Oh I do love a bit of DIY, it is so satisfying being able to build things yourself. Especially when they are from things that you have just lying around. Well lying around on the land that I work on. One of the Principles of Permaculture is all about that, using what the land provides or what is already there, producing as little waste as possible. It's really something that can apply to all areas of our lives, not just in the garden. I like to think that we are all pretty capable of taking care of ourselves, looking after our own needs, we just need to make our way back to ourselves.
Yesterday, I made a raised bed with a difference. There wasn't lots of wood to use on the land, just enough to make the base and main structure. Which was cut to size and screwed together, after that I treated it with sme linseed. It's just sitting on the earth as the lady I work for, wanted to be able to move it around the garden, as she likes to plant different things for different seasons, in certain parts of the garden, which are more suitable for the weather at that time of the year.
As I said, there wasn't much wood, but there was this really strong white mesh material, which I stabled around the frame. It is definitely enough to hold in the soil, although we will not be filling it up much. I will attach more mesh over the top, attaching it on one size and then leaving the other loose, where it will hang down, with some weights sown into the bottom, to hold it down. That way we can plant some lovely greens and they won't get munched by caterpillars and the like.
I didn't have time to make the mesh cover, that will happen in the next few days. There was some mesh left over, which my lovely neighbour gifted me, so that I could make a small garden bed, as I don't want my so high off the ground. But nstead want to keep my animals out of it, especially the cats.
Prior to that, I had used some old boards, old doors and canna, to make some comspost bins, two in total, one which has two compartments, one side for veg and fruit scraps and the other for garden waste. Then a second one just for fruit and veg scraps. Once again I found all the material around the land. For the double compost, I used the canna, to hold the boards in place, hammering them into the ground on either side. When you look at the photo about you will see that I left the canna quite long, that way I can add more boards to make the bins taller, when the need arises.
Between this and making decor for Love Pirates, I have had a very creative week. Which makes me very happy indeed. I like to have the opportunity to think outside the box, which is something that fits very weel into permaculture as well.
Happy Gardening everyone amd wishing you all a wonderful Weekend.
