All work but nothing to show for it

Ever had one of those days when you've worked your butt off, but have very little to show for at the end of the day? Today has been one of those days for us.

There are a few signs though. More seeds sown and warming in the greenhouse. Potato bags dotted around.

A tidied up green house and bone yard (where all the pallet wood and such is dumped).

A big carpet covering the new courgette mound ready for planting in around May:

Mean while things are starting to grow:
Onions:

Pak Choi:

Sweetcorn:

And even the Strawberries in the greenhouse are starting to put forth blossoms:

Hopefully this year will be as productive are previous years.

Breezy days

It's been a blustery day down the plot. Overcast, but fortunately the rain held off.

So now I have the second greenhouse up, I really ought to consider getting some sort of shelving in there. Fortunately I have some nice long wooden pallets which might do the job. Unfortunately though, they happen to be too long. So after sawing off the two ends a bit they now do fit.

But the bad news is that it's too wide for the smaller greenhouse. Guess I need to get sawing off the end of those slats. Still not sure whether I should raise them any higher. My thinking is that having one side lower means I could have some tall growing plants, such as Tomatoes, placed there. I guess I'll keep the shelves low for this first year and see how it goes. But I definitely need to trim down the width otherwise there will be no way to actually get into the greenhouse in the first place.

Although thinking about it, I might be able to cheat somewhat by simply cutting down the middle of the pallet. That way I could offset the slats and nail them across. The shelves would be narrower thereby solving the width problems, but would be more structurally sound. What do you think?

So whilst I was mucking about with shelves and building a new raised bed frame, the wife was busy planting more seeds in the original greenhouse.

But last weeks plants are off to a great start. Our courgettes are already sprouting up and trying to take over the world again.

So things are starting to move along on the plot. Hopefully as it gets lighter in the evenings, I will be able to pop down after work for a bit to get more jobs done. So roll on summer time because that shed of mine is a bit full and needs a damn good sorting out.

Getting there

I like to be able to tell you that the new greenhouse is finished. But I can't. I don't have enough glass or perspex to actually finish it. So at the moment one half of the north side wall is open to the elements.

But lets wind the clock back to yesterday. Yesterday was nice and sunny. So we concentrated on actually getting stuff done on the plot. So much so that I neglected to actually take any photos.

Whilst I was trying to play tetris with the glass on the greenhouse, to make things fit, the wife was planting more strawberries (yes, more) and digging over a bed to get things ready for her cape gooseberries.

Now today was an entirely different kettle of fish. I left first thing because I was doing shop duty. And whilst yesterday was sunny, today was grey, overcast and rainy. So working on the last little bits of the green house took place inside the greenhouse. Fortunately it was just the door and the two sides on the north wall. So I managed to get those done in the relative dry.

So what else to do whilst I was there? Well it's that time of the year when everybody gets planting. Here it was no different. Today I planted:

I managed to pick up some cheap pots at a pound store near where I work. They're cheap, nasty but should do the job for one season anyway.

So, by now it's late in the day, and I missed breakfast. Fortunately I have a stash of emergency food in the shed. So I fired up the Ghillie Kettle and one cup of coffee and a Mountain House Vegetable Tikka with Rice later, I was ready to carry on.

I had a few other odds-and-ends lying around that needed planting up as well. So back with the planting I go.

It's been a long cold day. But I did manage to get a lot done today. The second greenhouse still needs work. Whether I can get hold of some additional perspex for the remaining sections, or simply build a wood wall from the pallet wood I have remains to be seen. But it certainly means the plot is looking a lot more productive now.

Though I probably need shelves in there as well. So much more to do.

The Strawberry Empire and more greenhouse

It would seem that the Wife's ambitions of running a Strawberry Empire is not without possibility. Today she made a start on the Empire State Building (aka the Tower).

This Tower was first seen in it's virgin form a while back when we first bought it. Since then, parts have been used as simple pots, but now it is truly starting to come into it's own. Oh, the green trays behind are also Strawberries. And of course there is the strawberry bed. Beds I should say, as she has also taken over another bed for future production. And she's got her eye on a couple of other too. From her initial investment of £2 for 5 plants from a car boot sale, we now have over 50 potted plants and a bed. Yes, this will be an Empire. Jam anyone?

Meanwhile I carried on trying to build the green house. This is starting to become a bit of a nightmare as unlike my 1st greenhouse, this one is second hand with no instructions. Also not enough glass it would seem. There are a number of perspex sheets along with it, but no idea which bit goes where. I've been making a few guesses as to what can be used, but it would seem that it will have to continue is a guess work manner.

Managed to get a few more pieces to fit for the roof.

As as you can see from the opposite side, there are still plenty of gaps.

It doesn't help that the rain decides to interrupt. No bad thing really as there's still much to do in the old greenhouse. Such as planting this years courgettes.

Tomorrows forecast is not good though. So I suspect that more delays will ensue.