Mantis Tiller Into Action and Bonfire Dangers

Don’t Try This at Home

I was in one of those moods yesterday where you’re bored but don’t actually feel like doing anything so I wandered around to the plot with a bag of woody clippings Val’s taken from the flowery things that infest the garden.

If I’d got a shredder then they’d have been in the compost but dry wood doesn’t compost very quickly. However, it does burn.

Now like all overgrown boys, I love a fire so I just happened to take a newspaper around with me.

Well I scrunched up the paper, carefully placed the clippings on top and set fire to it. There was a lot of smoke but it didn’t really flare up too well as the wood was a bit damp so I needed to help it along.

Now this is dangerous, stupid and you shouldn’t do it. Ever.

I poured some petrol over and then made a little trail of petrol for about three feet. Click with the lighter, in a second the flame rushes to the twigs and wumph! Big, I mean BIG ball of flame and the wood was blazing merrily.

I escaped injury although my right (lighter holding) hand had some singed hair on the back and the twigs are reduced to ash.

Mantis Tiller Back in Action

Today was quite nice and sunny so I did the traditional British thing on POETS day (Push Off Early Tomorrow’s Saturday) and got to the plot around 4pm. It rained again last night so the site is still pretty wet  but the deep beds on plot 29 are OK.

I’ve added a couple of inches of manure and then a couple of inches of compost to the two small beds so now I wanted to mix everything up and took the Mantis out. Amazing machine: added some fuel to the tank, two pulls on the cord and away it went.

Having given the beds a going over the next job was the large greenhouse. The borders were rough dug and had a few barrow loads of leafmould added back in January. They were then topped up with the compost, which has now settled in so in there with the Mantis to mix and break up the large clods below the surface.

Now we’re back to don’t do this at home. Using a petrol motor in a greenhouse even with the windows and door open is not the best of things. I gave it a few minutes and then took a break to let the fumes disperse. Repeat about five times and the border was finished.

Despite the sunshine it was quite a cold and cutting wind so returned home for a cup of tea with Larry who had turned up to check the site was still there.