Getting There, Getting Done!

Plot 17 – The Earthly Comforts Garden

Season Two – Planning Plot 17 January – April 2023

The Allotment Plotters Directory

Getting There, Getting Done!

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.

Luther Burbank

Back fencing now paled

***Suze weaving raspberry cane into stock fence***

All the main fencing tasks are now completed, however the fiddly side is now needing to be completed and this is where Suze and her willow and raspberry cane weaving skills come into their own. Also the double fence along the front was finished. We ensured the fence line there had a twelve inch gap between front and back with the wire in the middle as this will allow us to fill with twigs further aiding the wind breaker barrier.

Monday down at the allotment was a day filled with hard graft for us both with our projects. We were down there for most of the day, arriving just after nine and leaving at five in the afternoon. We ensured that we filled those eight hours with work and achieved that. We were both so tired after the day’s work, that we each retired early for the night. I was in bed by 9pm.

Whilst it was indeed dry as forecast, it was windy and seriously windy to boot, making the work a little more complicated. Despite that, the sun was out and warm when you were in it. I spent most of the day in short sleeves.

The weather forecasters said we would not be experiencing further rainfall this week, but yesterday didn’t get the memo because it bucketed down for most of the day! So l am glad we were there Monday and not Tuesday.

Our two primary projects were to 1] finish the fencing and 2] turn the current one-ton compost heap and activate the two tons of dormant compost. Now that l have activated the remaining four compost units, it will mean that l have to turn those triples more frequently. They are on a turn once every four to five days, whilst the ton compost heap is once every seven days.

The dormant piles were set up on the 21st of February in the triple units and remained there to build up internal heat to begin the slow breakdown process. By the time l activated them on Monday, they were at a twenty percent burn. I estimate that l will have a finished product ready to use in the allotment by the middle of April, perhaps the end of that month.

Secondary jobs on top of those were for Suze to start the weaving process, a sore point yesterday given the strength of the wind but a benefit to verify the importance of these wind barriers, continue building the refugia [insect hotel], fence the leaf bin and to finish off the heightening of the raised beds.

Jobs still needing to be finalised from yesterday are – Suze’s weaving and adding the logs to the bug hotel. This week’s other tasks in the mix are starting the hedge trim, levelling the area beside, in front and around the shed, and starting the seed plantings. But we do need to retrieve our potting table from next door first. We also need the weather to be drier.

Our four 200-litre water bins also turned up yesterday, so they now need to travel down next to the one attached to Willow, which we will be replaced with a new 100-litre one. The garden at Willow will not be as busy as it once was, so if she doesn’t have all the plants anymore, she doesn’t need a vast 200-litre butt.

Five new and old 200 litre water butts will be winging their way down to the allotment this week to join the single down there already.

The refugia is slowly coming along. By the time it is finished it will be around three feet in height and vary between an overall length of twenty to twenty five feet. The leaf mulcher will also make up for a section of the length as it will act as a sanctuary for assorted insects as well.

When l attend to the compost piles twigs that take longer to decompose are extracted and added to the wall. Birds will then be attracted by the presence of the microscopic insects on these twigs as well as the insects that will take to residing within the hotel.

I hope you have enjoyed this post, thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time. Till then, have yourselves a terrific day!

The Autistic Composter

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