Builder's Bag Beds!

Today, we managed to start something we've been thinking about for a while - builder's bag beds. This is a good way to use something that is otherwise waste, and they make a useful-sized raised bed. Rosy and Matt did most of the hard work. First they dug up the deep rooted weeds from the area where the beds were to be sited, to stop them growing up through the bags. The next step was to fill the bags with a mixture of soil and compost. We are still using municipal compost from last year, so this was sieved to get rid of any weeds that had grown in it and mixed with the soil-rich heap of composted "super weeds" that we created last year. That might sound a bit risky, but we put them under a black pond-liner, which had the great result of heating them up so most of the weeds died, and then kept the pile so dark that no weeds re-grew in the pile. We folded down the sides of the bags by half, so they wouldn't take too much soil too fill but would still be deep enough to grow a good crop. The compost that's left is really nice stuff, so we are hoping that it will help us grow some nice stuff.

Rosy and Matt work out how to get the raised bag beds to behave

The two new beds that Rosy and Matt created are now filled with potatoes. The next beds will be planted up with pumpkins and beans.

Phil filling pots

Whilst all that was going on, Philippa was getting lots of plants potted up in the polytunnel, and Dan and Ellis, despite getting caught looking very relaxed, also found the time to do a lot of tidying up in the area where the new clay oven will be put.

"We're just thinking about which job to do next, honest!"

Ellis and Dan working hard to get the clay oven site ready