New Beds

Well now that the growing and space for last week's Plant Sale has been cleared out of the way, I can turn my attention to my own plot. And boy does it need it.

The weeds and grasses seem to have taken hold with a tenacity of a jack russell terrier on your trouser leg (voice of experience). So they need to be cut back and more space made for planting out some of the plants that are still in the greenhouse. Oh, remember those raised beds I built a few weeks back. Guess they could come in handy. Only problem is where to put them?

Well there is the very front of the plot. The weeds there are covering the plot number.

(I had already started clearing to the left when I took this photo)

Then there is a large piece of carpet thats been laid over the soil for nearly two years. So I can pull that up, rake it all flat, lay down some weed proof membrane and put the beds in there. Then there is also the issue of the water pipe right next to the tank. People come there to attach their hose pipes and fill their buckets and watering cans. So I really ought to try and protect the area and make it look good from the road.

The weeds and grasses that I am pulling out are being liberally distributed between the compost tower and the fox mound (that you can see in the photo above). I decided to cover the mound middle leaving the two fox entrance holes on the sides uncovered. I'll do my trick of planting through the covering which worked so well last year. Until the foxes move out, I don't want to dig up their place of residence.

Pulling up the carpet along side the shed led to a shock discovery. The soil underneath, though compacted a bit, was in excellent condition. So I decided to do without the weed proof membrane and simply place the beds in situ.

So now the front of the plot looks a little better. Gone are the long grasses. Arrived now are the wood chips, and a large concrete slab which was previously buried in the plot, now serves as a stand for buckets and such when filling from the tap. You can see where the carpet has been pulled up. There are still more to pull up and a second bed to go in along side, but time is marching on.

Meanwhile in the greenhouse, the Wife has been busy potting on various plants. The Tomatoes, Peppers, Aubergines, Okra, various herbs and such are all going into larger pots. There are still some seedlings in trays that are desperate to be planted out.

And we still have a lot of other plants dotted around the plot that need to find a permanent home.

The carrots are looking good.

And we are really anticipating our strawberries.

I'll be on shop duty again tomorrow (filling in for somebody who can't make it). So I'll be able to spend the rest of the day ripping up the rest of the carpet and putting the beds in. The Wife is off out with friends tomorrow, so I'll be on my lonesome.