I’ve got that sinking feeling, ohhh ahhh that sinking feeling (2010)

NEWS FLASH:  my blogs posts are currently 2-3 weeks behind when they actually occur but this one could not wait for it to be in sequence. 

After the wettest December day in Adelaide for 90 years and the wettest December on record (and we are only up to the 8th) I woke to a nice sunny Wednesday morning to find my growing bench on a lean.  It looked a bit like the leaning tower of Pisa.  (Editor: except it is a table not a tower so it is not the right shape and much smaller than a multi story building, but you get the idea.)

Luckily (?) all six legs of my bench had sunk into the ground, however the south western end had sunk the most.  The below picture (click image to view larger) shows the table leaning.  The lean looked much worse in person but it gives you an idea of what was happening.

The leaning growing bench

The bench was on a definite lean.  Looking at the bench, I decided that as the weather forecast was for no more rain for the rest of the day, it should be ok until I returned home from work.  I was fairly confident that none of the boxes would slide off the bench. 

When I returned home from work, I was pleased to find that all of my boxes were still on the table.  I scoured the back yard looking for some old bricks and stuck some masking tape around the leg that was furthest in the ground.  I then started lifting.  Not a good move when there are boxes of heavy wet soil on the table.  As the table was way too heavy to lift up, I decided to take the boxes off the table to lighten the load.  (Editor: Duhh why did you not do that in the first place.)

I was then able to pick up one end of the table and kick the bricks under the legs.  I then repeated the lift and kick at the other end.  When I tried to place the bricks under the middle legs, the whole table fell off the bricks.  So I started again.  Now with the bricks securely under each of the legs of the table it was much sturdier.  I then returned the boxes of tubes and other plants back onto the table.

Looking at the masking tape on the leg I was surprised it was quite high off the ground.  When I got the tape measure, I was even more surprised.  The leg had sunk 18.5cm into the ground.  Yes you read correctly 18.5cm.  wow I was shocked, no wonder my bench was on such a lean.  I did not measure the other legs but I know the others were not buried so deep.  The below picture (click image to view larger) shows the before and after for the leg with the tape on it.

Before and After

So here is another picture I did not think I was ever going to take.  Under my bench showing the legs propped up by bricks. 

The propped up legs

The legs are made from 25mm square tubing and they were sitting on the ground.  Last year I remember at the end of the season it has sunk about 10mm in the ground from the weight of the boxes but this was ridiculous.  The table had only been in its position for about a month.  I think it was a combination of a few very very wet days and softer ground in this years bench location on the other side of the yard (see previous blog post Location, Location, Location and The Shade Structure Saga 2010).

Until next time.  Happy Growing, Cheers Simon.

Location, Location, Location and The Shade Structure Saga 2010

This post is about the positioning my growing bench and my shadecloth.

Location, Location, Location
Now that I have picked up my supplies I needed to work out where I was going to grow my plants this year.  The Trees for Life instruction booklet says you need a location with at least 8 hours of sunlight.  Last year I grew my plants on the western side of the backyard and they were partially shaded by the shed in the late afternoon.  This year I will try growing my plants on the eastern side of the yard.

The new location will mean the plants will get more of the hot afternoon sun.  Hopefully they will be ok.  The average daily maximum temperature for Adelaide in January and February is around 29C degrees.  When we get a heat wave it can be over 35C for over a week and still over 30C when the sun is setting.  The afternoon sun can still have quite a bite.  In the wild the plants grow in harsh conditions so they should be ok because the sides of the tubes are not exposed to the sun and the styrofoam boxes act as insulation. 

As per last year I will be growing my plants on an old trestle table we had lying round the back yard.  It is about 1m wide and 3m long.  We had an old garden seat and table that I pulled apart a few years ago with the intention of sanding it back and applying a coat of varnish and then putting it back together again.  The wooden slats (still in original condition) fit perfectly across the 1m width of the trestle table with a small overhang on each end.  The table is also long enough so that I can set up one half with shade and the other half in the sun.

Grower Bench showing the north end in full sun and the south end with shade

Shade Structure Saga
My plants need to be in the shade (under 50% shadecloth) until they develop their second batch of leaves.  Last year I just draped some shadecloth over some garden stakes but this year I thought I would get fancier.

Shade Structure attempt 1 - I attempted to make a shade structure out of 19mm plastic poly pipe (normally used for garden irrigation).  We had spare poly pipe lying around, as well as some old T pieces and corners for the connections.  I made a rectangle 1.5m by 1m (half the size of my table).  I then attached the shadecloth to the poly pipe rectangle using twisty tie (the green plastic with thin wire in the middle).  I then attached my structure to some upright poles.  Unfortunately this was not as sturdy as I would have liked so the next day I pulled it apart.

Shade Structure attempt 2 – after seeing a shade structure on Scarecrow’s blog.  I decided to try my version of her shade structures.  She uses star droppers and 50mm plastic pipe to create large arches to attach shadecloth to.  I however attempted to make mine out of my used 19mm pipe.  I made my arches and attached my shadecloth.  It looked good for the first day then it started to fall over as the skinny pipe I used was not rigid enough (the strong wind overnight did not help).  By day 3 it was falling over so, it too was pulled apart.

Shade Structure attempt 3 – Ok so I have reverted back to what I did last year.  4 wooden tomato stakes attached to the trestle table legs with wire and the shade cloth draped over the top.  I have added a few screws to the tops of the stakes and used twisty tie wire to attach the shadecloth.  Winding the twisty wire between the holes in the shadecloth and the screws.  The shadecloth hangs down on the North and West sides of the structure to try to keep some of the hot midday and afternoon sun off the boxes near the edge.

Grower bench showing the shade structure

So as usual the K.I.S.S. principle applies again.  Keep It Simple Stupid.  Try not to get too fancy and you should be ok.
Cheers Simon