When you’re experiencing a year in which the weather system is rekindling a nostalgia for the ice age, the last thing you need is your heating to pack in. But with a rattling grind of rusty ball bearings our central heating pump coughed up its last bit of hot action and died.
With a gas bill already mounting up like a politician’s expenses form we surrendered more money the way of eBay for a replacement Myson CP53 (they don’t make ’em any more) and shed a few depressed tears. Which immediately froze.
But, to our delight, the new pump arrived the very next day cloaked in generous swathes of bubble wrap. And that means not only a warm house for us, but a cosy blanket of warmth for the allotment.
A sheet of bubble wrap is like a soft, cushioned greenhouse that is ideal for helping things grow until summer arrives. It can be wrapped around tender young plants to provide personal protection against the elements, cloaked over seedlings to act as an extra hot cloche, or simply spread over a veg bed to warm it up for sowing. Always bubble side down. A little bit of free heat to compensate for that impending gas bill.
