get in in total, but it brings us up to 243 garlics planted.
Started putting in the winter seedlings but as the temperature dropped a couple of degrees my glasses started steaming up and I couldn't see shit. Need to consider contacts again perhaps.
Couple of hours down the #allotment today with one job: #polytunnel clearance.
Job done!
That's one of the #compost bays topped up to the top again now too!
Slightly dodgy quality on the images as they're stills from video... some schmuck forgot to take photos.
Beds cleared barring a few things kept in (gotta enjoy those marigolds whilst they last!) Beds well watered, will be watered again tomorrow, then we plant overwintering crops.
While taking a comfort break this afternoon, I couldn’t help but reflect on the amazing view from our bathroom. Little things make a big difference. #Wicklow #ireland #ratemyview #polytunnel #autumn #photo #landscape #backyard
Cheap wooden #polytunnel
The first hoop is laminated, edges planed & routed and oiled.
The instructions of the glue say "not below 6°C". We have 7°C. The one done yesterday morning had to stay in the fixture all night and the glue still could have had some more time.
So instead of 2-3 hoops/day, I just get one done.
Found a nice spot for storage. 
#gardening @gardening #DIY #GrowYourOwn #WoodenPolytunnel #HoopHouse
Cheap #polytunnel
The fixture for the hoops is finished. As I didn't have any material for the steaming chamber lying around after the fail of the drainage tube, I've cut the battens in half. After putting them through a thicknesser, they are 10mm thick and bend well over the fixture.
Now I can laminate layers of battens.
I just have to use different lengths for the layers so the joints don't overlap.
~ (3m+3m+1.4m) (2.5m+2.4m+2.5) (1.4m+3m+3m) with outer layer slightly longer. #gardening #DIY
Thanks for sharing @Badgardener
That looks really cool!
Waterproof plywood is the obvious choice for a project like this.
However, I'd like to build a series of polytunnels for as little as possible. The most expensive thing will be the 5 years UV stabilised film at about 300,-€. I hope to build the structure of a 8x4.7m #polytunnel for about 100,- to 150,-€.
It's an experiment though.
