Assembling the Good Neighbours Greenhouse

On a cold damp Friday morning in March (08-03-13) the Chorlton Good Neighbours gardening group made a start on assembling the newly purchased B&Q 10' x 8' greenhouse 

John, our resident DIY supremo had already made a wooden template for the base, so today was about levelling the ground, digging a trench, ramming the earth flat, putting coarse grit and sand down and then laying & mortaring the breeze blocks. Finally the aluminium base was assembled and put on top of the breeze blocks

The next day, Saturday 9th March 2013, saw us start on the next stage of assembling the greenhouse . It was another cold and damp day. The base had been constructed the day before. The ground had been levelled and a trench had been dug out for the breeze block base.  We had pummeled the earth solid and flat using a rammer, then we laid a load of sandy gravel. John then put the breeze blocks in position and mortared in between the joints. Meanwhile the aluminium base had been assembled and we put in place on top of the breeze blocks and left it overnight to set.

On Saturday morning we started assembling the aluminium greenhouse frame, starting with the rear gable. Again, John took the lead and after finding the relevant struts and nuts, bolts and fixing plates we eventually managed to complete the rear side of the greenhouse. By then we were all so cold (especially our fingers from working with nuts and bolts on the cold aluminium) , that we called it a day. Next step, the front panel and door!

Gardening Club on Ice

At a time when most animals are hibernating and most plants lying dormant we have had an unusually productive time at the Gardening Club.

In our first week back after Christmas we received a large consignment of manure - a very rich if odorous present! This is a good time to feed the soil for the growing season to come and this mix of chicken and horse manure will help do the job. As usual we had to use our combined strength and smarts to get the massive bag of manure through the narrow gate way!

The next week, snow and ice fell on the garden like a white sparkling cloak and outdoor work was put on ice.

However these quiet times are perfect for taking time to reflect and plan so we had a meeting to discuss what we would like to grow on the plot this year and fuelled ourselves with plenty of tea and cake. A fan of colours and visuals I brought a large piece of paper to roughly draw out our plot and write down our ideas, concerns and favoured fruit, flowers and veggies. As ever I was impressed by the wealth of knowledge and the enthusiasm that we have in this group of ours.

The next week the ground was still rock solid and the temperatures bitter cold so we got on with some indoor preparations; chitting potatoes, making plant labels out of old milk cartons and making seed pots from newspaper (see video below for Paul's tutorial). Again we discussed our plans for the garden, especially what type of greenhouse we want to install and where.

Our Gardening Sessions are 10-12.30 every Friday. If you would like to find out more contact us on 0161-881-2925 or come along to one of our sessions at St Ninian's Church, Egerton Road South and have a look for yourself. 

Carolyn O'Hanlon

Older Men Development Worker

2012 Garden Produce for Sale

Even at our first attempt the Chorlton Good Neighbours garden was productive.
Here Carolyn is arranging potatoes and collecting Kale and other goods for sale at one of the Thursday Coffee Mornings.

Baking Potatoes and Planting Bulbs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3Vf83BOaIc

On a lovely crisp and sunny December day (7-12-12) in the Good Neighbours garden, we lit a fire, baked some potatoes cleared up some rubbish and planted some plants and bulbs. We have been really luck with the weather on our Friday morning gardening sessions ....so far