Scrapheap Challenge

[Snadger]

I've asked for the thread title to be changed to scrapheap challenge. Originally mooted by VC I thought it was more apt. I've just uncovered another big pile of scrap that I need to get rid of as well!

[Snadger]

Flying visit to plot tonight (And NO, I don't own a microlight!) Lit the woodburner and picked up the two leek seedheads i had forgotten last night. Took them home then seperated the leek plantlets from the heads.
They are now sitting in a small jam jar of water on the kitchen windowsill. Hopefully once they have grown a few more roots I'll pot them on into modules.

[Jimmy]

I used to have an allotment when I was 18 (63 now with back garden plot).
The old guys then, and I assume now, had some luxurious sheds !
It was like a social club, the guys appeared at sun up and didn't go home till sundown.
Most had settees and ovens etc. They had dug down and tapped into the councils water trough supply so had running water. One even had a wind driven generator so had leccy.
I often used to get invited in for a brew, or even better to sample the myriad of strange home brews that filled the internal shelves. Pea pod wine, beetroot wine etc. Hic!
Jimmy

[Snadger]

I used to have an allotment when I was 18 (63 now with back garden plot).
The old guys then, and I assume now, had some luxurious sheds !
It was like a social club, the guys appeared at sun up and didn't go home till sundown.
Most had settees and ovens etc. They had dug down and tapped into the councils water trough supply so had running water. One even had a wind driven generator so had leccy.
I often used to get invited in for a brew, or even better to sample the myriad of strange home brews that filled the internal shelves. Pea pod wine, beetroot wine etc. Hic!
Jimmy

We used to have a Gardners Arms on site. All you would hear all day (and sometimes night) was the rattle of domino boards and the thump thump thump of the huge generator they had! Most were complete plonkies but they didn't do anyone any harm. Once in a while they would actually do a bit of gardening, though there vegetable planting lines weren't very straight!

[Snadger]

Wasn't going to do anything on the plot this evening but while there was still a bit of light left decided to shovel a couple of barrow loads of soil. All was going well until I hit a buried scrap pile! (Thread is aptly named.) Spent the next half hour shifting scrap and piling it outside the plot. I didn't have my camera but believe me, there was a lot (Piccies to follow)

Tomorrow night I need to dig up a few chrysanths that are in the way of progress and try and progress with the path borders. Think I may have to move the RSJ's first though so will have to make sure I have my three shredded wheat before visiting the plot.

[Snadger]

Yesterdays buried scrap that i removed.





:

This RSJ was in my way this evening and I know there's another three like it buried in the debri



Other accumulated scrap:eek

Now you know why I changed the thread title.

Because the scrap is fairly clean (don't laugh!) I've toyed with the idea of using it to build a geodesic dome over my circular centre keyhole. Hopefully the scrapman will come along and pillage it before I get round to giving myself another job though!

Dug up the three Chrysanths and put them in a seed tray along with the others. They are already sending up new shoots from the base so I may manage to get a few early cuttings.
Measured and started laying another path that will give me, once finished, three of the four main beds in total.

[Snadger]

Productive day today. I didn't dig up any scrap but I did have trouble cutting through this blue carpet with a spade!



Dug out the area for third of the four surrounding keyholes taking away numeous wheel barrow loads of soil and dumping it whereever I found a low spot Just put a large paving flag in the centre of the keyhole until I get round to laying an inscribed concete circle.Laid the surrounding flags, then for good measure added a couple of barrow loads of horse muck.




Set up the gate post and gate for the new chicken run entrance. By putting it here it will give the chooks quite a bit more room and also allow them to catch more sunlight throughout the day.




One 'Knock on' effect of the new gate position is that i can now put an external nest box on the coop without interfering with the pathway. I've just propped up the flap to show where i can build the external nest box which will not interfere with the path or the gate opening




I have about 100 fencing boards now with no particular use for them. I will use a few to build the nest box and maybe face the coop with them but unsure what to make with the rest? They may come in handy for patching my shed once i move it from my other plot.

[Snadger]

Very little done on plot this evening! Was foiled by frost and darkness. Managed to get a few chrysanths flowers cut down.
Next year I must grow some of my late chrysanths in pots left out during the summer but brought into the greenhouse after the toms are finished to flower for Christmas!They would have don this year but the frost put paid to them.

[Snadger]

Been playing about with Microsoft Paint. Got this far then had to leave it alone as it was doing my head in!

[veggiechicken]

Where's the entrance to your plot? Near the shed at the narrow end?

[Snadger]

Where's the entrance to your plot? Near the shed at the narrow end?

Nope, bottom right on plan, next to the summerhouse at tuther end. See very first picture on thread!

[veggiechicken]

How am I supposed to relate those photos to your plot now? Its changed a bit - but I like the sheds

[Snadger]

How am I supposed to relate those photos to your plot now? Its changed a bit - but I like the sheds

Well, I'm not putting them back! Anyway, it was the usable wood that I pillaged off those that gave me the wood to build my summerhouse for free!

There's still a heck of a lot of work to do, but I'll eventually get it the way I want it..............then I'll move on, to a derelict plot again...NOT!

[Snadger]

Got to the scrapheap about Noon. Had a bit of lie in after watching the Pay per View boxing last night/early morning.

So much to do I didn't know where to start! Eventually decided to dig up all my chrysanth plants and put them in seed trays ready for taking cuttings. Filled two seed trays with named varieties which i'd tagged earlier, and two seed trays with un-named plants.
The named ones I am keeping in the summerhouse and the un-marked ones are now on the greenhouse staging (Grrenhouse has no glass in so we'll see how hardy they are!)

After a swift cuppa, I decided to do a little bit of work building the chicken run. Managed to gat a side panel set up and nailed to the corner post that the gate is hanging on. I next need to dig a couple of holes for posts but didn't fancy the job today!

Decided to rough out the pond position with canes and see what i will be letting myself in for when I dig the hole. The usual bits of metal,plastic bags and glass were evident while digging and quite a few surface roots from the nearby trees. I just hope that once I get deeper i won't start excavating bigger tree roots. I also dug a few more tatties that were where my pond will be.

Left with a bag of chilli peppers from my now defunct plants, a dozen eggs and a house plant that i grew from a cutting which got frosted in the summerhouse. I'll see if it picks up on the window sill at home.

[Snadger]

Moved some of the what at first sight appears to be scrap, but is actually mesh for my chook run, to the coop end of the plot to work out what I will use and where.
Started digging hole for the next 4 x 4 post but was beaten by the lack of light before I got it dug the full depth.
Hopefully finish digging the hole and get the next post set into position tomorrow evening. Another hole to dig for gate post then I can start fastening mesh in position.

Checked the roughed out area where pond is going and think once I get the initial one foot dug I might use it temporarily as a fire pit to burn some bushes and prunings.

As with my chook run on my other plot I would like to have a covered area where they can shelter if its raining. They will be able to go under the coop but I will try and give them a conservatory if I can!

Very aware of the fox problem with being on the edge of a wooded dene so have to make doubly sure that the run is secure and fully covered.