Roofgardening 2018 - Reach for the Sky

[roofgardener]

And here we are again.
And THIS year, I'm going to do some gardening ! No more sciatica, no more Iritis, and things seem to have settled down with the Landlady.

The Polytunnel is falling to pieces, but I think it will last another season.

I have many plans, but.... just for a giggle... I thought I'd try something new this year.

I'm going to start with new seedstock, rather than my 4-year old thingies from Wilko's.

And I'm going to get them ALL from Thompson and Morgan

Let the festivities begin

[ladybird]

Ah don`t throw out your old seeds roofy those poor little seeds are relying on you to give them birth , can you just abandon them ?

[SueA]

Bet you won't be able to resist buying some extra seeds if you go into Wilko's though Roofy!

[grindle]

sounds exciting stuff, glad to hear things have calmed down for you and you can look forward to a good growing season

[roofgardener]

Well, if anyone has a use for lots of packets (some opened) of really old seeds, drop me a PM, and I'll be glad to post them to you.

[SueA]

ladybird did you hear that? She runs the home for waif & stray seeds roofgardener !

[vc]

Ha ha roofgardener.  All sounds good to me.  
I'm feeling positive about things too so hope everyone has good things in 2018 

[ladybird]

Thanks for offering your old seeds roofy.... er I`ll decline though have a lot of ageing seed myself to cope with . I have several pks ofstock seed from 2009 that still germinate every year Look forward to reading about all your antics in 2011

[Eli]

You're being very positive, that's good ! I will look forward to hearing how you get on

[roofgardener]

Well, I've started today. MY first job - as previously mentioned - is to bring the PolyMouldGrimeTunnel back into a useable - and more comfortable - state, so that I don't get discouraged from pottering by bad weather.

So.. the first stage of THAT was to empty (and discard) my 4-drawer plastic sock drawer thingy that holds all my tools and accessories n' tha' . It has started to disintegrate under the UV light, and it is full of RUBBISH anyway.

So today I struck. My will was of ademite. I will ruthlessly discard the accumulated JUNK of 4 years. Rusty secateures, rotten mouldy ball of string, those useless screw-in plastic "drip funnels" to auto-water plantpots, which NEVER worked properly,

ooooh... a complete set of Hozelock hosepipe thingies... I'd better keep THEM....

An empty tube of glue. A big blob of glued-together screws and wooden sticks ( so THAT'S where all the glue went .).... OK.. I'll keep the mallet... and the cable-ties, and the spare wing-nuts (they hold the Polytunnel together).

Actually.... a lot of the stuff IS useful... perhaps I'm being a little hasty ? (starts putting useful stuff in cardboard box).

Hmm.. what's THIS ? Oh yes... an emergency SCRAM rod from Sellafield nuclear power station. Why on EARTH did I keep THAT ? Oh well.. I'll put it in the box for the time being... you never know.

RIGHT.. that's the drawer thingy emptied and discarded... now to start on the boxes under the Workbench.
Hmmm.... awwww.... fireworks from 2015.. that was a GOOD fireworks party.. but I ran out of fuse-wire to launch the last few.
Hmmm... they're thoroughly damp. But.. that's OK isn't it ?
No.. perhaps not.... BIN....

And thus it went. I even found the old electric heater, and it still WORKS.. hoorah.

(basks briefly in the flow of warm air).

Right.. that's enough for THIS session. Time for a cuppa tea.

bring bring... bring bring
Oh.. the RoofPhone is going.. wonder who THAT could be.

Hello... Roofgarden.. who's calling ?
Sellafield Nuclear power station ? Oh... well.. how can I help ?
You have ? What ... ALL of them ? And it's starting to glow ?
< looks in box >
This could be your lucky day !!

[grindle]

well you did make a start, onwards and upwards, it will be looking good by the time spring arrives. I found the plastic draws eventually broke up too, my best aquisition for the greenhouse is a disused metal filing cabinet, which isn't going to rot and keeps it all tidy.

[roofgardener]

Feb 12, 2018 5:03:50 GMT grindle said:

well you did make a start, onwards and upwards, it will be looking good by the time spring arrives. I found the plastic draws eventually broke up too, my best aquisition for the greenhouse is a disused metal filing cabinet, which isn't going to rot and keeps it all tidy.

The filing cabinet sounds like a great idea grindle. Presumably you've followed the Office Tradition of having a bottle of whisky hidden in a ledger book in the bottom drawer ?

For my part, I've got a small wooden twin-drawer thingy, and a whicker twin-drawer. I'm hoping that - by being more selective about my bits and bobs - they may suffice

On a lighter note - literally - isn't it getting light in the evening now ? It won't be long before I'll be able to garden after work

[grindle]

oh most definately roofie I'll be looking to replace my last plastic one eventually, so I keep an eye out at the recycle centre just in case, like the wooden one idea

[roofgardener]

Standby for a MOST important ANNOUNCEMENT

(just as soon as I've got the camera working again).

[roofgardener]

The End

BAH ! The wind has stripped the roof off my polytunnel. This is the second time in as many weeks. It's ripped and damaged. Anyway, it leaked, and the door zippers had all broken, so I couldn't close the door even BEFORE it got ripped and shredded even more.

All my precious tools and equipment and seeds n' tha are all piled up in the annexe area, getting wet and rotting away.
This is the END. I can't go on. No more roofgardening.

But wait.. what could this Mysterious Package be ? ------- > Could this be a new polytunnel roof, all wrapped up in a box ? Gosh.. I think it might JUST be, you know ?
Yaaaaaay.... the Return of the Polytunnel
	I've replaced the workbench surfaces with new wood, and wrapped them in plastic to keep them clean. It's all lovely and DRY, and the door zips closed, so no more drafts either. (you can click these pictures to see a bigger version)
	The tools are all back, hanging up
	The power grid has been replaced... so we now have lights....
	.. and lovely lovely HEAT...
	.. and water on tap... well.. in Butt, anyway...
	.. and even I.T.E. (In Tunnel Entertainment)

Actually, this polytunnel cover is even BETTER than the original !!

The original had a door at one end. This one has a door at BOTH ends.


So, once we are at the height of the British Summer, I can open BOTH doors..... and let the rain in at BOTH ends