It’s a good thing we changed plans on making a bed, filling a bed, making a bed, filling a bed etc as the last hour and a half has shown this to be back breaking work. I think I’d given up if I’d have a vision of what was to come.
Oh well, 3.5 to go…
Today I got the posts in and managed to line the first bed with yet more suppressant membrane. We’ve lined them so to protect the wood. Hopefully they’ll pretty much last for ever now.
Helen making sure it can drain well…
And all done! Ready for tomorrow when we’ll fill them. That’s going to be fairly back breaking!
We’ve put together the fourth and final bed. We’ve actually got enough to do one more bed, but no room.
To accommodate the cherry plum which I’ve rather viciously pruned we had to move the boxes a little way off our plans. This did mean to accommodate the greenhouse at the end of the garden and still get round it to maintain it, we lost the fifth box which was to be for strawberries. We’ll have to locate them elsewhere.
2nd bed constructed but hasn’t had the posts banged in yet. We’ve decided to anchor it using just the posts in the middle.
Tomorrow we’ll be putting in the first load of compost into the raised beds, then covering it for next year…
The first bed went together really well. Too well. Unfortunately the spikes were too long and pointed in the wrong directions. We’ve decided that it’s strong enough without the spikes but we’re going to add a couple in the middle of the beds.
The first one will need a bit of TLC before it’s properly settled.
As you can see finally we’re underway making the raised beds. It’s taken a lot out of me this morning already due to returning screws to screwfix (I doubt I’d ever use them again) getting the circular saw, getting wood (the wrong stuff), cursing the temporary traffic lights, returning wood, getting more wood, cursing the traffic lights again, then getting lunch.
Nevermind, the boxes are going together quicker than I thought.
First set of membrane went down. It goes the full length of the allotment area. After putting it down, we realised that it’s pretty waterproof. Oops. Well it’ll be good for water conservation.
The IBCs were moved so we could run the membrane underneath. This ought to prevent weeds coming up around underneath them.
The IBCs were moved so we could run the membrane underneath. This ought to prevent weeds coming up around underneath them.
Well the first step of our allotment is to uncover the ground and level it. And mow. And mow. As you can see, it’s looking tidyish now, the last bit still needs a mow and the shed moving. I’m then going to dig out the weed killer and give the whole area a dose.
If we’re lucky we’ll soon be laying down the membrane.
Rest of the garden’s a bit rubbish.
My boards for the raised beds have just arrived. This week we’re going to be building four beds ready for next year. We’ve taken a week off to do it, so expect quick developments!
I'm Tim, a 29yr old ex-Allotmenteer. My wife and I used to have a small 5 rod plot in South Essex where we grew all manner of veg. I'm also involved in brewing the odd keg of beer.
Recently we bought a house with a 65ftx30ft garden, which we're converting into a mini orchard and veg beds. The entire transformation is happening at the moment and being chronicled by a timelapse camera.
The hope is to introduce chickens next year into the orchard to allow them free range.
If you want to contact me, you can do so here
