Separating beds and more preparing

Bit of a photoblog for me this one. A picture's worth a 1000 words and all that.

In my head this was done over a few days, but it all seems to have been on 30th April. We were off out that evening and over the Bank Hol weekend, when rain was forecast, so I was keen to get as much as I could done before then as it would be easier while the soil was dry.

Stage 1 - Dividing



First task was to dig a trech 2 spades deep. I'd got some wood from an old Ikea 'Billy' bookshelf, which was conveniently 1 spade(ish) wide.

I started by trying to join the 2 pieces of wood together so I could slot it in 2 deep, But that proved too difficult to do, and then to handle, so eventually I reverted to just one piece at a time. This may make them slightly misaligned in future, but hopefully not enough that it matters.

With the first piece of wood in I filled the bottom few inches of the trench with many of the stones I'd been removing... good to know they got a use after all.


Neareing the top of the first piece I started using soil so that the stones wouldn't work their way up again too much.


With soil filling to the top of the first piece I balanced the second on top and then filled the sides with soil too.

Having carefully measured to start I found that the deep part of the second trench was smaller as one of the sleepers was inset relative to the others. So a recut later and I found that it still wasn't enough! D'oh. Another recut and it went in fine.


Again infilling with the stones for the first few inches and then soil for the rest.

And ta dah!


Stage 2 - Sifting & Top Manure

Then it was onto each 'plot'. I now have individual plots! I removed the soil to a depth of a few inches and then sifted any big stuff from the surface. I then added another, thin, layer of manure and mixed it in by hand. I then covered the remaining few inches by sifting soil onto it.


It was a bit time consuming, but again I think the results will be worth it. I piled the soil I'd removed from the top of the plot onto the plot next to it, and then sifted from that pile back into the original plot.


A little remedial action was also needed in the corner of the bed. You can't see it from this pic, but there is a gap where the sleepers don't quite meet, so I've filled this with some large stones (removed earlier). Should be fine I think.


The soil amounts worked perfectly in the end. For the third plot I sifted a large pile onto the 2nd plot, so that once I was down to the appropriate depth I could mix in the manure and then just shovel some of the sifted soil back on top.

I was running out of time at the end, so had to leave the thrid plot with a few inches still to go, but with the thin layet of manure in - it's this that needs to settle for a week before sowing, so that was the priority.


Finally for the day I put the sheeting back over the first couple of beds. I couldn't find what I'd done with the sheeting I used before or I'd have covered the last bed too.

It's still to be finished with a top bit of manure and soil, but at least the main part of manure can be working it's way in for now.

And I've still got the entire lower bed to do - but as that's just one spade's depth I'm confident I can knock that off at some point.


The filled buckets tell their own story. All full of the sifted material - many stones, but also many small clumps of the clay soil. I'll use these either in my planters for potatoes/strawberries/herbs etc mixed with other stuff, or for building the section at the back of the shed where the other water butt is going to go. We'll see.


For the final inches of the third plot I'll start to use some of the semi-sifted soil from the blue bags, which'll free them up a bit.

For now, job's a goodun :)