CRoW (Conserve Reading on Wednesdays)
Wednesday, 17th April 2019
Five a Day Market Garden, Englefield ~ Building a raised bed

In May 2018 CROW had attempted to repair one of the site's raised beds but it had soon become obvious that the bed was beyond patching and needed to be replaced.

A site visit the Monday before the task found the bed already cleared of soil and .....

..... the new timber being delivered, cut to size .....

..... and neatly stacked .....

..... near the bed .....

..... at just the right height.

Wednesday morning and short work was made of demolishing the old bed and soon the new timbers where being moved into place.

Only the corner posts needed pointing allowing them to be driven in.

To improve strength and durability the bed was to be divided into three.

As each new bed was completed, the bottom and sides were lined before refilling with soil and a layer of manure.

With construction complete only the final bed needed filling, .....

..... a task soon complete with the aid of some nifty footwork.

Job done!

Each bed has since been further topped up with compost in preparation for the planting of French beans.

While the construction work proceeded, the composting area was being 'tidied' .....

..... allowing reuse of the best of the old timber as edging to stop spillage.

Elsewhere another tricky and time consuming task had been started. The garden has a problem with rabbits and whilst on three sides there is at least a low wall the railings on the fourth go to the ground allowing easy access for the furry fellows.

To resolve the problem wire netting was to be attached to the inside of the railings but doing this neatly and securely whilst negotiating the supporting struts and attempting to minimising damage to the adjacent border was no easy matter.

Concerns were raised that whilst this might rabbit proof the garden it would also become hedgehog proof. However surprising though it may seem, of all the creatures which have been found in the garden hedgehogs are not amongst them.

After a day's perseverance a excellent start had been made, .....

..... however a considerable length remains to be protected although those involved will no doubt be keen to share their new found skills on our return to complete the task.

Our thanks to all who participated, it was a great day's work.

Updated: Tuesday, 21st July 2020
Photographs: Alan Stevens; Wendy Tobitt