Rabbit-proof fencing starts to go up and RIDAN temperature is right up there too!

 

In the past week, we finished the doors on the poly-tunnel - they now slide smoothly on their rails.

 

We strengthened the door frames with metal brackets...

  

...and chiseled a small channel for the joining plates to run smoothly past the door frame!

We also had about 100 hebe plants donated with which we hope to make a low hedge around a growing space in future.

A lot of effort also went into creating a sample of rabbit fence to show pupils on the WAP days (Wider Achievement Program activity days) what they will be aiming to create.

 

We put cross-beams onto the posts and then attached rabbit wire.

 

The wire is folded into the trench...

 

...then buried back under the ground.

 

A very satisfying job!

 

There's just so much of it to do!

 

Pupils will back-fill this section later in the week.

 

We also made a sample section against the existing security fence (certainly not secure against lagomorphs!)

 

Hoops of wire attach it to the fence.

 

Meanwhile the poly-tunnel was lovely and warm this week!  We collected a pallet destined for the skip that will make perfect staging...

 

...the next day, rabbit prints were proof of our furry visitors!

 

Turning the corner with the rabbit wire.

 

 Posts are easier to bang into the ground after a little rain.

 

Meanwhile, the maturation bin for the RIDAN composter is filling up...

 

            ...and holding a temperature of 62 degrees centigrade!

 

Food has been added to the chimney of the RIDAN and the bucket contains wood chip ready to add too.  The temperature has dropped a little since using woodchip instead of sawdust - and it's a bit wetter and smellier too!

 

 Hopefully we will be able to get more sawdust next week.

We also managed a section of rabbit fencing up near the poly-tunnel.  Watch this space for developments this week - and please keep your fingers crossed for good weather for pupils working in the garden from Wednesday to Friday.

Poly-tunnel progress, potatoes and council depot helps us out!

 This week, we have made more progress with the poly-tunnel - trimming the excess polythene and ventilation screen...

 ...attaching a pole to the bottom of one side in order for it to roll up and down to allow air to flow in...

 

...fixing polythene to the doors... 

...and fixing them to a new door rail.

The sunny weather helped things along though today was cold again!

 

At lunchtime, Millie and Sophie continued planting our seed potatoes into bags.

 

They watered them in using the water collected from the shed roof.

We had a couple of trips to the council depot where they very kindly fork-lifted things into the trailer for us!

 

The first item was a crate of plant pots.

 

 It dwarfed Miss Swallow's small trailer!

 These pots will be very useful as we propagate plants for the Memorial Garden!

 Talking of plants, Mrs Brown's science and environment class was out in the garden this week.

 They potted up seedlings sown in school and put them in the poly-tunnel to grow on.  We put them on a table away from any rabbits!

 The second item from the council depot was a bag of bark chippings.

 It just fitted into the trailer!

 This means we have a good supply to mix with the canteen waste in the RIDAN composter.  The RIDAN is working really well so far - the temperature ranges from 55 to 64 degrees centigrade and we have started storing the resulting compost in one of the maturation bins.

John Duncan digs our fencing trench

On Saturday, John Duncan brought a mini-digger to dig a trench to help us prepare to put up rabbit-proof fences.

The trench runs round the perimeter of our garden space.

The garden will look a mess for a while, but it has saved us a huge amount of work!  Thank you SO much to John Duncan Plant Hire!

Rabbit wire will be attached to a fence (our next big project!).  The bottom 30 cm will be laid flat in the trench and covered with the soil to bury it.

Meanwhile we have now attached all the polythene and vent netting to the poly-tunnel.

A handle turns a pole running the length of the poly-tunnel to wind the side polythene up and down.  This allows ventilation in warmer weather and closing it down in colder weather.

Water butts provide water, Poly-tunnel cover goes on, RIDAN hots up!

Today, our water butts were used for the first time!  The EAGer bunch needed to water the seed potatoes planted last week...

Megan Sophie and Millie then planted more potatoes in bags - there are still plenty left to keep us busy!

Big news today is that we managed to get the polythene cover onto the poly-tunnel.

It felt like a race against time in case the wind kicked up or it rained.  First the lower end panels were attached...

...followed by a polythene strip down one side then...

a ventilation panel to help keep the poly-tunnel cool in summer.

After this, we put "hotspot tape" over the hoops...

and it was time for the main cover!

It was very hard getting it tight over the frame.  First Poly-tunnels have a good method however - you raise the waist-height side rail before attaching the cover as tightly as possible, then push the rail back down and re-tighten the bolts.

It soon got very warm working inside the structure!

A relief to have the polythene secure!  Hopefully in the next post, it will all be trimmed; then we need to fit the door rails so not quite complete yet!

Meanwhile, the RIDAN composter has warmed up well and is in full flow with our canteen waste.  Steam rises when you lift the lid...

...and the thermometer showed it to be 54 degrees centigrade; the perfect working temperature.

Also Spring is now officially here - we were watched by a swallow perched on the nearest lamp post as we worked on the poly-tunnel!