...of the garden variety, that is!
The posts surrounding the raised bed at the back of our garden were decidedly past their best. Some had toppled of their own accord, and some more only needed a sharp tug to come out, like a loose tooth. I decided to flatten the whole thing, do away with metres of weedy gravel, and create a big vegetable bed where beans, carrots and cabbages could roam free.
Graham accordingly ordered a ton of topsoil from the horticultural company he works at, borrowed a rotavator and a wheelbarrow, and we set to work. The boys enjoyed helping to tip the topsoil off the truck.
Like all these jobs, there's always more to it than you first think. The posts which weren't rotted at the base turned out to be embedded a foot deep, requiring a good deal of hammering and levering with a garden fork. Then the hundreds of bulbs in the old raised bed had to be fished out and stored somewhere, and the two large sedums moved to a new home.
Once we'd cleared the area, Graham wrestled the rotavator across the compacted soil. It skidded and complained and gradually dug in and carved out lumps of clayey dirt. I helped with a fork until the whole bed was dug over.
Surveying the mangled mess that used to be a neat flowerbed, we weren't at all sure we had done the right thing. However, a bit of edging and a few barrows of topsoil improved the look no end. Finally it started to look like a proper vegetable patch, and I was ready to plant.
So far strawberry plants and purple sprouting broccoli have gone in. I might add some kale for the winter, and then... wait for the spring...!
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| BEFORE... |
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| ...and AFTER! |
The posts surrounding the raised bed at the back of our garden were decidedly past their best. Some had toppled of their own accord, and some more only needed a sharp tug to come out, like a loose tooth. I decided to flatten the whole thing, do away with metres of weedy gravel, and create a big vegetable bed where beans, carrots and cabbages could roam free.
Graham accordingly ordered a ton of topsoil from the horticultural company he works at, borrowed a rotavator and a wheelbarrow, and we set to work. The boys enjoyed helping to tip the topsoil off the truck.
 |
| operating the tipper |
Like all these jobs, there's always more to it than you first think. The posts which weren't rotted at the base turned out to be embedded a foot deep, requiring a good deal of hammering and levering with a garden fork. Then the hundreds of bulbs in the old raised bed had to be fished out and stored somewhere, and the two large sedums moved to a new home.
Once we'd cleared the area, Graham wrestled the rotavator across the compacted soil. It skidded and complained and gradually dug in and carved out lumps of clayey dirt. I helped with a fork until the whole bed was dug over.
Surveying the mangled mess that used to be a neat flowerbed, we weren't at all sure we had done the right thing. However, a bit of edging and a few barrows of topsoil improved the look no end. Finally it started to look like a proper vegetable patch, and I was ready to plant.
So far strawberry plants and purple sprouting broccoli have gone in. I might add some kale for the winter, and then... wait for the spring...!
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