Having been away and not had time to get down to the plot for much more than to collect a few veg for the pot, I have finally managed a proper working session.
I spread the last of the compost to the parts of the plot that will benefit most. A barrow-load in the runner bean trench, a barrow-load shared between two spots where I plan to plant some fruit trees, and the rest in the bed for legumes. I love my fresh peas but our sandy soil is not the best for legumes so I have given it a boost with a bit of extra humus. I then got stuck into dealing with the bulging, but collapsing, old shed. It is surprising what I discovered buried under bags of plastic bottles of all shapes and sizes, hose pipes, and old plastic greenhouse covers! I remember that when moving plots, and before the shed was erected, I had loads of bits and pieces that had to be stored somewhere - and the old shed was all I had! Under a load of rubbish I found a large bottle of Roundup weedkiller and various other sprays including a litre of soap solution. I also found my large dibber that I could have done with last year when planting leeks. There was also the handle of a spade/fork without the head that I plan to turn into a very large dibber so I will not have to bend over to plant my leeks this year! Mind you, the things I have rescued have filled the proper shed - so I cannot get into it at all now! Under all the 'tush' I found the Journeyman's Chest that used to belong to a great (x3)-uncle who family tales suggest worked on an estate under Capability Brown. I wish I had inherited some skill with gardening! The chest will be stored away at home until I can find a more suitable place for it. I have always said that our soil needs whatever humus you can throw at it but I now I am struggling with too much compost for my plot!
The problem is really that I have mulched a good part of the plot with the free horse litter available from the bins around the site and now want to dig compost into the ground beneath it. I have used some of the heap of compost outside the plot in my bean trench but now I have problems elsewhere as the mulch is in the way! The solution so far has been to scrape the mulch to one side on a strip then dig in compost. This works well for my peas and beans as they are planted out in rows at least 2 ft apart as the mulch will form a good pathway between the rows. However, how I will use it where I want to dig in the compost all over is beyond me at the moment. The effort of scraping the mulch aside, digging in the compost then re-spreading the mulch is probably too much! On the plus side I have just been offered lots of bags of leaves for my empty leaf mould bin! Today I wanted to start clearing the old shed I inherited so I can set up my greenhouse. The shed is asbestos with a rotten timber frame and is falling apart already so I am going to have to be very careful! However, the first stage is to remove all the junk I have thrown in there over the last couple of years. Anything that needed a bit of protection from the weather has been put/thrown in there and I've forgotten some of the things buried in there.
However, in order to get warm, I removed the framing for my runner bean canes and dug a trench to bury some compost to keep their roots nice and moist through the summer. I then managed to remove more than half the contents and took the opportunity to cut the water pipe into suitable lengths. It was taking up quite a bit of space in large coils. The narrow (domestic size) piping I cut into 2 metre lengths ready for net tunnels. I managed to get 12 lengths, enough for 3 tunnels. The thick (mains) piping was just long enough to cut three 6 metre lengths ready for another large net 'poly'tunnel. Once cut to size the piping is much easier to store! Of course in the mess I found evidence of a mouse nest - to be expected! When I've dismantled it there will be 4 panels of corrugated asbestos and several flat panels which I will take to the special bins at the tip - unless someone can find a safe use for them! It is good to finally get started on this project as I've been planning it for quite some time. As I was leaving in the gathering gloom I went to check whether there was anyone left on site and found an old friend loading compost onto his truck from his huge bin. As a landscape gardener he collects a huge amount and normally spreads it in the autumn. Indeed he was the previous tenant of my plot and kept it in good heart with an annual mulch that he rotovated in each spring. When I mentioned that I struggled to obtain enough compost he offered me a truckload which he dropped off outside my plot - so I now have to barrow it off the the roadway tomorrow! Sunday morning I got an urgent call (as I was watching Andy Murray at the Australian Open) asking if I was due to open the Trading Hut. I thought I was down to man it on Feb. 8th. but I wasn't sure so I rushed down to find that my memory was correct (an increasingly rare occurrence these days!) and Alan, our Secretary, had arrived - albeit a little late.
It was a good thing, however, as I would probably have spent the next couple of hours glued to the TV and feeling the tension of every point while Andy lost! Being out in the fresh air, even on a cold day, is much more enjoyable for me. I can always watch the highlights later! An extra bonus was meeting my new neighbour, Frank. He has already done some tidying and weeding and was down with his wife planning where to put what he wants to grow. After the neighbourly chat, I got on with righting the upside down frame of my greenhouse, blown over in the recent gale. I pegged it down on all four sides to make sure it stays put until I am ready to set it up properly, hopefully in the next month or so. To get warm I borrowed the RHAA sledgehammer and banged in a couple of posts to reinforce my leafmould bin so I can convert it into holding the much heavier horse litter. I then sorted out the branches I had cut from (another) neighbour's Strawberry tree. It belongs to the Buddleia family so some of the twigs will do as support for my peas later on but the thicker stuff is destined for the tip now it is small enough to fit into the trailer. I also sorted out the remains of my old incinerator that has rusted away. I have been given a newer one of those galvanised dustbins with a chimney in the lid, which I hope will last until I can source an old oil drum which should last a bit longer. Finally I harvested a few bits of calabrese and purple sprouting to take home. |
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May 2023
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