A busy week

I awarded myself a week off last week and spent every day at the plot!  The weather was good, dry if a little windy – but as I keep reminding myself, I can’t have everything!

I did some more digging; I have a patch 10×15 to go but I need to rehome the stuff first, which is proving to be more about geography than finding purposeful homes.

I ordered some topsoil from Sempervirens aka Otter Nursery because they are local and were also delivering some mushroom compost.  Unlike topsoil I’ve had from the Compost Centre and Springbridge this stuff is best described as a filler; it’s full of un-composted wood and small branches not to mention the plastic and broken glass.  It’s certainly not the premium topsoil as advertised.  We are in email communication but it seems they are going with the equipment malfunction line… Needless to say, whatever the outcome I won’t be going back.

The soil was used to fill two raised beds and a bed made from pieces of sleeper shaped timber and this is what I sifted out of the premium topsoil.  I’m going to grow sweet peas up the frame.  The three delphiniums are divisions from one £2 bargain plant last November!

I built the fruit cage to house the blueberries, maintaining the tradition of ‘allotment levels’  I also built the door the fit in the wonky opening. Just waiting for the big roll of netting to arrive.  I keep the blueberries in pots as they like acidic soil, which I could offer them at Park Road, but I didn’t want them mixing with the horsetail.  At the new plot, the early soil testing revealed alkaline soil, which they don’t like at all – just out of shot is another water butt to collect rainwater from the greenhouse.  It seems like a lot of effort but when you consider the cost of a punnet of blueberries, more than worth it.

I prepared the new asparagus bed and the local foxes enjoyed playing in the newly fluffed soil.  The fluffing involved incorporating sharp sand, grit and bonemeal which was considerably easier with the Mantis.

The purple potting shed is now purple on all four sides, with a white door and barge boards for contrast.  I added guttering, discovering just how vicious those snap gutter holders are but even I draw the line at showing you my now scabby finger and thumb – it’s a wonder I can still type… I’ve continued my FUNctional campaign with the flowery oilcloth in the potting area.

The seed sowing and potting on continued, but that’s for another post.

Have a good week.