Tuesday 9 April 2013

Wind damage prevention or another use for a brush and a mop!!

Today its been windy, very windy here. None of the weather sites we follow had it down as being so. Accuweather was best at 31 km/h... WRONG. They did get the direction right though - South Westerly!

Unfortunately our little plastic greenhouse is NOT built for high winds! We had just had lunch when Elizabeth exclaimed "the greenhouse! its just caved in"

Greenhouse taken from the wind direction.
I looked and it had! The nearest corner to you, despite having a guy rope, had just caved in. The wind gusts had snapped the plastic tube mounts at that corner.

Fortunately we managed to catch it before too much plant damage; only one tray of Butternut Squash seeds had blown off. We placed the rest on the floor.

But the problem was how to stabilise it. My first idea was Elizabeth could stand and hold it until the wind dropped... I had to think again... We needed to brace the windward side against the other and quickly. The solution... Our brush, an old old mop and some duct tape... Worked a treat!

I have managed to salvage 6/7 of the 10 seedlings but may well have to get some more seeds. The wind has now dropped a little - but only a little.

Elizabeth adds: At least I can rule out sweeping and mopping until the wind dies down!




8 comments:

GaynorB said...

Oh no....

Hasn't it been a dismal day, although I think you day has been more dismal than ours... xx

Craig said...

Oh dear that's no fun at all. Well done though for a creative fix. I spend half of my life watching our (glass) greenhouse to make sure that it's still standing in our windy part of the world. So far it's made it through winter but we've modified it with extra strengthening and clips and locking mechanisms on the door. It's as secure as a bank now!

Susan said...

What a drama it must have been! And your temporary solution is ingenious. It certainly was windy, and gusty with it today, with lots of horizontal rain.

I will try and remember this episode everytime I think I would like some polytunnels at the orchard.

Tim said...

Have you tried Meteo60? (www.meteo60.fr)...
they've been showing 44 and gusts of 67/68 kph for here...
and that Indre-et-Loire are on Yellow Alert until until about now.
They seem to be the most accurate...
but Meteociel are good too.

And for live view, we are using meteo60's radar view and Rainradar UK which shows the whole of Urope...
and you can put your place on the map and see exactly wotz coming your way!!
I've been dodging averses today... you can see from the radar the speed at which the rain is heading your way and make a judgement as to weather or knot it is worth getting your gear on!!

Just checked... we are now on Green!!

Anonymous said...

Almost got blown off the road down here. Hail one minute, thunderstorms the next, drops of 3 or 4° in temperature. I'm glad some of your seedlings survived!

Tim said...

Oh... Pauline says you only need four Butternuts... we've still got the results of last years up the stairs...
Meteo60... it say windz are still go 'til after next w/e.

Colin and Elizabeth said...

Thanks all. Tim have looked at Meteo60 and will add it to our list of weather sites! Going to to a better repair today. Hopefully!

The Broad said...

Ingenious temporary solution. So glad you were able to save so many little plants.