All By Myself .....

 

Today I went back to the allotment all by myself, for a couple of hours and took the timber stacked on SFG Bed 2 off and bottomed out the bed of the Mel's Mix into a couple of square flower buckets.

I lined the bottom of the excavation with a few layers of Magic Cardboard and watered those in place, then I took my mini chainsaw and my Kent & Stowe Sure Cut All Purpose Extra Power Loppers which will handle up to 35mm diameter thick branches to the plum tree and started to fill up the bottom half of the Square Foot Garden Bed 2 with the timber.

Scraped the outside Mels Mix away from the inside of the timber forming the bed

Then bottomed it out using the plastic shovel. The Magic Cardboard that I originally lined the beds with was never found, the worms and bacteria has consumed it, and I know it's not a barrier to weed roots or invading raspberry canes but I'm going to line the bottom again with additional cardboard to try and hold the weeds back a little if possible.

Lined with a layer of Magic Cardboard which was watered in place

Then another layer layer of Magic Cardboard which was also watered in

Then I attacked the plum tree and started to cut up the branches to fill the bottom of the raised bed. It stared to spit a little with rain, so I packed up the tolls and went home for a late lunch.

I picked up this mini Bamsa chainsaw when it was on offer on Amazon for £39.99. 

It's Lightweight and manoeuvrable, with a cutting chain as good as any full-size chainsaw. Quick and easy to set up and use. It is supplied in a case which keeps all of the bits together, the kit includes all of the adjustment tools necessary, a comprehensive instruction manual and even a small tube of chainsaw oil.

It's the first time I've used it and it was awesome. 

I'm looking forward to attacking the rest of the tree with it.

The Kent & Stowe Sure Cut All Purpose Extra Power Loppers which will handle up to 35mm diameter thick branches also made light work of cutting up the branches into more manageable lengths. 

The Kent & Stowe Loppers knocked spots off the long handled loppers I already have, the grip is better and the length of the arms is selectable and longer giving me more leverage, and as can be seen the cutting sections look much more robust and fit for purpose.    

I used secateurs to cut the smaller branches and drop them in the bed.