France in Focus

I made this a few years ago & it's still holding up.
I cut some old corrugated sheets down the middle, hammered some timber into the ground & screwed the sheets to it.

I made mine out of parpaing ( building blocks) They are strong and have the. Advantage of providing a seat when weeding etc. I did a concrete foundation then two courses of blocks

rabbit wrote: ↑Sat Apr 15, 2023 11:45 am I made mine out of parpaing ( building blocks) They are strong and have the. Advantage of providing a seat when weeding etc. I did a concrete foundation then two courses of blocks

Blimey! most french house aren't built that strong.
Mine took me a couple of hours to make & cost nothing.

Similar to you L Austin France but I folded the corrugated sheets in half down their length for extra strength. My husband was going to build raised beds for me from parpaing but didn't manage to drag himself out of his workshop in time so I bypassed him He says he won't do things unless they can be done properly so not much happens

Excellent setup, that will keep the mole rats out.

Polarengineer wrote: ↑Sat Apr 15, 2023 2:17 pm Excellent setup, that will keep the mole rats out.

Easily moved if needed.
I've built this one quite close to the horsey dung heap so the well rotted manure is easily shoveled into it.
Looking at the size of the heap it seems another bed could soon be the cards. Fortunately I've plenty of old 'crinkly tin' following the demolition/re-roofing of the old buildings I inherited with this house.

Sounds like you have a great pumpkin and squash bed in the offing.

niemeyjt wrote: ↑Sat Apr 15, 2023 4:04 pm Sounds like you have a great pumpkin and squash bed in the offing.

Sure have
We plant 'em in the oldest part of the dung heap where it's pretty much just great compost & the things run riot.
Trouble is we end up with shed loads of the things but,other than freeezing, have never found a way of conserving them long term in their natural state.

They should last about a year, LAF, if they're ripe and allowed to harden off a bit in the sun, then stored cool, dry and fairly dark. Butternut squashes are the best for storing, potimarrons the least good keepers.

Quiksilver wrote: ↑Sat Apr 15, 2023 10:41 pm They should last about a year, LAF, if they're ripe and allowed to harden off a bit in the sun, then stored cool, dry and fairly dark. Butternut squashes are the best for storing, potimarrons the least good keepers.

Thanks for that. It's probably the reason.
My missus is the gardener & grows potimarrons which, although stored well, always end up with mould & have to be chucked.
She's away at the mo. but I'll certainly give her the news when she returns.