A comprehensive guide to all aspects of polytunnel usage, from planning your purchase to harvesting the rewards.

A polytunnel, high tunnel or hoop house, can be used as an affordable, low-carbon aid to growing your own food all year round, from crispy salads and fresh vegetables in the dead of winter to juicy melons and mouth-watering grapes in high summer. But once you've decided to invest in a polytunnel, there are many questions to be answered...

Do you need planning permission? What are the different sizes and types you can buy? Where should you put it, and how do you put it up? What can you use it for, how do you look after it, and what are the likely problems?

The Polytunnel Handbook looks at all aspects of using a polytunnel, from planning to harvesting. The book features a step-by-step guide detailing how polytunnels are put up and maintained, and also detailed instructions on building a polytunnel from scratch for DIY enthusiasts. There are also chapters on developing healthy soil and preventing pests, and a jargon-free guide to the range of often mystifying accessories that many tunnel retailers offer.

Learn how to keep your polytunnel productive in every season with this brilliant guide

Andy McKee first grew vegetables with his father at the age of fie. He had his eyes opened to the potential of poly tunnels during a visit to one featuring a hot tub warmed by a clay oven. Using his polytunnel, his family are entirely self-sufficient in vegetables.

Mark Gather began growing vegetables while homesteading in North California in the early eighties, and has been a keen gardener ever since. He relies on a polytunnel to keep fresh food on the table right through the winter. He has his wife share their smallholing in Wales with sheep, chickens and dogs.