I've been on about getting my "new" greenhouse up for ages now and time is rapidly ticking away until I'll really need it.
On Friday dad sprung the news on me that he was going to give me a hand on Sunday and to make sure I was ready!
The trouble is where I wanted to put the greenhouse has been, how should I put this, somewhat neglected.
A few hours moving bit of rubbish and chopping down all the nettles and I was ready for dad to arrive.
As usual he arrived in style! A trailer full of stuff and the knowledge that we'd have a hard afternoon a head of us!
It's pretty handy having a dad that has a digger (well multiple diggers) and is rather good when he's in control of it! The site slopes quite a bit (probably around 18" over the 12ft) so we levelled it off first, making a large pile in the garden to be moved at a later date.
Then using a narrower bucket on the digger we dug a strip for the foundations of the greenhouse, levelled it up and began mixing concrete.
It took around 20 barrows of concrete for the base. As I took this picture dad shouted "Is that so you can remember what I was like before you killed me!" I guess that we were working rather hard on a Sunday afternoon.
The 12ft by 8ft strip foundation. I'll lay a concrete block one layer high all round this and fix the greenhouse to it to give me a little extra height.
The last picture shows where it will sit next to the smaller greenhouse. I'm looking forward to having some more under cover growing space. I'm planning on lots of tomatoes and chillies!
Now the question is what should I do with the floor of the greenhouse. Should I have beds and clean them out every year or grow things in pots/buckets and have slabs under them?
You have a wonderful dad coming along with his toys to help you out :-) can I borrow him. It must be great to have a proper foundation for your greenhouses, I have a weed surpresent membrane down in my greenhouses with pea gravel on top, it keeps it nice and clean and is ideal for standing pots and trays on, I did contamplate beds but I got more use from staging and can fit more in.
ReplyDeleteI'm tempted to go with the pebbles under it for now. If I change my mind at a later date I can always take them up.
DeleteI am growing my vegetables in my polytunnel in pots and containers (tractor wheel rims..., so that I can prevent any disease building up in the soil.
ReplyDeleteI use to know a man who grew all his Brassicas in plastic containers (old paint pots) because allotments are terrible for Club Root.
Yeah, the more I think about it the better it sounds. I might have to order some builders buckets (and look at how many I've got lying around here.
DeleteI want a dad with a digger!
ReplyDeleteOur large greenhouse has boxes, some of wood some of concrete blocks which we empty and refill with fresh compost each year. The small greenhouse has a bed straight into the ground on one side and concrete base on the other to stand pots on.
I bet you are excited at having another greenhouse.
Gill
He is quite as handy man! With the greenhouse with the beds do you dig out all the top soil every year and change it for fresh?
DeleteI can't wait to have all this extra space. Should make quite a difference to how much we can grow.
I grow in builders buckets with holes drilled in - thats how I grow all my polytunnel plants - they stand in gravel trays ( 3 per tray)
ReplyDeleteNice base :)
I guess it makes them easy to carry when you want to empty them out. Mum keeps saying thats the way I should do it (apparently thats how Monty Don does it as well)
DeleteIt's always nice to have good help and the right equipment.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't get better help than my old man! He's a sucker for punishment!
DeleteGlad you posted a photo of the 'before' patch. Makes me feel so much better about the piles of stuff we have dotted around the place! And well done your dad, what a handy man, and how you must absolutely love him being your dad.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble was I wasn't growing anything there so it just got out of hand! There's a few spots like that around the place, don't worry you're not alone!
DeleteI highly recommend growing right in the ground. Once you are dealing with pots/container growing you are 100% responsible for nutrients and water (which can be a huge job during peak season with large plants). The soil is much healthier when it connected to the earth and you will have MUCH less problems with disease this way.
ReplyDeleteWe grow in the ground but have raised beds along both sides with a path down the middle. We have lots of worm this way (being connected to the earth) and the soil also doesn't get to hot (which can happen in containers).
the other side to the argument! You seem to be in the minority at the moment though! Wanting to be as near to self sufficient as I can be in the future when I stop buying in compost the bucket method might be harder to cope with.
DeleteYour Dad and his digger are welcome here anytime!
ReplyDeleteDid your chickens eat the nettles?
Jane x
They ate all the bugs and have loved going through all the soil for the poor worms. Dad chucked in a few bucket fulls for them and they always get all my weed (of which there are plenty!).
DeleteThe work looks like fun, especially with a backhoe like that. I trust no chickens were hurt in the effort. I am amazed your dad is pulling that trailer load with a Range Rover!
ReplyDeleteDon't be fooled - it's a Discovery not a Range Rover! Dad is the master of pulling awkward trailer fulls!
DeleteSomewhat neglected?
ReplyDeleteThink I would be tempted to go the container route Kev.
It's only that area that's that bad! I was growing nothing in that patch so the nettles took hold. It became kind of a dumping area for all my pots and canes as well so that didn't help the matter!
DeleteOne word: Hydroponics...
ReplyDeleteOh for a greenhouse! I was offered one for free in very good nick but, couldn't get anyone to help dismantle and transport it over here!
ReplyDeleteWhen I had a greeehouse many years ago, I slabbed 2/3rds of it, had staging (home-made) around the end and one side and gravel on the south side which had tomato pots on it, chilli pots and other plants where on the staging.
The first year, we had peacocks sitting on the staging! They were part of the menagerie at a nearby stables/farm on the new housing estate and were re-homed shortly afterwards. They were good slug/snail foragers but, in early summer, their tails kept knocking pots off the staging! I've got a pic somewhere and will upload it.
Good luck with the new greenhouse, I've got greenhouse envy! LOL!