The other side of the Greenhouse

So our good friend AW had a pile of logs that needed a new home and a couple of sweaty hours later (the boyf not me!) they appeared on and took over our driveway.  As it was definitely BBQ weather this weekend, we set to clearing them away; cutting them to size and storing them in our new log store i.e. the other side of the gardenhouse.

Yes, it's still "not quite" finished.  Where there is perspex at the front, the back is now wood panelled, though there will eventually be small windows above the little bench that is above the log store.  And yes, I really (really, really, really) need to finish painting!

But I have space for some of my old bottle collection (maybe not the wisest place to put them, I will secure them properly in place!) and the plants are doing very well, I now need to move the tomatoes outside...

and, as we had guests, I indulged in a little more decorating and tidying; piano keys and hooks for all my hand tools.

The alliums have all died off, so the 12yo picked out some lovely geraniums to fill the trough till next spring.  The menu board is, I think, one of my favourite things: its such a good decorative idea, saves your voice when you have a garden full of hungry guests and proved great grafitti fun with adults and children alike as the afternoon progressed.  And yes, there is a huge cobweb above it....

but just look at the size of the spider!

I'm brave, but not that brave.  If (s)he wants a web there, I respect that.  It adds character.

The Greenhouse Workbench

The last bloggable excitment of the weekend is the new bench in my greenhouse, which the lovely boyf helped me build... ok, built ;o) ... on Sunday morning, using recycled boards, fence posts and a bit of spare tree.  I love it and have been very happily cluttering it up already!

 

The leftover fake grass floor was then fit properly in place, I cut around the bench legs so it can be pulled out easily for cleaning.

 

The tomatos, which have been sat on the floor under where the bench now is, have been growing so well that I also had an idea for staking them underneath the bench (until they outgrow them and move outside).  We drilled a series of 12mm diameter holes through the worksurface and trimmed bamboo canes to 6" short of the height bench.  They are held nicely in place, sit flush with the surface of the workbench and can be lifted up and held in place when moving the pots or lifting up the "grass".

 

 

There are also hints of colour coming through in the garden now:

A couple of weeks and I'm hoping for a blaze of gloriousness!

It's all about the garden...

It has been the long week of opposites; four days of absolutely enforced relaxing in Alicante one minute followed by a non-stop week at work coupled with four busy days of home alone time as the lovely boyf literally got off one plane and onto another.  I wasn't going to write anything those first four days - it would have meant putting down the Mango Mojito ;o) - and couldn't have, not for want of trying, the next four.  Then, come the weekend, when all I really wanted to do was put the other half of the corset together, take lots of photos and tell everyone about it, the Leaning Tower of Laundry and ironing stared balefully at me for the ironing board...

 

I duly abandoned all attempts at crafty creating and the ironing of shirt sleeves and trousers that it would necessitate, and took myself out into the garden instead.  The weather might not be Alicantesque, but the sky is blue and its not so cold that you can't enjoy working up a little sweat.  Plus, there was a tree to move and, as you can see, it is a riot - clearly something is enjoying our cooler, wetter summer and, when it looks as pretty as this, I'm not complaining.

 

Ok, we're not quite at pretty yet, more green, but the flowers are all so close to blooming, I can see the potential for "really beautiful" already. 

 

On the other side of the garden, the fruits are looking really good too.  I have (never having grown anything fruity but strawberries before) been wondering what baby apples and blueberries look like and was a bouncy child when I spotted them last week.  The apple tree, in particular, is looking very fruitful (pardon the pun)... it is genuinely exciting!

 

And my experiments are continuing nicely, two Pak Choi and the celery are growing well.  I started off two more Pak Choi this morning, it seems a waste to throw the bases away now, when you know you can so easily just grow more.

 

The big jobs of the weekend where trimming the Laurel (we can walk under it now) and moving the tree in front of the Sky dish.  After three years of work, the Laurel and I though are now reaching an understanding, it was in such bad shape when we moved in and I had no idea about what I was doing, but I've learnt a lot and it seems to be responding.  It doesn't threaten to fall over anymore and this years is also full of bird nests, which is a delight to see.  The tree that I moved was a moving in present from my Dad - one of his experiments :o) - we think it may be a Japanese Peach tree...  He wasn't sure if it would do very well so I planted it out and left it alone; my favourite, tried and tested, gardening technique!  It was only when the Sky man said "move it" that I noticed just how tall it had grown.  So move it I did and have decided to try it in a the old Victorian tin bath.  I wouldn't want to leave it behind if we ever moved.  The bath had a side drainage hole, which I removed the cap of, and have lined with good layer of gravel at the bottom.  It should work nicely and drain enough to keep the soil from getting too damp.  The soil the tree came out of was so dry that the roots were practically soil free when I lifted it out.  I have planted the tree in new compost but, if anything, I don't want to give it too much "good" after it's previous living conditions.

