Anyone with an allotment?

You’re right. I’m mostly seeing it as a fun little challenge. My plot is bloody big and I finished all the landscaping projects last year. Something daft like this would keep me occupied for a weekend or two.

Re: walpini. That’s a lot of soil to find a space for on your allotment.

https://youtu.be/9zugv1NdMj4

Let’s see how it goes IRL.

Good luck!

That’s a lot of soil to find a space for on your allotment.

My greenhouse base levelling has filled a tonne bag.

The drainage ... is more concern

I think on my plot it would be knee to waist deep in water most of the time.

-Drainage is pretty good on my plot(top of a slope)
-Spoil will top up beds
-Clay can be used to form edges for raised beds.
2x2” posts and fence planks to shore up

Fuck it. I’m gonna break ground next week!

https://www.gardenandgreenhouse.net/articles/greenhouse-articles/the-walipini-greenhouse/

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That pic is basically what I’m thinking. 18” wide walkway about 3ft deep. Shore up with posts and pallet planks.
Whack a blue water pipe tunnel over the top.

Fuck it. I’m gonna break ground next week!

😎

If it doesn't work out you'll at least have a nice deep pond (or a grave 😬)

I’m here for this!

One of the neighbouring businesses gets double length pallets. Fuck breaking the pallets up for planks, just put them on edge, drive 1.5m posts in to stop them collapsing. Line with plastic and should be a good enough retaining wall.

Managed to harvest my first earlies today (don’t ask)

They’re very small. Probably lack of water but can’t think what variety they are?

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Desiree? Red Duke of York?

Must be Desiree.

I couldn’t grow a nonce associated crop

This reminds me of my green house. I’m 6’3 so I’ve dug quite a deep trench just to give myself room to manoeuvre

.https://horti-generation.com/underground-walipini-greenhouse/

Is mold a concern for these things?

Ages ago I got really into reading up about ground source heating greenhouses, and preventing mold is a common issue.

18” wide walkway about 3ft deep

🤔

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I’m going to avoid overthinking it and just go in blind.
I think a cold sink(the walkway in the design I’m thinking of) and a flue at each end should be enough.
I’ll just use polytunnel sheeting, not the rigid stuff. Don’t think I could get away with the timber frame above ground. Aiming for a stealthy walapini ;)

Don’t think I’ll get to 4ft but will see, guess a pallet is 3ft on the short side, want to sink the growing beds about 6-8” below the current surface.

This gonna be fun.

I like the idea of a worktop height growing area to save my back ( 6'4 here)

Aiming for a stealthy walapini

Are there rules about the depth you are allowed to dig ?

Not that I’m aware of. I’m only allowed one ‘structure’, I have a 6x8 potting shed which ticks this box.
People who have had their plots prior to the current council officer tend to have a shed and a greenhouse but I can’t get away with that.
My chilli tunnel has received no complaints as it’s not permanent and only chest high. I’m thinking something similar over my walapini will get away with it. ‘It’s not a polytunnel, it’s just a cloche’ is what I’m going with.

haha the squash are quite small, tbh the patty pan were a bit bigger than I'd like

project thread plz!!

I think the pineapple house at Heligan is slightly dug in. It has a monopitch facing South to catch solar gain and the low North wall is a double wall designed to hold manure, with plenty of vents to the inside to circulate warm humid air.

This is the potential space I’ve got for it, reckon it’s about 3.5x3m if I use the full length of the bed. Might got a little shorter and not incorporate that little tufty bed at the far end.
It’s a lot of digging to end up with a bed with a sunke walkway/cold sink. Not sure if I’ll get all the benefits of doing a full sized one but it looks fun.

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For ventilation - could you maybe bury some drainage pipes to draw in fresh air for ventilation but let the air travel through the ground so its slightly warmer by the time it comes in?

Edit, like this but working in reverse in winter

Imagine you had a ventilation pipe spiralled through a hotbed before it entered the greenhouse, would that work/ do anything? 😆