As you might know, I go on about it enough, we’re 600 feet up an exposed hillside and it can get quite breezy as well as wet. So when we heard on the weather forecast that gales were expected overnight, went to bed with some trepidation.
Right on cue, at 3am I was woken with rain and hail hammering at the windows and the wind howling down the chimney loud enough to cause the cat to retreat to the safety behind the settee. Wales, you’ve got to love it or leave it.
Regular readers will know I’ve had a couple of problems with my Vitavia greenhouse. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely piece of kit but when the wind is at the right angle it gets in and I’ve had a pane of toughened glass blow out from the roof, despite 10 clips holding it, and vanish over the wall never to be seen again.
So when I got up and pulled back the curtains I was quite expecting to see at least a pane of glass missing from the greenhouse. But, a win, the greenhouse was in perfect condition. Mind you, the wind is coming from the north and it’s winds from the south that have caused a problem. In fact I’m going to build a windbreak to the south and east of the greenhouse so hopefully no more flying sheets of glass.
Then I looked up the field to my shed and realised half the roofing felt had been ripped off. The shed itself was especially strengthened to cope with our extreme conditions and the roof is made of tongue and groove, not chipboard but the felt must have had a little tear and that was enough to let the wind in.
Headed off to the builders merchants and bought a roll of shed roofing felt and a tin of bituminous paint to stick it on with. £25 Ouch! Glue and clout nails might, just, with luck hold up against the wind here.
Had another small victory, my publishers have decided to reprint How to Store Your Home Grown Produce at the current price and should be back in stock in about a month. We’re down to about 20 copies now but it doesn’t fly off the shelves at this time of year, so we’ll be OK.
They might still bring out a more expensive version in a different format but at least we’ve got an affordable guide out there rather than another coffee table decoration for those with more money than sense.
Down on the south side of the house, there’s a nice sheltered flat spot which I think would be ideal for another greenhouse. Since we’ll be using it for starting off seedlings it would be nice to have a house we can keep warm or warmish at least.
Well I think I’ve found the answer, it’s twin wall polycarbonate so heat retentive and a no-clip channel glazing system which should be pretty stable in our winds. It’s on a steel base and has extra bracing in the roof and corners. Sounds perfect and it’s only £285.00 at the moment on sale at greenhouse stores. You can check it out here: Grow Master Greenhouse
Leave a Comment Here on Win Some, Lose Some (Again)