Slow progress

Slow progress

Work around the old greenhouse in the vegetable garden is progressing, but very slowly. The dense mat of nettles roots is hampering matters considerably. Not to mention the bramble roots and the stones and gravel I keep finding under the soil. And the soil itself is something like a foot deep in places.

I finished clearing the base of the old greenhouse, brushing the floor area and wanted t load the debris into the wheelbarrow. But as is often the case when you want to get on with something, there was a problem – the wheel on the barrow was flat L

OH fixed the puncture and we proceeded with clearing the greenhouse. There were four or five (hard to tell as they were somewhat overgrown and had kind of merged together) black bin bags that had been used as homemade grow bags. They were full of compost and riddled with nettles roots, making them not only heavy, but difficult to remove too.

Once they were removed, the whole floor was brushed clean. 

There is a wooden threshold at one end; the breeze blocks extend beyond it. I was thinking we might use some more breeze blocks at right angles to those already in place and put them just outside the concrete base, making a wall where the wooden threshold now stands. This will keep the chicken shed well off the ground when we build it.

Between the greenhouse base and the gate there are paving stones. I am not sure when or how these were laid, but there is nothing logical about them at all. Across the gate itself, there are two paving slabs which just about cover the width of the gate. The next row has only one slab at the same level. However, to the right of the gate, there are more slabs heading off towards the compost bin. Unfortunately, they stop well short of it, so I will still have to lay my own path in front of the bin. I will also probably have to re-lay most of the slabs that are in place, because they are not all at the same level – some are over and inch higher than their neighbours.

Between the paving slabs and the greenhouse base there is an area that seems to have been very roughly concreted – like someone mixed pebbles and concrete and just threw it in place, without levelling it. And there is also a gap between the rough concrete and the actual greenhouse base, about 6” wide.

Round the end of the greenhouse base, furthest from the gate, there are six more slabs. Three go across the back of the greenhouse; the other three form a kind of small yard area, but again, the slabs are not laid in any logical order.

Yes, there are paving slabs under that lot!

I am not yet sure whether the slabs go round the back of the old greenhouse, but it does seem like they go across the front – I haven’t explored the whole area yet, but there are definitely some slabs across the front. Let's hope they go the whole way. It is hard work and I needed a lot of help from OH, as I am just not strong enough to remove it all by myself. But there is definitely progress to be seen J