I suspect like a lot of people, I’ve longed to have a greenhouse in the garden but the Isleworth postage stamp did not offer much scope, so I settled for a polytunnel and greenhouse at the plot. Once watering was organised, it worked well. So why persist with the dream? I enjoy pottering and pootling about; others might call it procrastination or aimless wandering, I find it relaxing. I also have the space in the Gulag garden.

I had hoped both polytunnel and greenhouse would be in place last year but that proved a bit too ambitious. With the proceeds from the sale of Mabel the Suzuki, I hired an out-of-season landscaper to dismantle and reassemble in the garden. That was complete by mid January but I then had to move the block pavers from the plot.

I lured an unsuspecting friend with offer of bacon rolls to help with the heavy lifting and Wickes delivered 10 bags of building sand.

And complete, just needed to brush over fine sand to fill the joints. It’s surprisingly level!

Then to move the benches and shelving back after cleaning the glass. I’m hoping to persuade the window cleaner to give the outside the once over on his next visit. I haven’t installed my customary bubble wrap as it isn’t very aesthetically pleasing but I will invest in some greenhouse blinds to prevent crispy seedlings.

There’s a double layer of landscape fabric underneath the sand and blocks but there seems to be rising damp – at least humidity won’t be a problem!

The wooden crate in the bottom right of the main picture has been with me since the first allotment. I found it at the back of the tumbledown shed – it was the only thing worth saving. The crate is stamped G H Roote & Sons Ltd, Addlestone – it is getting closer to its birthplace 🙂 Curious now, I’ve searched ‘find my past’ No Rootes in Chertsey or Addlestone but there was a GH Roote advertising healthy cabbage plants for sale in the Middlesex Chronicle and living in Barrack Road, Hounslow in 1903, I wonder if it’s the same person?