Crystal Palace.

The Victorians had the famouse botanical greenhouse called the Crystal Palace, now I have my own version of it. Although to look at it, you would think it was a cheep 'Snow Whites' glass coffin. This is how it came to be.

Even before I put the big Perspex sheet over my 6x2 Garden Connect plot last Sunday, I was told there was a good chance that it would be blown away and end up on someone else's plot. The author of 'The gardening adventures of Suffikboi' was one of the people who warned me and is also taking part in 'Garden Connect'. So to start with, I weighed it down with tubs of pebbles and stones hoping the would be enough. The next available day I had to make a more permanent solution was Thursday. For the next three days I had been making plans, thinking and rethinking ideas. I had bought from another plot holder some two metre lengths wood that had been pretreated. Each length cost me £1, a bargin. Wednesday night saw the worst storms to hit the Midlands in years, so I didn't hold out much hope for my Perspex. But I was in luck, not only had it stayed in place, the soil wasn't as waterlogged as the rest of my plot, even though there were no sides. Thursday morning I gathered all the tools I needed to build a basic cold frame. It didn't take too long to build and I am surprised how sturdy the frame is. The feet of the frame are also wedged into the soil at least six inches deep, so its not going anywhere soon. So here it is, along with the tools I use cordless drill and all. No electricity was used, the only power was me. The total cost was a staggering £2. Even the screws I used were reclaimed when I ripped out my old kitchen. I'm not trying to be all Eco friendly, I'm just cheap.

This is my cordless drill

On Sunday I will be fetching my potato seeds. As I've said in the past, I've never planted early potatoes, so I'll be asking lots of questions. Till next time and thanks for reading