Growing stuff and things

So the raised beds are in, various planters are made and filled with soil and other nice things, and we are now growing a whole bunch of stuff and things in our garden.

A rough list:

• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Green beans
• Augbergines
• Courgettes
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Basil
• Coriander
• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Strawberries
• Chillies
• Rocket
• Chives
  

We're making it up as we go along a little bit, but it is still nice to have stuff in there.

Ran out of room in the raised beds so had to make some planters out of things.

Oh - and we re-painted a wall so everything looks nice...

Next, adding a new barbecue!

Raised beds, stage two

Fill em up
Originally uploaded by Spacmonster

Here they are then, ready to be filled up. We successfully sunk them below the level of the gravel and started the process of filling them with a mix of compost and tompsoil.

The method?

Mark out the holes and dig them (a foot deep for our fence posts).

Attempt to put frame into holes. Realise holes are in wrong place. Make them even bigger.

Fit frame into holes. Realise that frame still doesn't quite fit. Scrape the holes around the posts bigger until they almost fit.

Give up and whack the whole thing with the heavy end of a pick axe until it is level!

Fill with soil.

Rub back!

Making some raised beds at Le Braconnier Cottage

Almost there
Originally uploaded by Spacmonster

Major project time, we're making some raised beds in the garden to grow some veg..

The basic idea is to use the bit at the end of the garden, which gets a fair bit of light in the afternoon. Also means that we can put off digging up the patio for a while!

Our design was fool proof - gravel boards and fence posts screwed together into two boxes (joined together in the middle).

All we have to do now is dig the post holes and find some compost and top soil and we are away!

Big question is what to grow first - after our efforts last year in the greenhouse we have a surplus of borlotti beans, so I think we are going to concentrate on green beans, herbs and salad for the time being.

More pictures of this epic construction project...

Repointing...

OK - so this weekend I learnt how to repoint brickwork.
Hopefully now my roof will stop leaking.

If anyone else needs their chimney stacks fixed why not drop me a line - I'm very competitive.

I'll post some pictures of my handiwork at some point soon