After a little break in Yorkshire, we came back to an explosion of growth! We hadn’t even been gone a week. We are now starting to harvest the lettuce and courgettes, the potatoes are flowering so they will be ready to harvest in the next couple of weeks and the beans have grown so much that the tepees have now been extended into an archway. We also have a plethora of blackberries, some of which have already been made into an apple and blackberry crumble. The rest will probably become jams.

The shed has finally been painted! It has needed two coats to cover the red it was previously painted but it has come out better than expected. In the end we chose Cuprinol Shades: Summer Damson. To prepare the shed we quickly sanded over any rough parts of the shed and brushed it over with a hard fibre brush to remove any dirt, we also did the latter between coats.

Thomas built a workbench to fit inside of the shed with a second level for drawers. It is made out of pallet wood and re-purposed shelves. It has been stained as well, just to marry it all together. There is enough space for 7-8 boxes on the second level, as well as plenty of storage space underneath. He’s done an amazing job – a new career path perhaps?

My Grandad also made a little potting table for me, isn’t it great? The top can be removed so it is easier to move around. This will be used outside, but I am not sure if it will be permanently fixed to the outer wall.

Thomas also turned the wall into a fixture for our tools. He made a wooden trough to store the tools in (which also covers some of the rotten wood) and then fixed a few brackets on the wall to keep the tools in place. It certainly keeps the shed a lot tidier!

I have started to dig the other side, after weeks of it being on the “To Do” list. No carrots for us this year, but I am determined to get some beetroot in! I’m not sure what will be planted in the other plots, it will probably end up being potatoes, lettuce and tomato plants just to get the ground ready for next year.