It's Half Term - Part 2

The picture below shows the garden we inherited when we moved in. Within a fortnight, I'd ordered a new shed and replaced the rotten old one. We also had two massive pine trees at the back which blocked a lot of light and were stunting the apple trees growing behind them. We had them down quite quickly too and put almost all of them through my shiny new shredder. All the mulch has gone down under the orchard area and covered the bare weed suppressing membrane that was there. 


You can see the difference already, and with the new greenhouse in and two paths laid, it's time to get on with the hard landscaping of the new vegetable area. 

All the turf lifted so far is piled behind the greenhouse to break down over the winter ready to be spread as loam in the spring. 



Using the timber taken from our allotment, we built two raised beds which have taken a load more of the lifted turf. There will be more on this side in due course, but they can wait until the spring.


On the other side, the plan was for a more formal, pottager style veg garden. Given that I had to move the greenhouse a couple of feet to the right on the other side, my plan for a completely symmetrical pottager has gone out the window. 


After half a day of lifting turf by hand, we set about laying the slaps and dividing the area up. Three quarters of this side are complete and just the very top quarter still needs to be cleared come the spring. 

Two rhubarb plants were divided (I don't think they had ever been split before given their size). They are now behind the greenhouse in a new bed. You can see (below) in the back corner that I've put my red and black currant bushes in too. 



With this layout, I still hope to use my 4 year rotation and am going to try and keep the four quarters all slightly different. 

Against the fence on the right is my Tayberry and Loganberry that have been transplanted. Fingers crossed they make it. 

Here's the arial view....



So, after another two days, I've got onions and garlic in and broad beans sown. I've still got a little more autumn planting to go - since it's still October, I've still got time!











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1st June Update

Image
I've had 9 months (almost) since I took over my new garden and I thought it was time to look at a before and after picture. The first image is once we took down the large trees. Unfortunately, I haven't got any of before we started any work which is a shame. The second is this morning in the glorious sunshine looking magnificent. We're currently self sufficient in cabbage, lettuce, cauliflower, spring onions, broad beans, herbs and, of course, eggs. Garlic will be harvested in a couple of weeks and I've already pulled up the last of the spinach that was sown last year - it bolted but went to the chickens so not a waste. Currently in the ground are onions, peas, French beans, soya beans, parsnip, carrot, beetroot, lettuce, sweet corn, tomatoes, courgette, several squashes, cucumber, and an array of brassicas. I'm growing potatoes in bags and hope to do the same with my sweet potatoes. Ive never grown sweet potatoes so its a first for me. In the greenh...
Read more

Attack of the Gooseberries

Image
I know Pyracanthia is regarded as a good hedge for deterring intruders but ranking a pretty close second has to be the Gooseberry bush! I've been 'training' mine (no, not to attack) for the past two seasons as I inherited them in quite an overgrown state and continued with the obligatory summer prune yesterday. The patch they're on has a lot of bind weed in it, so that had to come out too, and boy did they put up a fight. I have numerous battle scars, but I won, and have gained two new plants in the process as two of the lower branches have layered themselves. One I'll use to replace the one which just upped and died this year, and the other will become a bartering tool....what do I fancy swapping it for? On the subject of fruit, my strawberry runners are doing well. More bartering fare coming from this bed me thinks! However, there seems to be a bit of a North South divide going on, which surprises me for a 10’ x 5’ bed. I didn’t think it happened on s...
Read more

January Jobs

I received my email 'to do' list via Gardeners World and thought it opportune to see how well I was doing myself, and look back over the month to assess my progress.  January Jobs Winter prune apple and pear trees to remove any dead, damaged, congested and diseased branches  - Yep...done. All six apple trees have been 'tamed' and are ready to burst into bud once the weather warms up.  Sort out your seeds, throwing away empty or out-of-date packets and noting down any to buy for the coming season - Well I'm a sucker for old seed packets and I know I have a few beyond their dates!  Plan this year's crop rotation to ensure you grow each type of crop in a different bed to previous years  - Done. I have divided up my new beds into 4 and hope that I'll have enough space. The jury is still out as to whether or not I'm going to do potatoes this year. You can’t beat home grown, but space is now limited so I may have to go without.  Prune goo...
Read more