Most upsetting

...my favourite fork broke today. I'd popped down the plot after work to do a bit of clearing (in readiness for potatoes) and was trying to loosen up some well-established bramble roots, when there was a nasty crack and the handle shaft snapped at the point where it goes in the metal bit. *Sigh* I knew it was coming though, it started to crack a couple of weeks ago when I was moving a rose plant.

I s'pose that's what you get for leaving your tools under a bit of plastic on the plot. But my excuse is that we haven't got a shed and we do have to leave some of the bigger tools down there as it's a long way to carry them all down each time.

Then the tines of my other fork started to bend! Thems some tough brambles!

Might have to pay a visit to a carboot sale to pick up some 'new' tools.

Saskatoon!

Saskatoon!

Preparing the ground for the saskatoon



Tiny Saskatoon!

In goes Mr. Saskatoon!

The saskatoon in situ

Another exciting thing happened

Yesterday my little Saskatoon plant arrived. *Hmmm what's a saskatoon?* I hear you ask.
Well I only heard about them recently, via the magazine Grow It, (was given a subscription for Christmas). They're from Canada and are a bit like a blueberry but not as fussy, and grow into a big bush. I ordered a single 1 year old bare rooted plant to give them a go. (from http://www.johnstoa.co.uk/saskatoon.htm). This chap John Stoa has been trialling growing them up in Scotland and has had good results.

As it was bare-rooted it really needed to be planted out straight away so we nipped over the plot at lunchtime. JB has the photos.....

A day of dismantling

It was a lovely sunny day here today, though freezing in the shade. My friend Liz and I headed out to look at the greenhouse over the other side of the city (the greenhouse belonged to someone she knows at work and wanted to get rid of it cause of their little kiddies running around in the garden).

It all looked good, there were a few panes broken but nothing too serious, so we set to work taking it apart. I didn't have a clue how to get started but luckily she's pretty clued up on these types of things so we got on quite well. The panes of glass came out first, quite easily really though there were more than you expect. We were careful to keep hold of all the springy clasps and things which holds the glass in place (a few times it involved scrabbling around in the grass after they'd sprung off in all directions!)

So, on to the frame. This was a lot more tricky trying to work out which bits to take out first so we basically just went for it. At one point I was holding up the roof supports to stop the whole lot collapsing on us! Some of the bolts were pretty stiff and some snapped too so will need to find some replacements.

A couple of hours later and her estate car was full of almost a whole greenhouse! All was going to plan (apart from being a tad cold) so we made our way to the allotment back over the other side of the city. Brrrm Brrrrm Brrrmm....SMASH! Yep, although we thought the panes were nice and secure, after a few minutes of driving there was the unwelcome sound of breaking glass and we pulled over to see what the damage was. A bit of adjustment and extra padding was all that was needed and after a stop off at my place for a well deserved fry-up lunch we carted it all on to the plot. A quick trip back to pick up the last couple of bits (the door and part of the roof frame which didn't fit first time round) and now all that we need to do is level the ground, get some slabs, put it back together again. Easy peasy (ha hah). And of course there's nothing else to be getting on with on the plot either HAHAHAHahahahaha *sound of manic crazy laughing*)

Oh I did take some photos but they are trapped on my phone at the moment.