TPS Greenhouse and Beds

Just a bit of digging and mixing in sand as I go. I've also boxed in the flower bed using some wood I found and some cut up pallet wood.

 Finished digging the drainage trench alongside the long side of the greenhouse.  Dug and added sand to the bit of ground between beds. I realise that this might well be wasted work, but if we decide to place the beds differently it'll pay off. If nothing else it'll make laying the paving slabs a bit easier. Behold all the mess! Widened and dug out a bit more the flower bed on top of the slope - now known at the water tower bed. There's a flipping great big budleia in there, so I've chopped it and damaged it as much as I can. I might keep on going back to it, but for the moment it's too big for me to take out in one go. I sanded the flower bed again and added some of those chicken manure pellets to the flower bed and ADDED A PLANT.  I did a brief tidy of the greenhouse  Also dug up some of these leatherjack type things, and saw a ladybug.

 Today, I dug out along the far wall (at the top of the slope) ready for bulbs, but I didn't dig down the slope... I levelled out the first raised bed so it kinda sits a bit flatter than before, and I deepened and slightly widened the greenhouse drainage trench up to just past the first raised bed. Plan is to fill this bed first and then move on to the second bed. At some point too I need to take out all the stones and general root dirt from the greenhouse, and tidy up all the loose stones I have dug up from digging out the beds. I filled up the big pot about 1/5 with some spare stones, then topped it up 3:3:1 of unsifted soil, sifted soil and sand. I hope a few worms made it! Quince tree was then planted. It would make sense to place the pot first before filling, but the cold is coming and who knows how long it'll be before paving is down and the rubbish removed, so I thought it best to plant it straight away so it stands a better chance of surviving any freezes. I think I...

 I brought up a quince tree to be planted in the massive pot. Hopefully I should get round to that before Monday. I also brought up my worms from home. I've put them in the greenhouse until I build them an outside shelter.... I filled up the little bed I dug in the greenhouse with a mix of compost, leaves and soil and sprinkled some lettuce seeds in - just in case! I think the variety is called Jack Ice, so it should do well in the cold with a name like that... I can't find my hand fork, or a good quantity of bulbs that I had brought. Hopefully they've gone to a good home. I may well start storing them up in the water tower (the room at the top of the garden slope has the water boiler in). I also moved a few more paving slabs.

I raked up all the leaves (by phone light) and did a flash dig with the mattock around the edge of the far wall - up on the ridge. The digging was easy, but there was a couple of monster budlia which I probably will end up snipping their root with choppers rather than digging the right out. I made another frame, but using some old scaffold planks for the short sides. They're a little soft, so they probably will be replaced in a couple of years - but they will certainly do for now. There were some FINDS! in the cellar. Notably some nice pallets and a MASSIVE POT. I'll bring a tree from home to go on it.

A long day. Sand, tarp, posts were delivered today. I moved the main pile of soil further into the garden and rescued the tarp from underneath. I added a lot of sand into the sifted pile as I did so. I dug underneath where the pile of soil was - taking out any major stones and adding sand. Here's a super wormy bit!  but mostly it's CLAY. Here is a long worm I dug a little bit in the greenhouse to take the 'path' up to the wall.  I'd like to put a 'trench' of the stones I've picked out along the wall, and then a small super long bed for strawberries next to it - but who knows... I shook out all the leaves I collected to dry them a little, and used the bag to put all the rest of the sand in. I added more sand to bed 1 and dug the enclave out - again adding sand and taking out the larger stones. I made a raised bed, cutting up the scaffold planks donated by Jon/Shift Gallery.  ...

Just dropped off two planks of wood I'd previously cut of from the scaffold planks so that they fit in the car. I'd forgotten to bring them last time!

Just a quick post to say I managed to chop up and rake over the rest of the path through the greenhouse. I'd love to do underneath the shelving, but the danger of chipping a window pain is too high right now, and it'll be super awkward work (let alone a massive timesink, that I can easily do another time). I've chopped the ground up quick in order to let Kate have her mattock straight back ! Hers a terrible pic where the only light is from the flash, so really I guess it's kinda good 😂 The builders bag at the back is full of leaves, then there's a small box of leaves above it on the trestle table. Next to that are the scaffold planks, then there's the table leaned up on its side which is protecting the glass from errant stones and chips from the digging. Also on protecting duty is the cardboard box. Behind that, out of shot, are some bags and things :)

Today it rained. Most importantly, it rained on me, whilst on my way to work. It rained a lot of rain.  So, after a wet day in wet shoes: some greenhouse time out of the wet! Kate, one of the garden volunteers, came to the greenhouse around lunch and found the ground inside too tough to deal with. She has loaned me her mattock, so after work I dug the path through the greenhouse by the power of phone torch. A big old chop with the pointy bit of the mattock, then lots of chopping with the rake to break up the  hard earth. I've combed through the earth a couple of times and removed the largest stones.  There's a couple more meters to do, but I'm pleased with the progress today. The plan is to level out a path, line with a weed resistant liner, sprinkle with some sand and lay paving on top. Speaking of paving, someone has very kindly given the potting shed their old paving (as they are upgrading), which I only found out today. They're on the floor in the carpark by The Dai...

 Dig out a flower bed, but it needs kinda shoring up. Old bricks were used for the cafe seating area, but they have all been used and are quite pricy to buy in, so I think I’m going to see if I can buy some scaffold planks to use. I added a bag of sand to the soil in an attempt to increase drainage, although I get the feeling it hasn’t really touched the sides! I started to move the big pile of earth over to the far end. Mostly because it a nasty eyesore, but it also means I can start making a few veg beds in the middle - especially if I get those scaffold planks and maybe a ton bag of sand delivered...

 Today, the first day back after the Welsh Firebreaker lockdown. The clocks have gone back and the nights are setting in early. I finish work at 4.30pm, and it's already getting dark. Previously, I sorted out all the residual builders rubbish into the plastic bags left behind by their sand use. I put these all kinda out of sight round the back of the greenhouse. Broken glass was carefully cleared from the site, and I've sieved half of the large pile of soil. I've found the soil to be heavy clay. It kinda sieves ok, but it's probably almost a 50/50 mix of soil and stones. The hardest part is deciding whether to push through the lumps of clay or bunch them in with the stones - they're very nearly impossible to distinguish from each other. There is also really odd PINK clay in amongst everything, and I definitely try to throw that in with the stones. The upside of all the clay is that there is probably scope in the future for making cob furniture or pizza o...