A redesign

As the year has gone on I've found myself looking around the garden, feeling that I could have fitted more plants in. With a new vegetable patch being created at the beginning of the year it looked like a big space at the time. Of course this was quickly filled a left me searching for more.

The three main plots I use are the large vegetable patch created at the bottom of the garden, the raised beds bordering the patio outside the kitchen and the polytunnel. Also dotted around the garden are various other pots and small beds containing some kind of vegetable or other.

Despite all these it's still not enough. If  I really am going to grow all of my own vegetables with plenty to eat fresh and plenty more to store then I need more space.

As many of the fruit and vegetables outside come to an end this month with many of the beds becoming empty, it seems a good time to reshuffle and this past week has seen me take drastic action.

Like a lot of people I have a shed containing mainly old pots of paint and varnish, a few tools and a lawnmower. With this being in a prime location there was only one thing for it, it would have to come down.

Anything inside that I  need can be stored on shelves in the log shed opposite. The tools can be hung up on nails and the lawnmower securely stored undercover. This is all I need really, the shed seemed to be a dumping ground for things that could probably be thrown out or stored elsewhere, taking it down would free up a sunny part of the garden and give me some much needed space to grow.

Now I had planned to overwinter some chickens on the vegetable patch at the bottom of the garden but with plenty of homemade compost from the ducks and chickens already waiting to be dug in there seems no need. The next lot of chicken that I get will be enclosed on this new patch of land from October to March digging it over, keeping it weed free and most importantly fertilising it. When things start to warm up around April it should require minimal digging to prepare it for planting.

The left over wood will be used to build a new, bigger chicken coop with anything else going on the log burner. Besides I'm always looking for bit of wood to build something or other.

With garden looking like a bit of scrapheap at the moment there's still a lot to do to get things how I want them, but looking longer term it's worth a bit of effort now to maximise what I can get out of the garden in the future.