A couple of weeks ago I built my first bed for 86a; I had bought 8 13' boards with the intention of making 3 large beds (13'x4') that will go next to the shed. I needed to clear around the edges of the plot because the brambles had snaked across the plot from the outside and looked like they'd never been cut back!
Once I'd sorted all the brambles I moved the bed I'd made into the corner and then cut the membrane out of the middle and stapled it up the inside of the bed. My thought process here was that if the membrane is on the inside it should stop the problems I've had in 85a of weeds (mostly couch grass) growing up between the membrane and the board. 86a is also not very flat and so rather than having to dig down to flatten the bed bringing the membrane up inside means that when I put the compost in the membrane will hold it in place without it spilling into the path.
I removed the roots of weeds that had come to the surface (they often do this when you cover them) and put cardboard down to continue to supress the weeds. My intention is then to fill the bed with compost, which should be around 9" (the depth of the board). That should be more than enough to continue to supress the weeds under it. At the moment I've put a thin layer of compost down because I ran out of time. I manage 6 wheelbarrow loads but I think I'll need at least 12 more to fill it.
The compost I'm using is the free stuff that's available from our site; it comes from the council and it's basic garden compost. It isn't the best quality though, it's full of stones and there are weeds growing over the top of it so there's a possibility that by using that I'm transferring weeds up into the beds; which is frustrating but unavoidable as I'm working on a budget so I can't buy bags of sterilised compost to use instead.
Mr L came up to the plot today to help me build the additional beds, unfortunately the flipping drills both gave out on us and so he was only able to build one more bed and help me to build the compost bin. It makes a big difference having him there, not just because I can get on with other jobs but also because it's nice to have someone else there with me to talk to, and it motivates me having someone else to work with. He wasn't up for helping me getting the compost from the pile though so he left me to that!
As a result of having to clear the edges of the plot again I ended up with a big pile of green waste that needs to be composted. The compost bin in 85a is overflowing because of the stuff I've already cleared from 86a so I decided that I needed to build a new compost bin. I had some pallets that had been used as a fence for a couple of years and I removed a few weeks ago. I covered them with some leftover weed membrane and fastened them together into a basic bay. I had to use some of the wood that I'd removed from the plot originally to fasten it together and I'm going to use a bit of old scaffold board that I'd removed from the old beds to hold them together; either across the top or along the front on the bottom, which will make a lip at ground level.
At the moment I've positioned this immediately on the right as you enter the plot but I'm not sure that will be its final resting place. I like to run a 3 year composting system which requires 3 bays and unfortunately this space doesn't have any more room for any more bays. It is a temporary measure because the pallets really are scratty so they won't last very long but it keeps the stuff I've gathered contained in one place until I can sort out some proper bays.
In 85a you might remember that I have this little planting table in front of the shed. I have some hellebores in there but with the hot weather they really didn't fare well. I did end up with lots of little clover-like weeds covering the majority of the surface. It was a nightmare to clear but I pulled most of it up before effectively raking over it with my fingers and clearing it. I think it looks so much better and now I need to decide what to do with it. My plan is to look at a bench to put in this area so I'm going to have to move this to somewhere else if I do that. If I do put a bench in this area (and in front of the other shed in 86a) I'm going to use a block of wood on the inside of the shed and fasten a bolt through the bench and shed and into the wood on the inside to stop it being stolen as the last one was. I also want to look at ways to put more seating in both plots in different areas but I will be more thoughtful about security if I do that because it's really annoying to have them stolen - even if you've got them for free from Freegle!
We're also at the end of nesting season and so I've made a start on cutting the hedges. It's important to remember that hedges should not be cut between March and September to avoid disturbing nesting birds. It is illegal to knowingly disturb nesting birds and even by inspecting the hedge you can do that so you shouldn't do anything until September when you can be sure they're gone.
