Garden improvements & more - Gardeningchef

Hello Steemers,

It has been a busy week in the garden. I have been working hard planting seeds and finalising our most recent project - a raised grow box!

The box is 80cm w x 160cm l x 65cm h, quite big which we wanted it to be. We used secondhand wood and poles to make it and lined it with cut up plastic garden bags to protect the wood. Our last step is to varnish the exterior which will add further protection.

As the box is so deep we knew it would take a hefty amount of soil ($$$$$!) to fill it so we decided to use lumpy objects to bulk out the bottom: large logs, scrap wood, big rocks and even a lump of cement we had leftover from a previous project all went in, then we filled the rest with some potting soil.

I was all too eager to get this box filled with soil - my little watermelon plants were crying for some room to grow! They formed some tiny melons whilst living in their temporary small pots, I am hoping they will thrive now they are in their forever home.

The watermelon plants are dotted on each corner to make room for other seeded rows: rainbow carrots, edible carrot leaf (my first time trying) and spinach. This will be my first time growing these particular plants outside of the politunnel so I am excited to see how they get on. In this box they will have a fighting chance at living and not be chomped on by rabbits and snails!

Over in the politunnel, the plants are happy and making good progress. My tomatoes have started going red. Yay!

The unexpected broccoli continues to thrive...

... and the peppers are flowering away nicely.

My seed trays are expanding daily. The first lot of herbs I planted a few weeks back are poking through (I wish I had labelled them!!) and I have been planting more from the haul of seeds I showed in my previous post.

Since my last garden update I have planted three types of cucumbers, "gourmet" basil, leeks, Hamburg parsley and some more spinach inside the politunnel.

I am really chuffed with my new raised box, so much so we have built and are working on filling another box just like it. I already have plans for what plants will go in it too!

It is great to be able to expand gardening space effectively without breaking the bank, so if you are struggling with planting space or pests I would definitely recommend building something similar.

That's all from me! As always please link me to your latest gardening posts, I'd love to see what all my fellow gardeners are up to. It is the season to get things going so I expect to see great things :)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Gardeningchef