Dodging the rain showers...

Today the weather doesn't seem like it knows what it wants to do. One minute it's lovely and sunny and the next it's chucking it down. But- knowing I have thirsty plants in the greenhouse-shed on the allotment I popped down inbetween rain showers. 

Every time I get to the allotment I always have a look around the pond first. Now when you walk up the plot you can hear all the frogs jump into the water. There was loads today! Though some still had their heads poking out when I got there. 

Considering we created the pond in April/May I really wasn't expecting much from it this summer. But it seems, if you build it, they will come! I have been amazed- and every time I go there's more to look at. 

Beautiful flowers pop up all over the place around the pond it's just lovely to see, and lovely to see the bees, hoverflies and butterflies (as well as other insects) keeping it all well pollinated. 

My window box on the shed is looking beautiful too! These flowers which I paid about £3 for (and have some growing around the grassy area at the back too) just keep looking better and better! I don't actually know what they are- but I really need to find out as I'd definitely buy them again. I've literally just watered them a few times and that's it. Well- apart from admired them!

But I really do think it's important that we have areas full of flowers and areas just left to nature as much as possible. I don't think we need places to look immaculate and clinical. If you just let nature do it's thing (to an extent anyway) it can be beautiful. 

I seem to have poppies popping up all over the place. Along the pathways, and in the onion and carrot bed apparently. There's a few growing in here- it doesn't bother me though, I'm just leaving them to it! I love them- and as soon as they flower the bees are all over them! What's not to love?

 In fact today I went around harvesting the heads from the dead poppies so I can dry them and get the seeds for next summer...i'm going to be covered in them!! 

In my last entry I wrote about my butternut squash. I've grown them from seed and didn't know what to expect having never grown them before. I'd looked them up online and of course read the back of the seed packet and it said they needed loads of room! I'd left them in their little pots for quite a while, mainly because I didn't have anywhere to put them at the time, and I noticed they'd started to flower. So after giving away a few plants (I had far too many) I planted 2 in large bucket style pots and 3 in the ground. The ones in the ground, as I said last time, have pretty much died! However the ones in the pots are looking fab. As you can see some fruit has started to appear on both. 

Inside the shed/greenhouse is looking great too. (I never know what to call it!!) but there's a perfectly lovely aubergine in there, with a couple more flowers appearing. We have peppers, jalapeños, cucumber and tomatoes- which I noticed yesterday have 2 little tomatoes on! Sounds pathetic but I was getting the impression that I just wasn't going to get anything from them!

At least I'll get a few peppers!!

A completed shed & a happy wildflower spot...

Today I spent another lovely and peaceful 4 and a half hours at the allotment. I really love the summer holidays! It's lovely and quiet down there and I was able to potter about and get some useful things done!

My shed is now completely finished! I now have two hanging baskets on the side filled with violas which are on the verge of flowering. The box on the front of the door seems to be doing really well too! I think next year I might use the boxes and baskets on the front for strawberries. 

I also got the gate painted (to match the shed of course!) and the inside of the door needed a few coats of blue as well. I'm really happy with the blue and cream combination. 

 I also got all the gardening tools hung up and even cleaned the windows inside and out! It's now spotless! 

The plants on the inside seem to be pretty happy as well. Plenty chillies, cucumbers and peppers coming along nicely. 

I noticed some of the sprouts have started to properly show themselves as well! Hopefully I'll get a decent return on them- the plants are pretty big now!

And here are just a few photos from around the pond of the wildflower section- I think it's looking pretty awesome- exactly as I wanted it to be honest! And every visit something new keeps poking it's flowery head above the rest. 

5 hours of shed painting...

Today was officially the first day of the summer holidays. So I spent the day as I mean to go on- productively!

I was at the allotment for 5 hours simply painting the inside of the shed- and enjoying the pond for a portion of that!

It's doing really well at the moment. The plant life around the outside is really starting to hide and protect the pond and other animals around. There are plenty frogs being spotted in their too now. Every few days there seems to be a new lily pad unfurling so hopefully it will flower at some point! Not sure if that will be this year or next thought.

I've really got no idea about what's growing around the outside. I did scatter a fair few wildflower seeds a few months ago, and there are some really pretty flowers coming up, so I'm assuming there some sort of wildflower. There are plenty of other things as well, from buttercups to dandelions and dock leaves, but for the moment I'm just going to leave it all. 

The Brussel sprouts are coming along really well now too! I had a peek under their leaves today and there are little baby sprouts sitting above every leaf, so hopefully I'll get a good harvest from them in a few months time! I have plenty people in my family who're looking forward to home grown sprouts on their Christmas dinner! 

And of course- a photo of my hard work today.

I painted the inside cream. I needed to paint it to protect the wood, as some of it is fairly old and has been left outside for a while (one wall is from an old fence) so it needed protecting on the inside and outside. I wanted the cream colour to lighten it all up. It took hours, but I'm happy with the final product. Now I just have to give the outside one final coat of blue, and then I can start attaching things to the inside and out. I have some hanging baskets for the outside and I want some shelves up on the inside, as well as hooks to hang my tools on. Project for next week I think!

