a little light digging
14/02/10 14:03 Categaoriesbroad bean | parsnip
After yesterday's chicken coop
re-roofing, I had a light day in the garden digging more compost
into the beds ready for sowing. I sowed some broad beans and
parsnip too whilst I was at it. No sign of any shoots from the
seeds that I sowed last week.
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re-roofed the chickens
13/02/10 13:52
This was my first full weekend in a
while and the weather looked ok, so I decided to fit the chicken
coop's new roof. I took about half an hour to pull off the old one
before I could start fitting the pre-made A frames.
After that I started to fit the roof timber. These are classic lapped planks. Shortly after this it started snowing.
So I moved inside and fitted some of the bracing. The A frames are 2"x2", so should hold a fair amount of weight.
I thought that it would be easier to paint the roof as I built it. The final result is a rather smart dark stained wood roof. It took me about 5 hours in the end.
It's not quite finished - I'm going to add some guttering and water barrels at some point this spring.
After that I started to fit the roof timber. These are classic lapped planks. Shortly after this it started snowing.
So I moved inside and fitted some of the bracing. The A frames are 2"x2", so should hold a fair amount of weight.
I thought that it would be easier to paint the roof as I built it. The final result is a rather smart dark stained wood roof. It took me about 5 hours in the end.
It's not quite finished - I'm going to add some guttering and water barrels at some point this spring.
and we're off
The weather's been milder (although
much colder than California where I was last week). I've planted up
the seeds that I saved last year from my chilli peppers (Ring of
Fire) and sweet red peppers (Quadrato d’Asti Rosso). I've also
planted up 8 Gardener's Delight tomatoes; I'm not sure if I'll
bother planting other varieties this year.
They're in the propagator now, we'll see how they do. Meanwhile, I decided to have a look at the cuttings that I took last year. I have been surprisingly successful with 3 rosemary plants (lots of root), 8 box plants (less root, but root nonetheless) and 3 curry plant.
They're in the propagator now, we'll see how they do. Meanwhile, I decided to have a look at the cuttings that I took last year. I have been surprisingly successful with 3 rosemary plants (lots of root), 8 box plants (less root, but root nonetheless) and 3 curry plant.
chicken coop roof
17/01/10 15:32
When I built the chicken coop last
year, I couldn't get hold of decent corrugated plastic roofing and
I didn't have enough of a slope on the roof. The end result is a
leaky roof, damp chickens and some bodging. It looks rather sad,
compared to when it was built. See below
This has to be fixed so I'm building a full roof with a solid, lapped roof. As this is quite a lot of wood, I need to strengthen the uprights in the center of the coop.
I've added 4 columns plus two cross bars in 2"x2". The cross bars effectively hold the sides of the coop in. They were already been pushed out by the weight of large puddles of rainwater that collect on the roof. The corners are ok as they are as the sides form L columns. It already helps hold up the saggy, puddled roof. All I need to do now is to build the A frames for the peaked roof. I've built one, just 4 more to go.
This has to be fixed so I'm building a full roof with a solid, lapped roof. As this is quite a lot of wood, I need to strengthen the uprights in the center of the coop.
I've added 4 columns plus two cross bars in 2"x2". The cross bars effectively hold the sides of the coop in. They were already been pushed out by the weight of large puddles of rainwater that collect on the roof. The corners are ok as they are as the sides form L columns. It already helps hold up the saggy, puddled roof. All I need to do now is to build the A frames for the peaked roof. I've built one, just 4 more to go.
seeds: swapping and buying
17/01/10 15:29
Over christmas I sorted my seeds. Some
are past their plant by dates; others are ok, but not what I want
to grow. I took some into work for swapping. Gill and I went to the
garden center and, despite having loads of seeds, I couldn't resist
some seeds - Fennel, Pak Choi, Chinese cabbage, chard
(multicoloured) and carrots. Looking forward to getting planting in
February in the greenhouse.
dig for victory
02/01/10 15:13
Well, it’s stopped raining and, with the clear blue skies, got an awful lot colder. Very heavy frost today plus a very slight drizzle of snow. Nothing for it but to use my new spade and dig some compost into the empty bed ready for planting in April. Looks pretty doesn’t it? This took about a quarter of one of my big compost heaps. The top half was not well composted, but I put it into the bottom of each trench anyway, it will break up and rot in the next few months. I’ve also been planning where to plant things in 2010. I don’t follow a proper crop rotation as I usually end up with lines of different things. What I make sure of though is that I don’t plant the same sort of plant in the same place two years in a row. Works pretty well.
