Premier Polytunnels Blog

With the arrival of autumn, you may think that your vegetable growing season is over. However, with a little preparation, the help of our yearly guide and a polytunnel, you can still sow and grow fresh produce during the colder months. This is because while many associate gardening with spring, autumn can provide a plentiful harvest while winter months are the perfect time for planning and sowing.

There are many varieties of vegetables that can be sown in autumn ready for a winter harvest, while other plants can be over-wintered – these are planted in autumn and remain dormant until the spring. So, if you’re yet to start sowing or growing your seasonal veg, then fear not, as you still have time to reap the best of the winter season.

Ready to get started? If you’re wondering what to grow in a polytunnel in September, October and beyond, we’ve compiled this guide to help you extend your growing season.

Nearly two years ago, in December 2016, we constructed two 27ft wide x 66ft long animal house polytunnels over the dog kennels at Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary, in Edenfield, near Ramsbottom. These polytunnels acted as temporary cover for the animals during the wet winter months.

With the construction of new kennels now underway, Premier Polytunnels was asked to relocate one of the tunnels at the sanctuary.

This summer, our construction team dismantled, moved, refurbished, rebuilt and re-covered the structure, now measuring 27ft wide x 42ft long. We are excited about the polytunnel’s new purpose as a dog training arena at the sanctuary.

Farmers have used sheep housing for many years for many reasons – lower feeding costs and nutritional requirements, higher survival rate for newborn lambs, and increased animal welfare are some of the top reasons.

A Sheep House Polytunnel is a popular, economical alternative to traditional livestock housing, particularly as planning permission is not usually required, when housing is needed quickly and on a budget, and for farmers on rented land.  

But working out what size of sheep house you need can be confusing.

With more people living in small city homes, nowadays, having your own garden or private outdoor area is often viewed as a luxury. However, when trying to get the most from your outdoor space, you may be unsure where to start – especially if you are limited for space and trying to design a layout that’s practical and looks good too.

Whether you want to enjoy the perfect family garden or create a little relaxing retreat, a few simple garden ideas and careful planning could improve your home by acting as an extension of your living space.

Are you looking for a way to encourage your students to spend more time outside? Would you like them to be more excited about nature and incorporate this into lessons? Starting a school gardening project could help you to achieve these goals, while also providing fun for your pupils.

As a busy teacher, the idea of finding the hours to create and look after a garden may seem difficult, but these tips and school garden ideas could make the process easier and provide an opportunity for your pupils to learn and develop outdoors.

The term ‘organic’ can be confusing. While many of us have seen organic produce in the supermarkets, do you know what it is that makes crops organic?

For food to be organic, the growing process must not use any synthetic chemicals, including pesticides or fertilisers, and production should be environmentally sustainable.

Feeling a little confused? You may well be! While this sounds complicated, organic gardening is probably easier than you think.

Do you want to limit your impact on the environment and lead a self-sufficient lifestyle? Then growing your own vegetables is a great way to achieve these goals!

There are many ways to invest in self-sufficient living, from maintaining your own car to carrying out DIY, but by growing your own food you can enjoy time outdoors, get your family involved, and make delicious meals with ingredients straight from your garden.

For those who are green-fingered, there’s nothing better than cooking wholesome and healthy meals with vegetables and fruit that you’ve nurtured yourself. Plus, you don’t have to wait until our great British “summer” to grow them. You can extend the season to grow fruit and vegetables and enjoy home-grown, healthy food all year round. How you ask? When you find out how to use a polytunnel, you’ll wonder why you ever spent money on supermarket veg!

Here are some easy-to-grow pantry favourites that you’ll be proud to take from patch to plate:

Are you looking for a healthy and sustainable way to feed your family? Well, starting your own vegetable patch in the garden is a great place to start. Not only is it easy to do, you’re in control of how much pesticide is used (and therefore how healthy your fruit and veg is), and it’s a great form of exercise too!

Polytunnels are a great investment for anyone wanting to live more sustainably. Polytunnels help gardeners and fruit and veg growers to reduce their carbon footprints; they allow British commercial growers to increase their yields, limiting the amount of imported crops and cutting food miles. Hobby gardeners and anyone wanting to be more self-sufficient can grow their own home-grown produce inside a polytunnel, where a lot of organic growing can also take place.

However, with many campaigners around the world fighting to end plastic pollution in the world’s rivers and oceans, the use of these structures covered with polythene, or “polytunnel plastic”, is sometimes questioned by people who are keen to be eco-friendly.