Poly(tunnel)maths

After a 20-minute walk to Horsenden Grape & Honey Farm following their previous task and pizza social, Steph, Sevan and Kash encountered a closed gate and an ominous feeling that the weekly session at the new urban garden was not on. Yikes!

A quick phone call solved the gate problem as Joseph, the owner of the neighbouring, vineyard arrived faster than a fire engine would! And he was not alone. A black dog was accompanying him.

His name is Merlin. He's absolutely magic!

Joseph had been planning to meet Jatinder from Heston Lions Club to discuss organising the future work at the Feeding Ealing urban garden in the afternoon. But he couldn't let the GoodGymers down. He dropped his brandy-making halfway and came over to open the tool shed and give Steph, Sevan and Kash a task.

What kind of task do you want to do today?
Something useful.

Joseph had something perfect for the occasion. He was going to measure up the ground and mark the outline of the polytunnel with bamboo stakes and string. But even with the magic of Merlin, that task seemed like too much for one man and one dog.

The GoodGymers, having already dealt with creating lines over the soil earlier in the morning, were up for the job. Like it or not, it appeared that the session was going to elevate them further towards the status of polytunnel gurus - the probably not fully deserved reputation they had been slowly building in Ealing.

Joseph announced the desired polytunnel dimensions: 42 feet long and 24 feet wide. Steph and Kash scratched their heads - just as you would expect from people coming from countries using the metric system. Joseph's measuring tape was feet-friendly, so the units weren't such a big deal after all. After finding out where the four stakes at the edges of the polytunnel base should be, Joseph and the GoodGymers put the stakes in the ground and attached a string to each of them. Then came the time for the final verification of dimensions by measuring the distances between the edges of the rectangle on the ground diagonally. One of the diagonals was only 1 inch off, which Joseph considered a brilliant result.

You cannot even imagine how helpful that was! I wouldn't have done that on my own - Joseph.

Before leaving, the GoodGymers levelled out a little bit the heaps of soil left behind by the rotivator, then put stakes along the longer side of the rectangle, six feet apart. The last task was to tie a string across the rectangle to connect the stakes.

Just before Steph, Sevan and Kash set off, Jatinder arrived with a tasty selection of samosa, methi paratha and aloo paratha. Yum! It was a new treat in the Horsenden area and maybe a magnet for signups for the November task!