 

 

Once it's settled I'll trim it into a better shape and keep my fingers crossed for some flowers and maybe some signs of fruit next year.

 

Next job is to get painting inside the greenhouse and finish that off.  The tomatoes and mints are doing nicely in there though; our mad little idea looks like it might just work.

 

The Greenhouse, part 3

Up bright and breezy this morning, I fitted the edging trim to the greenhouse roof.  It's just glued in place with silicone beading to seal the edges.  Later on the boyf installed the windows at the front and either side of the doors.  He then lined the doors with perspex too; only the back wall to do now, but I ran out of paint, it will have to wait.  The front is pretty much complete now, all I have left to do is build my workbench and finish painting inside.

Megan seems to like it in front of the greenhouse, though yesterday as I was smiling at her liking my greenhouse, she was painting herself, she's going to be patchy for a while.

The Greenhouse, part 2

We have fully embraced some Bank Holiday weekend DIY, the lovely boyf and I, and ploughed on with the greenhouse.  Yesterday was spent mostly painting (me) and cutting the wood trim for the windows (lovely boyf), then we waited....  I hung my beautiful Indian mirror, which has been languishing in the garage, and planted out the tomatoes and beans that I was very kindly given this week.

The hanging basket needed to be redone, I'm testing a linen cloth liner... it saved a trip to the shops!

The lovely boyf continued his campaign to bring order to the garage, installing these amazing under counter drawers.  Ok, ok, so the drawers are not that amazing, but what they can hold is!  Gone are the boxes and boxes of muddled up tools, replaced by lots of lovely order :o)

I even managed some sewing, putting the second pair of gussets in in the corset.  It was a lovely, sun-filled and productive day. 

Potting on the Celery Experiment

The celery experiment is progressing nicely and has grown some amazing roots, which I noticed this morning as I changed the water.  The sensible thing would have been to plant it out at the weekend, but I had five minutes to spare :o)

I decided to plant it in my little herbarium.  A bit of a risk as, as my Dad and I have both found, the herbarium is a little temperamental with anything it seems but parsley!   I'll keep an eye on it and, just to make it really interesting, I decided to plant in the second Pak Choi too, which has been languishing in the pot with the first one I planted (PC1).

Don't they look pretty.... fingers firmly crossed!

In the meantime, look what has sprouted at the base of PC1.  

I really need to read up on Pak Choi... it's literally running away with me and I have no idea what I'm doing! 

The Greenhouse... my re-purposed dog run

For a while now, I have been planning a little re-purposing.  Megan's old dog run, which is a lovely Dutch Barn shape, was too nice to sit unused and I decided to turn it into a greenhouse.  Well, half a greenhouse, the other side of the roof sits under our elderflower tree and would get so little sunlight that we decided not to mess with it.  The sunny side of the run would be the greenhouse, the shady side will be our log store.

The roof was tongue and groove covered in roofing felt.  A few of weeks ago we peeled the felt back, cut out the tongue and groove, leaving the overhang at the bottom intact for stability, and exposed the beams.  We also removed the wire mesh from the sides and front. I've since painted the beams with black gloss paint and am slowly working round the rest of the building with white.

My original plan was to then insert traditional twinwall polycarbonate panels, but the boyf had a different idea.  He knows a man who can, and ordered made to measure clear polycarbonate panels instead, including a pre-shaped roof panel.  I wasn't sure about the roof panel but changed my mind the instant it went up.  It is glorious, and I love the contrast between its clean starkness and the wood beneath.  The panel rests on the wood overhang and the beams, we fixed it to them by drilling holes through it and nailing it in place with roof cleats.  I say we, I mean the boyf!  Here's a few photos.

What a view :o)

The boyf then set about tidying up the inside for me, hiding the gaps where the insulation was put etc.

I did what any sensible woman does during couples DIY: handed over the tools, found the nails and screws, and tidied up behind him! 

I was certainly dressed the part!

And there's that view again, whilst the panels are still clean and mirror-like shiny new.

I also recycled the last leftovers of our grass into three mats for the floor, prettier than what was there and easy to lift and shake out if they get too grubby.

I'm pulling together a few bits for the workbench too, as much as possible will be recycled. We need wooden trim for the front windows but hopefully they will go in next weekend and the bench can be put up.  I think I may also cover what's left of the felt with something a little nicer... we'll see, but it seems a shame not to as everything else looks so much better.

In the meantime, just outside the greenhouse, the alliums stuck their heads up sometime last week...

Perfect inspiration to grow something equally wonderful inside!