Making The Third Staging - Part 1

Today was for a change glorious sunshine and I went to Champions to pick up some gravel boards for making the shelving I had enough of the right size timbers for the legs and framing to the staging top and shelf 

Today I marked a line that would be the middle of the timber framework shown below and inserted the screws to nearly full depth of the gravel boards and spread them out with equal gaps then screwed them down to the framework. 

Turning the top deck unit, I G-Clamped the legs to the sides of the framework and then fixed the timber gravel boards at the same locations as in the staging's leg frames supplied with the Potting Shed. I then proceeded to build another set of legs  

Legs standing as they will when the staging table is assembled 

A Quick test that the both fit OK upside down  

That working I pulled the legs out and took the whole lot to the potting shed 

I placed the legs and then the top of the staging and used a couple of bits of timber and G-Clamps to hold the bottom of the legs in position so they could not collapse.  

Moving the Potting tray over I could now see how it fitted and it only remains for me to make the lower staging platform tomorrow and screw the whole thing together.
 

Freecycle Does It Again

 

Found on Freecycle and picked up from someone who was moving house and dint want to take the bags of compost with them and I also got a few packs of seeds. 

Planting Membrane & Paving Blocks

50 paving blocks off Freecycle picked up this afternoon and taken to the allotment. You can't have too many to hold down everything with the winds we have been having recently.

When I arrived at just after 2 it was between 38C - 36C in the potting shed before I left the door open and opened the windows.

I used the tuna tin on a cut down broom handle and the weed burner to make a 105 hole 2.4 x 1.2m planting membrane. heating up the tin allowed 3 to 4 holes to be done before the weed membrane needed to be extracted from inside the tin and then it needed warming up again for the next 3 - 4 holes. Way faster than doing it with a soldering iron.

After the first few holes had been formed

Completed 2.4m x 1.2m 105 number planting holes planting Membrane.

Topped up all the self watering propagators then it was time to come home at just gone 5pm and the temperatures were down to 20.7C - 21.6 C in the potting shed.

Free Paving Slabs & Sowing More Seeds

More paving slabs found and won off Freecycle, collected this morning and taken to my plot. 

I'm getting to the point of saturation on the two staging's so next dry sunny day I'm going to have to build a third staging to return on the right of this picture up against the gable wall end so I can move the potting up tray over and give me more space next to the windows. 

Marking Up Planting Membrane

Today the weather is not good so I spent some time marking up planting membrane  holes on bed size 2.4m x 1.2m cut sheets. The one in this picture is 105 holes that I used for beetroots, onions and swede etc.

Normally I cut the holes out with a soldering iron but this year I'm going to try using a tuna can on a broom stick 

Storm Damage & All Gold Raspberries

Sorting out seeds to sow and finding or making the labels for them at home this morning. Then off to the allotment as it's supposed to be a nice sunny day today, after the rain and storm yesterday.

View of the dormer from the outside, taken after I found the solar panel from the roof of this one on the paving up near the other greenhouse on plot 1A.

I found a solar panel from the Plot 1 Greenhouse up next too the Plot 1A greenhouse and when I went to look the roof was gone and I could see out of the greenhouse dormer window extension!

I managed to find both solar panels and the roof and as a temporary measure the roof panel has two bricks on it until I can get some physical fixings installed. I'm not relying on just the glue gun again!

The wind yesterday flattened the netting hoops So I'm going to have to rebuild with some lateral bracing built in as they are leaning over the path.

All Gold Raspberry is an outstanding autumn-fruiting raspberry, producing large, golden yellow fruits, with a taste that is even more exquisite than its red-fruited sisters! An excellent raspberry for fresh use and freezing and also for garnishes and wine-making!

These heavenly, sweet fruits can be harvested from late August until mid October, , ideal for smaller gardens where they can be grown in a large container

Digging up Yellow Raspberries that are escaping from my plot neighbours raspberry area. Michelle told me anything that is growing between the two timber post I'm welcome too as she has to dig them up and manage the area anyway and If I do a little weeding along the way she will not complain.

So dug up they were, roots trimmed and then put in a bucket of water to have a nice drink whilst I collected more of their brothers and sisters.

Height: 150cm (59"). Spread: 50cm (20").

First load of Yellow Raspberry canes ready to go in the Boundary Bed.

Boundary Bed once all the Raspberries had been transplanted. I ran another wire line about 75mm up from the ground. The wires don't show up very well in the photo but there are 3 layers of them so I can tie/ clip back.

Bees enjoying the pebble pool, and getting a drink. I'm looking forward to the last frost date then I can put in the solar pump and have the fountain working.

Freecycle Find & Sowing In The Potting Shed

 

On the way to the allotment I picked up a brand new never been out of the box Silvercrest Digital Spoon Scale that I saw on Freecycle. 

Digital Spoon Scales accurately weigh small weight items such as particles, liquids and powders and Ideal tool to weigh butter, flour, cream, tea, spices and Seasoning during cooking or baking.

My use for it is to measure out the weight of green manure from a large pack into smaller zippy bags that is enough to cover a bed size of 2.4m x 1.2m or 8ft x 4ft.

The potting shed is beginning to look a little more full

Today I sowed amongst other things Merrygold F1 Tomatoes from Mr Fothergill's which are the first blight resistant orange tomatoes.

When there was a pause in the rain I made a dash for the car park but it started to rain so hard I had to go to the car and not the gate to open it first.

Parsnips and the Boundary Beds

This morning I picked up some daffodils and iris plants in the green off Freecycle and proceeded to plant them in the border boundary beds.  

