Scrapheap Challenge

[Snadger]

The first photo is where i got to on the chicken run build yeaterday eveneong. I had cut and meshed to the left of the gate.



The second piccie is of the large piece of mesh I had to liberate from my old plot to be able to put mesh on the right side of coop.



Luckily another plot holder gave me a hand to get it to my plot once I'd got it clear of all that was holding it.

The last piccie, which isn't very good becaue it was starting to get dark by then, is of the same piece cut to size and nailed in position.




The same guy who helped me was telling me the fox had managed to get into his run and killed the chooks he hatched the same time as me, one of which was a cockerel. He couldn't work out how it had got in.
The up side was that he asked if i had any more cockerels going begging as the fox had go his.
Thats two of the four cockerels that I had hatched which I have managed to re-house!

[Snadger]

Arrived at the plot to be told the burglars had struck again. One chap had three show quality bantams and a small cockerel stolen.
Sheds had been broken into and basic hand tools stolen. Luckily mine hadn't been touched, not that there's a lot worth nicking anyway and I'm not a great believer in padlocking doors. My plot gate IS chained and padlocked though.
There were people dismantling greenhouses where the plot holder has got sickened and is giving up plot and selling greenhouses.

No more doom and gloom. Another of the cockerels I hatched went to a good home.

On the plot I progressed with the chicken coop/run build. Nailed the roof to the chicken coop and made an overhang to keep the rain off chooks. I should be able to utilise all of the long spars of wood i have left on the chicken run roof. Laid them roughly (you can justy about see them in the piccie) into position to work out and plan progress. Decided I will put a long board along the top front to blend in with the summerhouse. Put a short board on to get an idea how it will look and am pleased with the effect.



Facia board will run the whole length when complete. I am toying with using the large sheets of glass i have as a covered area for chooks but this is still in the desgn stage.

The coop roof should now be watertight. The hinged section will allow me to clean it out and the overhang will help keep the chooks dry in inclement weather. I had nothing to cut the tin sheeting with, hence the overhang!



The only thing left to do on the coop is erect some roosting bars. I will probably use two runing above the cleaning hatch. This will also give a bit of rigidity to the coop.

After a slow start i came away happy with progress on a lovely bright winters day.

[Snadger]

Not much done at the scrapheap this evening. Lit the woodburner and sorted a bag of Elfe spuds for OH along with some onions. The spuds are just beginning to have tiny sprouts but are still very usable for the table.
Potted on a freebie alpine plant and took some of the older leaves off my strawberries which are starting to grow a bit. I have them in polystyrene modules in the summerhouse.

[Snadger]

Cold and miserable on the plot this evening so i lit the woodburner to cheer myself up. Decided that while I was thewre I may as well do summat.

I have a no dig stance but like the edgeing of beds to be neat and tidy. Went around the edges on the central bed with a spade and moved the soil from the edges. I then raked it into a neat mound.
Scrounged a large plastic hexagonal pot of a plotholder who is giving up his plot. This will do nicely for my seedless grape vine that I purchased at great expence. Normally i buy from Aldi, Lidl or poundland but this one I spalshed out on, bcause Monty Don said it was a guddon!

[Snadger]

Cut,levelled and nailed a new facia on the chicken coop and shifted some of the mesh I had scrounged for the chicken run roof, into the run, to give me an idea of where supports are required.
Didn't light the woodburner as it was a reasonably warm sunny evening.

[Snadger]

Following on from Piskienboots thread I decided to water my garlic plants with Comfrey tea to goive them a boost. I was really surprised at how the tea (in a sealed 2 litre milk carton) was still just as pongy as it was in the autumn.

Affixed a mesh panel to the area below my nest box. Needed quite a bit of woodwork to facilitate it and it got too dark in the end to finish it. Tomorrows another evening!

[Snadger]

Added some more mesh to chicken run and more woodwork to chicken coop! Painted woodwork I added.

[Bigmallly]

You've got more energy than me pal, all I did today was fix some outdoor lights...............

[Snadger]

You've got more energy than me pal, all I did today was fix some outdoor lights...............

I was just glad to get outside as my head was banging! I had an appraisal at work today along with a fotnightly work update so was office bound all day!

[Snadger]

Arrived at the plot at about 11.00am after first doing a bit of shopping and buying some cheap seeds from Lidll (thanks for letting me know VC!)
They didn't have a huge selection but a packet of carrot,round cougette,Kohl Rhabi,beetroot and A.N.Other for a squid can't be bad!

