Getting ready for the new greenhouse

Today was pretty cold and overcast, so it wasn't really the kind of weather for doing small fiddly things. Definitely the kind of weather for carting loads of wood chip around. So that's what I did. I had already pulled out the old boards from the bed which was next to the greenhouse ready. All I needed to do was cover it with a weed membrane and bring in loads of wood chip.

Which turned out to be not a good idea.

The wood chip packs down as it's walked on. So putting the membrane down first means that the wood chip tends to slide about on top of it. It needs to have a more robust base. So instead I ended up deciding that the weed membrane will go on top, like my existing greenhouse.

So despite the cold and the wind, it's time to do the fiddly things again. I seem to remember going through all this before.

But after a lot of faffing about trying to get some of the old nuts and bolts undone, I did eventually get the greenhouse up. Well the frame at least.

Trying to get the plastic cushioning which clips onto the frame and which the glass rests is a very fiddly thing to attempt. Especially in the cold and wind.

So although I manged to get some of it on, I decided that instead of getting lightly spotted with rain, I'd head home to the warmth and tackle it another day. The glass also has to wait.

But I am slightly worried about how the glass will fit. Because this is a second hand green house, some of the frame pieces are twisted and warped. This may cause issues. I am also unsure as to whether there is in fact enough glass to fit. I suppose that's not too much of an issue. Providing the roof, south wall and door wall have enough glass, I can fill in the other walls with perspex or wood as needed.

This new greenhouse is slightly smaller than the old one. It's supposed to be 6ft x 8ft again, but either the other was generous or this one, not so. But the foot print is slightly smaller, and the roof is certainly lower (as is the door way, which my head duly found out).

But things are slowly returning to life on the plot. The rhubarb is starting to sprout.

The Annual Slaughtering of the George

It's that time again. Time to deal with the George's that have been hanging around in the kitchen since last year.

After slicing it open there is a huge number of seeds inside.

These will be dried for a couple of weeks and then this years courgette marathon will once again be under way. It's  good job we like courgettes.

Meanwhile, the Wife decided to clear out the greenhouse. It certainly needed it.

She did a really good job. Just perfect for her "Strawberry Empire".

Whilst she was tidying, I was shovelin' 5h1t! We had a welcome delivery of manure to the site, which is somewhat of a rarity these days.

Yes that pile is nearly 2m high. Will probably last us about 2 weeks the way people go through it. I grabbed a few barrow-fulls.

I also dug out some of the soil from the old courgette mound (as was) to fill the new flower bed.

At least the daffs are starting to make an appearance.

The manure also got dug into the two lower beds (the ones that often get flooded) which were last years beetroot. This year they'll be sweetcorn beds.

Hopefully this year we'll get to the sweetcorn in time. Otherwise we'll have chicken feed again.

And I also planted the Red Shallot onions. Didn't have as many onions as I thought I did so I've only got a half-bed at the moment. Will have to get a few more to top it off.

I apologise for the  blurry photos. Didn't realise that the lens of my mobile was somewhat smeary and has made a bit of a mess of the auto focus.