Thus having just got them spread out and planted the sky became very overcast so I retreated to the potting shed 

It was an absolute joy to finally have the Forest Garden Potting Shed on the plot where I can now shelter and continue working, and so I moved on to planting germinated parsnip seeds.  

I have found that growing or rather transplanting germinated seeds into loo rolls is the best way to succeed with parsnips.

Placing seed on damp kitchen towel in Chinese takeaway containers and just keeping an eye for root growth and transplanting them to the loo roll before the roots get to curly is key. 

Different varieties germinate at different rates, all of these boxes were started off at the same time. 

Planting Layout For 2023

 

So here is the planned planting layout for 2023 

Climbing Frame Greenhouse and Onion Sets

 

View from the potting shed / path onto plot 1 

Emma and Andy came today to give me a hand on the allotment. Andy helped me construct the Greenhouse Climbing Frame and Emma planted Karmen, Pink Panther and Snowball onion sets from Mr Fothergill's, in 3 beds. 

View from the Main Path 

I have a number of concrete kerb stones that I have harvested off Freecycle and they will form the raised bed that will go around the inside of the climbing frame. At the moment they are just positioned so I can see where they need installing. 

View from the water tank on the main path

Gable end view from main path

Emma working planting Karmen, Pink Panther and Snowball onion sets from Mr Fothergill's, in 3 beds.

Karmen, Pink Panther and Snowball onion sets from Mr Fothergill's, in 3 beds.

Scaffolding Debris netting to stop the birds and squirrels from pulling the sets out.

Grab Rake

 

This afternoon I went to Emma & Andy's home to help them cut their hedging to their property and took my new grab rake to trial. It's a game changer and made clearing up the cuttings easier on my back. 

The cuttings were going to the dump, but I decided that I would rescue them and take them to the allotment as they would be useful making a form of Hugelkulture Garden beds especially in the new climbing frame greenhouse.

For the various type of bed constructions see this post   

6 Benefits of Hugelkultur Raised Garden Beds

1. Water retention

The bottom layer of wood acts like a sponge, drinking up rainwater and slowing making it available to plant roots.  I’ve heard that hugelkultur raised garden beds do require some watering during the first year as they get started, but should be largely self sufficient from then on

2. Good drainage

This is true of raised beds in general, but especially of hulgelkultur raised garden beds.  The stacked layers of organic materials plus the wood at the bottom make hugel beds resistant to flooding.

3. Soil improvement

The organic ingredients of a Hugel bed combine to create a rich, nutrient dense soil.

4. Soil temperature

Similar to a compost pile, the decaying biomass inside hugelkultur raised garden beds heats up and warms the soil.  This can actually extend the growing season by allowing the gardener to plant warm weather plants a bit earlier in the spring and keep them growing a bit longer in the fall.

5. Maximized growing space

True hugel beds mounded on the ground or in trenches can be quite tall.  Plants can grow up one side and down the other, which yields much more growing space than a traditional flat raised garden bed.

6. Recycled tree waste

Organic gardeners love to compost any organic biomass they can get their hands on.  But logs and branches often pose a challenge because they can take so long to break down in a compost pile.  Incorporating fallen trees and branches on your property (and maybe from the neighbors, too!) into hugelkultur raised garden beds is an efficient way to compost all that valuable wood.

Sweet Peas

Sweet peas had been made popular by the work of breeder Henry Eckford during the late 19th century, and by 1901 William Unwin was growing several rows of these plants for cutting. One evening he noticed some blooms of ‘Prima Donna’ – a plant bred by Eckford – looked different, with larger, showier, rather frilly petals. He saved the seed and the following year his new selection, named ‘Gladys Unwin’ for his daughter, flowered. It was an immediate hit; everyone wanted to grow this new sweet pea. William went on to breed from his popular new flower, creating a strain of ‘Unwin type’ sweet peas, which were impressively stable in colour and flower shape.

Find out more about Unwins and Sweet Peas here 

I picked up some free Sweet Peas seed from the Unwins stand at the Garden Press Event in February and thought I'm going to have to grow some and see what all the fuss is about. 

In the photo above, what will become the gable end of the Greenhouse Climbing Frame behind the boundary beds is the ideal spot to grow them and let them climb and beautify that face of the structure.

Sweet Peas seeds were soaked over night and then I used a dibber to make hole as regular spacing in the back of the boundary beds in front of the security panels.

Once sown in the holes I filled in the holes and put a layer of Westland Muiti-purpose compost with John Innes over the row of seeds. 

Greenhouse In The Potting Shed

Decorating the Forest Garden Potting Shed  with metal signs and adding a DAB Radio which was another Freecycle find as well as the plan layout of the allotment for 2023 to the gable wall. 

The sign that says "To You It May Only Be A Shed But To Me It's A SANCTUARY" is so true, its my happy place on my happy place as since my wife passed away I really don't want to be at home during the day. The allotment and this potting shed is good for my mental health.  

I've had the small greenhouse for a few years and have historically used it in the kitchen behind the patio door to start off seedlings, now it will give another level of heat within the potting shed to the pepper seeds that I have sown today. 

The tin foil back is to reflect the light back onto the seedings when they grow 

The tin foil back is to reflect the light back onto the seedings when they grow, and as can be seen more self watering pop bottle propagators have been sown with seeds.  

On the other side of the potting shed the amount of hooks and tools is increasing and its making it so easy to find and replace tools at the start and end of a visit. I've wanted this for so long and it makes me extremely happy as the potting shed is slowing coming into its own. 

You may have spotted another greenhouse within the potting shed in the photo above "