This weekend I received my raspberry canes by mail order. They were bare root plants so I needed to put them in straight away, and managed to do so on Saturday before the rugby kicked off. I started by digging over about 18' x 3' of soil down one side of the allotment, with some help from the Moog, until I had to tie him to the fence to stop him getting carried away. After that I mixed in some manure; I could only get pellets unfortunately, I'd have rather had some well-rotted stuff to bulk up the soil but mine's not ready yet. I soaked the canes in a bucket of water and then planted them about 2ft apart. There are 9 in total, which seems a lot, but there are 3 of each variety - early, mid-season and autumn. Hopefully they'll settle in and last for years. Next job with those will be to protect them from the birds.
The only observation I can make about raspberry canes is the roots look a lot like the weeds I have just pulled out. Having said that, I'm happy to say there weren't as many roots in the eastern edge of the plot, so digging wasn't as hard as it has been in the past but there was still a good sprinkling of glass, plastic, wire, string and old batteries to remove.
Monday 25 February 2008
Now That's What I Call a Shed
(Storage Saga Part 3)
I had thought that I would build my own shed, but have discovered it's hard to get the materials cheaply enough. Pallets are about the cheapest way to get hold of timber but they're hard to cut up. I couldn't work out how to knock together even a small shed for less than the price of a new one. And buying a new one would have meant working out how to get it onto the site.
So, after advertising for donations again at work, I have duly accepted the offer of a large shed for the bargain price of £30, including delivery to site. The seller knew someone with a trailer who skillfully positioned it right next to the allotment. It is now piled flat in the corner of the plot waiting to be put back together. There are a couple of holes that will need patching up but otherwise it's in pretty good shape.
I had thought that I would build my own shed, but have discovered it's hard to get the materials cheaply enough. Pallets are about the cheapest way to get hold of timber but they're hard to cut up. I couldn't work out how to knock together even a small shed for less than the price of a new one. And buying a new one would have meant working out how to get it onto the site.
So, after advertising for donations again at work, I have duly accepted the offer of a large shed for the bargain price of £30, including delivery to site. The seller knew someone with a trailer who skillfully positioned it right next to the allotment. It is now piled flat in the corner of the plot waiting to be put back together. There are a couple of holes that will need patching up but otherwise it's in pretty good shape.
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