2015 – Page 3 – Sustainable Life Birmingham

Turn your Juice and Milk Cartons into Seedling Trays

It’s easy to turn your leftover Juice Cartons and Milk Cartons into seedling planters. Not all cities recycle this material so if you are stuck in a place that won’t recycle them like us, it’s a great idea to try to re-use them instead.

Cut out a rectangle shape on the top of the carton (keeping the lid tightly screwed on still. Do not cut all the way to the edge of the carton – you will need a cm roughly around the edges to keep the carton stable with the weight of the soil inside.

Then simply fill with seedling soil and plant your salad seeds. Place on a windowsill and harvest as and when you desire! The easy compact design of these cartons make them the perfect size for windowsills and the cartons are naturally leak proof and certified food safe.

Erecting a Polytunnel

Make sure you set aside a full day or two for some really hard work and back breaking labour. Don’t make the mistake we did and assume your polytunnel will be okay weighed down for a day while you get your breath back, it won’t!

Separate the work across two days. Make sure you only put the cover on when you have time to dig it in all at one go.

Day One

Get the Polytunnel erected (frame only). Make sure you have all your tools and equipment necessary and an extra person to help out. You will need someone to help carry and lift the arches if nothing else and to hold bars in place while they are fixed in.

Dig a trench where the polytunnel will fit in all around it, even if it has no base frame – you will need the trench for the cover. You can use the frame of the polytunnel itself as a guideline so you don’t need to mark it out. You will need to move the frame while you do so.

Day Two

Get the cover on the polytunnel as per your instructions, you will need an extra helper for this too. Align up the sheeting and tie it down. Then move the frame into the trench if not already and ensure the cover lays down into the trench. We lined our cover with a few bricks and rocks to help weigh it down but we are not yet sure if this was wise. Next, move the soil from the trench back into the trench on top of the cover. Do the same on the inside of the polytunnel too to seal in the cover and ensure there are no gaps. Press the ground in firmly.

Try to get the cover as tight as possible, but with this type of polytunnel it will be difficult.

You will notice how warm and cosy your new polytunnel is (just like ours, mmm!) Remember to seal the doorway properly before you leave or it will serve as an entryway for the wind.

Polytunnel Plan

This section of my new allotment will not be much permaculture this year. The polytunnel will house a mixture of perennials and annuals. The greater plan for next year is to convert the base of the polytunnel into a pond/self irrigation system which requires the entire polytunnel plot to be dug out. This pond will then be converted into an aquaponics fish farm eventually completing the project.

In the meantime, It;s the middle of winter and I am several muscles short of digging out the polytunnel section in time for my first plantings in february. Therefore to ensure I don’t miss out on this year’s harvests I am postponing the pond until next year and building my new polytunnel somewhere else on my plot. This will give me the year to casually dig out the pond section where I eventually want the polytunnel to end up.

My rough plan for the finished plot shows the polytunnel and pond system on the right hand side. I will move the polytunnel to the middle section while i dig out the pond on the right hand side where i want ti to be. This means for the first year my polytunnel will have to be regularly maintained and watered manually.

Plants planned for polytunnel:
Tomatoes, chillis, Peppers, Melons, Aubergines, Avocado tree (currently on windowsill), cucumber, sweet pepper, cape gooseberries, coffee plant.

I will be putting up the new 6m x 3m x 2m polytunnel this week so if you’d like to come along and help please do get in touch.