I still have work to do on the inside of the plots and to reduce the height but they at least look better from the outside. You can see from the left picture that all of the stuff I took off of 86a is still there and needs to be taken to the tip. Most of the bricks that had been left on the plot I put outside and invited other plot holders to help themselves and thankfully the majority of them have now gone; so that's one less thing for me to have to deal with.
It was a slow start getting things sorted on 86a for loads of reasons but I feel like things are really starting to come together and hopefully by next season there will be enough beds in place to have a really good return from both plots.
Until next time
Happy Gardening x
In the last couple of weeks I've been working on getting jobs done to get me properly prepared for a good first growing season next year in 86a.
I had managed to get a free shed pretty early on but the roof was completely shot so what little roofing felt was left I removed and then I had a while before I could get it fixed. I got a brand new roll of roof felt from freegle, which was slightly damaged but easily cut out. I've never done a shed roof before but because the roof isn't too big it only needed 2 pieces and I think it looks good. Because it's an apex roof I'm going to put guttering at both sides and then bring it together at the back. I have another wheelie bin that I'm going to convert into a waterbutt and then I need to think about doing one at the back of the greenhouse when I get that up to the plot as well.
The picture also shows where I've removed the pallet fence that was a bit tatty and replaced it with chicken wire. I will need to keep on top of the weeds that will try and grow up it but I'm going to try and train the brambles along there (while keeping the bindweed down) to get a good crop of blackberries.
Today I was focused on starting to make the beds. I have enough scaffold boards for 3 beds but I didn't have enough screws and blocks to make them all. I have made one 13'x4' bed and my plan is for all of my beds to be that size although I'm going to have to think about the space in front of the shed because that will be compromised by the shed being there. I might end up putting a bed along the front or I might take the opportunity to extend the seating area and maybe add a fire pit to sit around.
The beds are a bit bigger than the ones in 85a, which are 3' wide. I had some really good boards but a couple had rotted at the end and when we measure them they weren't quite 13' long so it was easier to cut three 4' lengths and discard the rotten end. I've also found with 85a that while I can lean across the whole bed I tend not to and would rather go all the way around. I therefore didn't see any reason that 4' beds would be a problem. I did consider putting chicken wire at the bottom of my beds to deter the moles from digging in the beds but over the last couple of weeks I've noticed holes in the top of the beds and I think the main culprit is currently voles, rather than moles and as such putting chicken wire in the bottom won't help me.
A funny thing I noticed the other day is that a sunflower had started to grow under the bird feeder. It's obviously from a seed that a bird has dropped so I've left it to grow. It's going to end up under the squirrel baffle so I'll have to tease it out to let it grow. I'm sure the birds and squirrels will eat all the seeds but I just thought it was funny that it had started to grow and decided to leave it there.
I have got another bird feeder for 86a but I'm going to think carefully about where I'm going to put it. I want to try and avoid having it somewhere that the squirrels can easily jump to it from something else. I'll put a squirrel baffle onto it and I'll probably end up with squirrel proof feeders but one of the things I've seen with my current feeder is that they actually jump from the wooden arch to the feeders! Since I've introduced the squirrel proof feeders the food has definitely lasted longer because in addition to the squirrels not being able to get to it, the bigger birds can't get it either.
I have made a slow start in 86a for very many reasons. I do think it's important that the many years of weeds are properly suppressed; many people don't really understand the no-dig principles and think I should have dug the whole plot over properly. I have stuck to my guns and left the plot covered. I still have the edges that I need to clear again but it's much less work that it would be to try and keep strimming the whole plot. I do have lots of dips and troughs on the plot; and in hindsight I wish I had rotivated the whole plot. In most cases I would say not to rotivate a very weedy plot. However as I was planning to cover the whole lot it would restrict the re-growth of the weeds and have sorted out the uneven ground. I'm going to have to try and sort it out after the fact now, probably by using bark chippings. If anyone has any thoughts on how to fix it, without lifting all the membrane.
Until next time...
Happy Gardening! x
