Please critique this polytunnel strategy

I'm now looking after three neglected polytunnels and have hatched a strategy but would appreciate advice from experts. The goal is to grow food to donate to the local foodbank, so I'm only looking to grow large volumes of basic foodstuffs, nothing too fancy. I may be able to get some funding but there's no guarantee of when or how much I can get so just trying to make do with what I've got. If you have an awesome suggestion that costs money, I might be able to get it.

The three polytunnels are The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The Good polytunnel is fairly new and is in a sunny spot. I've been pulling weeds out of it and cleaning the soil of ground elder, but it's still got tonnes of weed seeds. Any splash of water triggers a dense bloom of some sort of wild lettuce. Pic below. My strategy is to just plant tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and few other things in the spring. But this winter, I'll continue to sift the soil of ground elder roots and so on. How does that sound?



The Bad polytunnel was in a terrible state. Completely filled with weeds and dried out. It was filled with discarded furniture and rubbish, too. I've cleaned it out and and digging the soil of weed roots. The big problem is this polytunnel is now covered in quite a bit of shade due to pine trees planted a few years ago. You can also see the shadow of an out of control weed patch trying to invade. My plan is to simply fill it with potatoes in the spring. This winter, I'll continue trying to improve the soil and beat back that invading weed patch. What do you think?


Which leaves us with The Ugly polytunnel. This was completely filled with weeds as tall as me when I found it. It's also caved in. And it's in quite a bit of shade. But it's got a cool old grape vine and the polytunnel frame is in good shape. My plan here is to patch it with sheets of polythene and repair tape. If I can pull it off, it won't win any beauty contests but it should work. I'll then try to repair the soil and then plant something edible that doesn't mind a bit of shade.



So what do you think? Will this strategy work? Is there a better plan? Any suggestions would be most welcome.

 

Sounds like a good idea you may struggle with the repair on the poly tunnel but its worth a try . I can't quite work out what's growing in the border top pic . Have you got any local stables near by ? A good mulch of manure will do the soil a world of good , I wouldn't pay for it unless its delivered , they usually give it away cause they can't get rid of it.

Is the ground elder around the edge of the ploy tunnel ( pic one ) ? I understand not wanting to spray weedkiller inside the poly but may be from outside the poly tunnel on the other side ? it should pass through the plant killing the one inside that are connected by the root system.

 

It's all weeds in the top pic. Yes, that's ground elder along the border. I'm thinking about doing exactly what you suggest of spraying around the outside to control it, although I'm not a big fan of spraying. All the advice I hear about ground elder is that nuking is the only way to really control it. And that stuff is everywhere outside the polytunnel.

I know someone with a horse that may be able to deliver. However, I've heard bad things about weed seeds in horse poop and that it needs to rot for a year before use, so I'm a bit hesitant. But perhaps now is the time to get the horse apples delivered to let it compost, perhaps enough for use in spring...great tips! Thanks.