I can’t believe we’ve only been doing this for a week. I’ve had a bit of a one track mind lately, it’s all been seeds, bulbs, digging, plotting, planning and clearing. We lifted out all of the raised beds, most of which were only fit for the tip. The wasps took a few days to conquer, but C dug up the whole nest on Thursday and fingers crossed they’re gone for good now. Two of the pallets have been moved and all the weeds are now up. Everything on this side is looking neat and tidy, and given the sun we’ve got today it’s so temping to start planting things! We’ve got here a bit late in the year, but I couldn’t resist getting some seeds in the ground and in the two beds that we kept I’ve planted Bright Lights chard, North Holland Blood Red spring onions, and Butterhead lettuce.
I drove straight to our plot on Thursday after work and decided to tackle the shed – which from now on is known as the Big Box of Spiders. It’s not the best shed in the world, there’s some pretty big gaps between the boards, the floor in the middle is almost rotten where the previous tenant left his massive petrol lawn mower, and there are some rather large rusty nails sticking through the roof. I underestimate the height of the door every single time I walk out of it and hit my head, and C just refuses to go in there due to the tetanus risk from those nails (he’s over 6ft tall, I don’t blame him!). There is a huge temptation to rip the whole thing down and buy a lovely new, spider free, well constructed, taller, slightly bigger shed. But that’s a lot of money, and we’ve still only been doing this for a week. So I took everything out, I’ve taken two car loads of stuff to the tip (not just from the shed – some things from the greenhouse as well, and those crumbling pallets that were being used as raised beds), and I’ve rearrange it to be a bit neater and tidier. We have shelves for the smaller things and space for our tools and folding chairs – that’s all we really need for now. If we’re still going strong in a years time maybe we’ll get that new shed then!
I’ve said it before, but we really did luck out getting this plot. We’re tucked in a corner with fields around us and some lovely neighbours. It’s so tempting just to stick some seeds in the ground and then go and sit there and watch them grow – it’s peaceful and calming and pretty idyllic.
But, we have a lot to do, and we’re slowly but surely making a plan for the rest of the plot now. C has cleared out all the weeds and the rhubarb from behind the shed and greenhouse, we’ve got a couple of compost daleks back there and it will more than likely get covered in bark chippings soon. The nettles in the greenhouse frame have been attacked with RoundUp (I loathe stinging nettles) and we’ll eventually cover that frame in netting and use it for fruit – we’ve already had a donation of some raspberry canes from one neighbour who was taking some of hers out. She assured me they’re impossible to kill – we’ll see!
So, the major jobs on our to do list at the moment are:
- Make a fence out of old pallets
- Tidy the greenhouse, maybe make a potting bench (out of old pallets – we have a lot of pallets)
- Dig up all of the grass
- Put bark chippings down behind the shed, and around the raised beds
- Plant the flowers we bought earlier today to give the plot some colour (it’s all a bit green and brown at the moment)
- Sit and enjoy the sunshine
It’s 5pm now and it’s been ridiculously hot today, so now the sun is coming down we’re going to head up there and get some work done.
Oh, and while I’m here an update on my veggies at home! I attacked my tomato plants to remove as many leaves and flowers as I could in an attempt to get them to ripen, and it seems to have worked. Unfortunately the bugs seem to be quicker at spotting the ripe ones than me, and I’ve only had two so far.
I probably need to do the same with the chillies as well, but we have a hint of ripeness appearing on one or two now. I may need to bring some netting back with me tonight and cover those tomatoes if I want to eat any of them!
beansandtoast 