A week filled with work on building the new compost bin

Thursday 8th November
I actually made 3 visits to the plot this week but spent almost all the time working on the panels for the new replacement compost bin, first rearranging the planks to form a solid surface on one side and then removing the base blocks.

Finally I covered each panel with landscape fabric taking care to fold in the edges, especially the raw edges but even the selvage, and staple them down firmly.
By the end of the week I had four nicely prepared panels ready to construct the actual bin.

​​I did manage to weed one of my brassica tunnels and, at the same time, remove the dead and dying leaves but -

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​I had to leave everything in a heap on the path as I needed to put them in the yet-to-be constructed compost bin.

​​I also started lifting a row of tiny carrots which I had sown far too late but hoped they would serve as baby carrots. (They subsequently were found to be riddled with carrot fly larva tunnels and were totally unusable!) I need to use fleece or, better still, Enviromesh next year.

​To do this I found I could lay a narrow plank from a pallet either side of the row and knelt with one knee on each plank. From this position I could lift the carrots from between the planks and, while doing that, thin the chard to one side and weed the Mooli radishes on the other.
​I only managed about a third of the row but found it comfortable and was able to 'ski' the planks forward as I made progress. It worked so well with the rows close together, about a foot part, that I shall try it again in the future. Great for weeding and thinning!

While the carrots were rubbish - the chard thinnings were very tasty!