Planting winter salads in the polytunnels

This year we have grown two polytunnels-full (named Imogen and Nigel) of tomato vines, about 600 plants in total, of several varieties (my favourite being Sungold). They have produced very well for us through July and August, but now in September they have slowed down, partly due to the cooler weather and reducing daylength, but also because of the onset of tomato leaf mould.

One of our plants showing advanced leaf mould.

Although this fungal disease does not affect the tomatoes themselves (unlike tomato blight, with which it can be confused), it does kill the leaves, weakening the plant. We have some plans to combat this next year - mesh doors on the tunnels instead of plastic doors being our first choice.

So we have begun gradually removing the tomatoes, clearing their remains, weeding the beds, hoeing the beds, laying greenwaste compost, and planting the salad seedlings that we sowed at our Volunteer Social on 19th August (there was food and music too!).

 

The first two beds planted up.

To date we have completed 5 out of 14 beds this way, and now we are waiting for the next batch of salad seedlings to become ready, and still harvesting tomatoes in the meantime. These salad plants will help take us through the winter.

Sowing trays of winter salads at our volunteer social back in August.