Sunday 24 April 2011

Raised allotment beds

My plan has always been to make raised beds on the old allotment, but I didn't really think they would come to fruition so soon. I went and ordered wood from a builders yard the other day which they delivered within a couple of hours (amazing!) along with 5 pallets that they kindly gave me for free ( even more amazing! ).

I had looked into reclaimed wood and scaffolding planks for ages, but in the end I went for good quality 16 foot planks. That way I could make 8 foot beds, 4 foot wide and not waste any. So today we spent the morning measuring and sawing them to size and then, after a lunch of crusty rolls we loaded them up and went to the allotment.



My temporary beds had already been set out at about the right size so we just put the boards in place, hammered in posts and made sure the boards were level. We hammered in the posts about a foot so that there was a foot along the board and 2 feet above which I can use to attach netting and so on. I dug the boards into the earth about an inch.






Come the autumn I shall shovel in lots of manure so the soil can enrich.

We spent a lovely afternoon - the boys, L, my husband and me - digging, making, chatting and enjoying the sunshine. I took the boys home to watch the Arsenal game and went back to my Man and L with ice lollies! P came over and said nice things about our choice of timber and also gave me a blackcurrant bush. She is so kind. The camaraderie up at the allotment is just wonderful.

I stayed behind after my husband went home and watered everything. We will be back tomorrow to make more. We have enough timber for another four beds and that's including the runner bean bed, so hopefully everything will be looking even more gorgeous this time tomorrow night.

Back at home I sat with a glass of wine and enjoyed just sitting and looking at my garden.



Bliss.

4 comments:

Gail said...

Looking good!

Urban Cynic said...

Looking fantastic - the weather this weekend has been astounding as well so I bet you can't wait to get out there today!

Razmataz said...

What I love about gardening is that you can sit out until dusk admiring your work and that everyday you see somethign new and wonderful.

Louise said...

My OH keeps threatening to make me some of these? You look well in control of your allotment space. My Dad will be coming over soon to put my bean poles up for me. I'm a bit useless when it comes to jobs like that! x

PS. My garden always looks at its best at this time of year. Hope this wind drops, so I can get outside today?