Before we can plant our spuds we need to install a new trellis at the back of the garden ... and translocate and rebuild the compost bin. As you do.
We removed a trug load of brick rubble in digging the holes (with trowels and teeth-gritted determination). We positioned the posts to meet with the verticals of the trellis.
We had more than a GRUMBLE about the fact that we'd purchased a 2.5l and a 1l pot of the same branded, tinted wood preservative only to discover that the difference in colour between the two pots was more than several shades out when dry. Poor QA, it's not on is what we say. We were forced to sit in holiday traffic, shell out for more preservative than we needed and put in an extra couple of hours to put it right. This is supposed to be the the holiday that peeps knock back and eat hot buns and chocolate.
We held the posts upright by jamming brick rubble back into the holes. This allowed us to walk back up the garden and check whether they looked true. We didn't use a spirit level as the existing visual verticals contradicted a 90° perpendicular.
We discovered that postcrete is very easy to use, requiring no mixing. A heads-up: make sure you wear a dust mask (or pull your t-shirt up over your nose as we did) because it billows up in a great dust storm when you empty it from the bag into the hole, no matter how slowly you pour.
We fixed the first two posts and sections of trellis to make sure that the horizontals were level. We adjusted the height of the posts by pushing rubble underneath.
We fought the holly and dog rose and we won.
This old compost bin was once hidden away under the canopy of a very large fig tree...its time had come.
Before starting we searched for any wildlife that might be sheltering in the old compost bin and its surrounds (every year, when turning it, we wish for hedgehogs but to no avail). We dismantled the compost bin taking care not to disturb this sleepy toad. She's a beauty.
We re-used all the sound wood from the old bin. We had to use an offcut of new marine ply to make up the short fall. The new bin was built to fit the dimensions of the offcut which we used for the lid.
"Cat-a-stroppy"! Tubby tabby was NOT amused at the destruction of her sunning perch.
The new bin with improvements: the lid is braced to prevent it from curling. The front enclosure is split in two for easy removal and is held in place by sitting in a slot on either side.
We think it scrubbed up well.
Sadly no tatties were planted as we discovered concrete slabbed paving buried under the spot we were planning to dig. Another job for another day. Let's hope next week end is sunny.
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