When you run out of room in the garden.... Build a bed!

For the first time in forever, we had a Bank holiday and the sun came out. Usually, these days off work, come with awful weather and are spent stuck indoors.

If you've been reading some of my previous posts, you'll have noticed that I love my garden and more specifically my little vegetable patch.

My dreams of becoming self sufficient and being able to produce a year-round food source for my little family has quickly outgrown my small patch at the bottom of the garden.

So how do I rectify this:

Well first of all, I get 1/2pint and the dog to find the perfect spot in the "secret garden" to build the new planter.

The "secret garden" is just the bit of the garden that I fenced off to stop 1/2pint and the dog getting down to the river and woodland. Basically becoming a dumping ground for all my tools and junk. I did put steps down to the river and some times we (me and the boy) just love to spend hours throwing stones in the river.

Being an ex-carpenter, I quickly assembled the hardwood frame. I've reused some decking boards I had left over from a job I did, I NEVER chuck anything out.....

(ohh yeah, and spiderman made an appearance)

I levelled it and squared it off to the block shed (I built). The planter may only be 12" high, but it's always best to get things level at the beginning.

• TOP TIP - When building a raised bed/planter put down some cardboard. It's porous, to allow drainage, but acts as a great method of suppressing weed growth.

Once you've got your cardboard-weed-barrier down, it's important to add some nutrients to help kick start and maintain a healthy soil.

• TOP TIP - If like me you know you're going to be building a raised bed/planter keep old grass cuttings.

Ive been collecting for several weeks and I've had mine in sealed plastic bags. They've already started to compost down.

Ive added the grass cuttings from yesterday, this just makes it look nicer (more green).

Now although I didn't take a picture of the next bit, you can also chuck on old food waste, the worms will love it. So there now

• old tea bags
• fruit peelings (bananas)
• egg shells
• shredded cereal boxes

Ive also added a few leaves I saved from last autumn. Brown compost materials(leaves/twigs) are needed to balance out the greens(plants/grass), just remember the smaller the pieces the faster they compost.

The more organic materials you can add at this stage, the less expense you'll need to outlay for compost/top soil to fill it. I'll go out after work tonight to see if I can find any "end of summer" bargains and pick up a few bags of multipurpose compost.

Winter is coming..... So it's time to get your next set of vegetables in - Garlic, onions, some carrots and winter salads.

Hoping to get these in this weekend coming. Stay tuned to see how I get on!