Raising Paths; or, The Levelling is Not Done Yet


Here's the reason I've turned my attention from the riddling to the chopping of sticks. That "structure" on the left of this photo is the temporary tool store. When I demolished and burned the old shed, I used some of the materials I salvaged therefrom to build this on top of a rediscovered path, the idea being to keep the tools out of the rain, more or less, until the shed's built.

But now I'm clearing the SW corner to build another "structure" to keep the tools out of the rain, (and me out of the rain, come to that, when showers strike). What I've learned is, building a 7ft horizontal shelter with access at both ends was not the best idea vis-a-vis storing tools.

They all lie on top of each other, get tangled, and removing them involves much undignified crouching and swearing. So the new structure will be vertical, 7ft high by about 5ft wide and 3ft deep. Enough for the tools and me, standing. So long as it doesn't let in the rain, it will be an improvement on the old shed. I might even improvise some means of collecting water. When the proper shed's built, I will plant that corner with hedge plants. Brambles, probably.

A more fundamental reason though relates to the redicovered path I've built the temporary tool store on. The plot slopes from south to north, right to left on the photo. See the old greenhouse area to the right, with the greenhouse's central path, (which will be the poly-tunnel path)? But the rediscovered path to the left hand side is between 1 spit & 1 ft lower.

And then I wake up one morning with a splendid idea: raise that path (so that it's more-or-less level with the greenhouse/poly-tunnel one), and the central path... and use the shitty glass-filled soil from no.5 bed, the former midden area, to do it. I can replace that soil in no.5 bed with the couple of tons of riddled earth currently sitting, homeless, on no.1 bed. Raising the paths generally will make space in all the beds for the 5 tons (!) of manure I've now got.

It will mean that the south-north slope is more even. Not sure how I feel about that, as I quite like its quirkiness.

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