Put up three AGM notices at strategic points around the site and knowing that someone was giving up a plot, asked a plotholder whether he wanted the 3/4 plot next to him

The bag of stored potatoes that I had left at the plot gate was luckily still there so we will be able to have spuds with the Sunday dinner!

I couldn't be bothered to progress with work on the chicken run so planted out another three rows of shallots.
I dug up three row of potatos that weren't brilliant because i planted them late. About half of them were a usable size though, which i washed and stored in a cardboard box.

Lit the woodburner, mainly to warm my Lidl pasties which i enjoyed.

Lit a bonfire in the area where my pond has been part excavated.

Left for home, remembering to take my tatties with me.

[Snadger]

Forgot to mention, I cleaned out the woodburner and spread the ash on what will be this years brassica bed!



Took a few more piccies when i was there. You're proobably sick of seing this plot but I'm trying to keep a record of progress. This is a piccie of my japanese onions. I was going to transplant them, but they are doing that well I've decided to leave them.



Another piccie showing coop and run progress.



And yet another looking doen the centre after edging the centre bed.



The last one is a picture of my previous plot, showing that i must have a thing about circles!

[Snadger]

Didn't get a chance to get to the scrapheap yesterday afternoon as I had to work late!

Made up for it this afternoon to some extent. Broke up a load of scrap wood and lit the woodburner.
I've got this idea that if I build a stone fireplace around the front of the woodburer flue pipe, the latent heat absorbed by the stonework will possibly keep the frost off the summerhouse at night.

I have plenty of dressed stone on my old plot (from a couple of stone fireplaces I was given! but need a support across the top of the woodburner. Tonight I smashed a concrete lintel in half, including the metal reinforcing rods, and manhandled the part lintel over the stove. It fits like a glove.
I of course, will build a few niches into stonework to heat my pasties/pies direct from the flue pipe!

Because there was still a bit of light left, I edged one of my keyhole beds and raked the soil I threw out into a mound ready for planting my spuds .

[Snadger]

Went to Poundland to get some enveloipes to be able to send my my fishing club subscription. Came out with a packet of tomato,cucumber and carrot seeds.

What horrible weather! You'd think it was February or summat..............oh wait a minute, it IS February!
Chooks were hiding in their chook consevatory on my old plot, can't say i blame them!

Gave them some mixed corn to warm them up, whjich I think they appreciated.

I had filled my wheelbarrow with Pan-tiles the last time I was there so wheeled them to the scrapheap and unloaded them.
Decided to bring some of the stone ffrom my old plot to create the stone fireplace around the woodburner flue. Wheeled two barrow loads of stone and was soaked to the skin. Set some stones roughly in position to give me an idea of how many I need. Reckon another four barrow loads should do it. I intend building in a storage box and a warming box for my pies/pasties.

Left for home early, like a drowned rat,to listen to the Mackem game on radio and watch the Toon ont telly!

[Snadger]

Must have been mad going to the plot today. Needless to say, i was the only plotholder on site as the weather was attrocious. Went to Aldi first and bought a big bag of compressed logs to see how they performed on the woodburner.
Lit the woodburner in the summerhouse and because it was cack outside decided to cut some lenths of wood indoors using my wheelbarrow as a saw horse and block up the eaves which are quite drafty.

That complete, and after a warm through, did a bit of weeding and pulling back the soil from the edge of another bed. Once done i raked it into a nice even mound.

Decided, rather than have a pre conceived plan of where everything will go, I'll just blag it!

Gave the chooks some corn and found a couple of the newest chooks I thought I had lost, sitting in the rafters of the perspex covered area of the run. My runs are of fine mesh so realistically i don't need keep the chooks inside because wild birds can't get in to the run or coop and spread bird flu.

Decided a covered area is a priority for the new run I am building at the scrapheap.

Progressed with trying out different variations of a stone fireplace around the woodburner flue and now I have the plan in my head will get some sand and cement and start building.

[Snadger]

Very little done on the plot this evening as I had a busy day at work and was knackered!
Did a trial in the woodburner with a single compressed log from a pack i bought at Aldi. Six logs for £2.99 that about 50p per log. The one log burned for about an hour so six hours burning for 3 squid aint too bad.
I have a woodburner at my project house which isn't hooked up to the flue yet and i was trying to get an idea of costs and heat output.
Used the spade to edge one of my beds and rake the arisings into a neat curved surface. Thats four of the five main beds edged, and tomorrows another day.

Noticed a mouse or a very small rat had nibbled one of my seed tatties. I need to carry on with rat/mouse proofing my summerhouse!