We have finally started construction on the two earth-bag garden beds we want to have tamped and ready for the Permablitz! It is exciting to see the plans starting to take shape in front of us, but oh there is so much to do before the day!
The first sight that meets your smarting eyes at most Permablitzes is a mound of compost so tall that if you were unfortunate enough to have it dumped over your head you would be lucky to have your nose in daylight. The main task for the day is moving this pile shovel after shovel and barrow after barrow from its current location to another one some metres away. Even those with the sunniest outlooks can find this a little uninspiring.
We were determined that our Permablitz would involve a lot more variety, some interesting skills to learn and some fun, less back breaking jobs like rendering earth bag walls and planting out garden beds. Unfortunately for people to render and plant they need some of the garden beds made before the day. That is how we, and our poor dear housemates, have found ourselves shovels in hands and wheelbarrows full for the last few weeks. Hopefully their sunny outlooks are not as overcast as the weather forecast for Sunday. Hold off on the rain dances please.
2 Comments
Hello again Jo,
I’ve looked around but couldn’t find out how to waterproof these structures to make them safe to plant in without them crumbling with all the moisture…
A client of mine is interested in these for garden beds and I love the idea but don’t know what kind of render to use to weather proof… Do you have any tips? 🙂
Loving your work as always xx
Annelies
Hi Annelies, if you cover the plastic with soil on the garden bed side and render the exposed edge so uv light does degrade the plastic then they are very durable. We found the render requires a little cement added so it doesn’t wear away on the rain. Also don’t make it too thick on edges as it can be knocked off with wheel barrows. Circular gardens without sharp corners are ideal.