The jalapeños look pretty happy in the shed too!

The summer holidays have finally arrived...

The summer holidays are now here!! Yes, I'm fortunate enough to have 7 weeks off work over the summer (if it makes you feel any better- I don't get paid for it!) But I really do cherish the time off. 

 Especially this year! Now I really have no excuse to get things looking as good as I can until the winter comes around and I can start my winter project.

Over winter I am going to create raised beds across the plot. 

 While I have actually discovered that yes, clay soil is a bit of a pain because it's quite hard work, but to be honest, everything I've planted so far, flower or vegetable doesn't seem to care! Clay soils retain much more nutrients. Unlike sandy soils where when it rains everything is washed away, the clay soils helps retain that, and retains the water so things don't have to be watered as frequently over the summer. I have realised that despite it being a relatively heavy clay soil on my plot, it fortunately seems to drain really well. However, I think raised beds will help manage things. I have learned already that I don't need to plant a million of one thing! After all, there's just me and my husband (and our bunny) so I'm thinking smaller beds but a fair few- then I will be able to grow a range of things and a sensible amount!

However- for now, I am working on taking advantage of the sunshine and the warmer weather. 

 My shed is getting there! There's now some cute little flowering plants in the pot on the front of the door. I am going to add a few paving slaps in front, then I'm going to plant some things around it and add further plants up the left side.

I am also going to sort the inside out. Here is my little shelving unit at the moment. We currently have cucumber, tomatoes, jalapeños, bell peppers, aubergines and there are some leeks waiting to be planted out which I've grown from seed. 

 I am going to paint the inside of the shed as well (in cream- why not?!) not only will it make it even nicer but it will also help protect the wood. 

 I'm also going to add a few shelves and hooks to spread things about. 

Always scowering for useful free things, my husband came across these windows in our back alley. They're lovely old windows, perfect for making cold frames from! Another project for the winter!

Making a shed from scratch for £100

So, I've been saying for what feels like an age now, that I need a shed! Of course an allotment needs a shed. My car has basically become my shed! There's just my husband and I, so we just have a little old Toyota (she's 20 next year- so she's getting on a bit!) but we have just had the backseats down for months now, as all the tools and things just live in the back. It does mean however that I can't cycle down to the allotment, I always need the car! We tried cycling down a little while back with forks and things in tow and it was just annoying! So the time finally arrived! 

 My husband is handy with a saw and things, and so is our friend (who worked as a carpenters apprentice for a while so we had to get him on side!) 

I wanted to use as much as I could from reclaimed wood/materials. And I would say the majority- if not 90-95% of the shed is made from exactly that. 

We had acquired some 150 year old roof timbers from the flat above ours a few months back, as well as some old double glazed windows from someone else on the street. Then another friend was replacing his fence so we used all those old panels as well. We also had a lovely old solid wood door from another friends new (old) house. Our handy friend is also friends with some people who own a reclaimed timber place- so that's where the rest came from!

 So- they spent hours (literally like 12 hours one day 2 weeks ago) in our friends work shop creating the shell of the shed. They then transported it to the allotment and began putting it all together. 

So the allotment became a building site for a while! 

They were able to get the main part done. Then the next day my husband and I went back, and we finished it off! It was about 25 degrees outside and we were seriously sweating by the end of that day! But by the end we definitely had a shed! So the only new thing that went on it really was the roof! Because it was important for me to have both shed and greenhouse, I needed it to be as light as possible, so we decided to use clear plastic corrugate for the roof. It's super cheap- about £6 for a length- although, it's pretty flimsy so that's why it's only £6.  The sun continued to cook us, but I also wanted to get a coat of paint on. We used a specific outdoor shed/fence paint. One tin pretty much did one (and a bit) coats of the whole shed. So here it is!

And here it is sitting at the top of my allotment! 

Overall, it's not very big. One metre wide by 3 metres long, but that's enough for me. I don't plan on moving in. 

 It's solid as well. The floor is made from 3 inch thick solid wood- it's actually the roof beams I mentioned earlier (I know- I feel quite guilty using them for a shed floor- but the shed floor now looks amazing!!) 

 The old wooden door was reused- as the door! There are 2 large double glazed windows on the front and side (both open which really helps!) the left side and part of the front is clad in the old fencing and the back is reclaimed thick chipboard. Even the frame is all reclaimed and recycled wood. 

 Altogether, the timber cost us £20. 

 The roof and screws/nails cost £40.

 The paint (3 tins, 2 blue and 1 cream which I'm going to use to paint the inside) was £40.

 So total shed-come-greenhouse cost was £100. And you definitely can't buy something like that at the same price in the shop!

I totally love it!! And over the last 2 weeks we've taken everything along- and it's all a perfect fit. I plan on attaching hooks and shelves and things inside for bits and bobs. I've also got a shelving unit in there for my greenhouse plants. 

There's now tomatoes, jalapeños, peppers, cucumber and aubergines all sitting quite happily inside.

Today I've also added a zinc pot to the front door under the window with plants in, and I plan on adding a few other things to the front to jazz it up!

Photos will follow soon!