This last week has not been the best. The weather has been fine, cold but sunny. The problem is me. It started on Friday night when a large filling in a back tooth decided to visit the big wide world, leaving a big, wide chasm behind.
Now I’m old enough to remember when we had an NHS dentist who would get you in quickly, sort the problem and you only paid a nominal charge. He decided he couldn’t continue under the NHS so put up a sign saying “No Riff-Raff” and expelled us to the tender care of the free market.
So Monday morning I started phoning around for a dentist. As a private patient, I’d probably be served a range of drinks in the waiting room whilst the live cabaret entertained us. Well I was, surprisingly, wrong. One dentist seemed to have a policy of just letting the phone ring for half an hour and after the fourth attempt, I gave up.
Eventually I found a surgery that not only answered the phone but quickly had me booked in for Wednesday afternoon. Even better, they handle emergency appointments on the NHS, although they can’t take more NHS patients on their list. No entertainment though.
Now, sadly, they couldn’t just pop another filling in the hole. The tooth had to come out. Despite my begging, pleading and offering my firstborn in sacrifice, they insisted. The actual extraction wasn’t terrible, but once the injections wore off, boy did it hurt.
Luckily, I’ve some strong painkillers in. Now 30 years ago, this would not have been a big deal, but time moves on. For the last three days, I’ve been fit for nothing.
Right, back to the growing stuff this diary is supposed to be about.
Cucumber seedlings all showing very quickly
The first sowings have had mixed results. The cucumbers, including some old Marketmore seeds, have had 100% success. The Marketmore was a happy surprise, with older seeds a lower germination rate is to be expected.
The Doric sprouts, a gift from Marshalls, had 90% success. They’d taken me by surprise, germinating very quickly and becoming leggy. That’s not a disaster, I’ve deeply planted those on in 9cm pots – burying the seedlings halfway up the stem. The cabbage tribe are generally happy with that.
The Greyhound have been a washout and the Caraflex and Earliest of All very poor. Of the lettuce, only the Black Seeded Simpson have produced. Maybe I’ve a seed problem. The leeks, Bulgarian Giant, are spotty too, maybe around 50% are up.
Brassica Seedlings in Bustaseed modules.
New Raised Beds
When I first set up raised beds in the field, it was because the soil depth and quality was so poor, and I wanted to get growing quickly. I always had it in mind taking them out at some point when the soil was improved. The paths between have been covered and recovered with wood chippings which have rotted down, improving the soil beneath.
The old beds have been there for about 14 years and the wooden sides are rotting. I’d hoped to reuse some at least, but I’ve only a few that are worth reusing. Still, the old ones will not be wasted. They’ll keep us warm next winter when I burn them.
Once the old beds are cleared away, the ground can be rotavated, levelled and allowed to grass over. However, if we need to use the area for growing in the future, because the land is now much improved it will be easily done.
I’m setting up new raised beds in the walled vegetable plot. I was never a big fan of raised beds, but as I get mature I find them more appealing. Less distance to bend being a big factor.
Scaffold Boards
Scaffold Boards Arrived
I picked up a deal on 20 second-hand scaffold boards which are ideal for raised beds. They’re thick and strong, so they should last me out. Plus they’re second-hand, so I’m reusing a waste product, which gets me green brownie points.
These boards are 13 feet long which is near ideal I’ve always recommended making raised beds 10 feet long by 4 feet wide. 13 feet boards means I can cut them at 9½ feet giving a long edge and a short of 3½ feet. So two boards per bed give me 10 beds. More on the raised beds when we start building.
Scaffold boards are definitely the way to go for raised beds . I started out using sarking boards many years ago , then moved on to decking boards . Settled on scaffold boards (new , unbanded) from Ebay some time ago and now wouldn`t use anything else .Should “last me out” and will work out much cheaper in the long run.
i would not use schaffolding boards for raised beds as they are cheap softwood and not tanalised. i did and even soaked in creasote they had all rotted away in 3 years. the 2×12 treated gravel boards have lasted 8 years and still ok.