My
knowledge and skills are being passed around recently and working
wonders.
I
have been taking time out from constructing beehives and have been
fortunate enough to be working from the newly refurbished and
wonderful setting of Llanyrafon Manor Rural Heritage Centre, also known as Llanyrafon Farm by some in Cwmbran, http://www.llanyrafonmanor.org/ (lucky for some huh).
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| The work site |
After
submitting a competitive tender to Torfaen “Community Foodie”
(www.facebook.com/CommunityFoodie
a Rural Development programme initiative which encourages community
groups to grow their own food).
Glastonbees won the order for
construction / installation of 11 large raised beds to go in the
Kitchen Garden within the Manor grounds. A community group will be
planting up and maintaining these raised beds of which I cannot wait
to see, it will be an impressive sight.
So
it began with the arrival of the materials required and the hottest
week on record (I believe so anyway), to construct and install these
wooden giants.
To
complete Phase 1 it needed: 388 metres worth of timber, 600 screws,
440 cuts, 3 volunteers and a bottle of after sun (an after thought).
With the time constraints that were imposed on the job, it was
completed, hoorah...
To
complete Phase 2 it needed: 5 wheelbarrows, 2 shovels, 3 spades, 1
rake, 1 fork, 3 gazebos, waterproof clothing, approximately 36 tonnes
of topsoil, yes you did read that right and a total of 15 volunteers
to help in transporting the 36 tonnes of topsoil into the raised
beds.
In addition to the raised beds I was asked to produce a sign for each raised bed. Nearby I managed to find some branches which had been cut down, so they got turned into the signs which can be found below. To produce the signs that I envisaged though, I needed to build a Pantograph and learn how to use it
In
total there was 272.5 hours worked between everyone involved, I must
point out that the volunteers were amazing. Thank you all so very
much to all that were involved for your hard work and banter that was
required to complete the work in record time. The job would not have
been completed on time, if it were not for the help of these
wonderful people.
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| Signs were needed for all 11 Raised Beds |
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| Wonderful to see the first salad crops on their way |
Labels: Carpentry, Community Food Growing, Community Foodie, Food, Grow your own, Raised Beds, Signs
To
complete Phase 2 it needed: 5 wheelbarrows, 2 shovels, 3 spades, 1
rake, 1 fork, 3 gazebos, waterproof clothing, approximately 36 tonnes
of topsoil, yes you did read that right and a total of 15 volunteers
to help in transporting the 36 tonnes of topsoil into the raised
beds.
