Dismantling the broken greenhouse...after we find it

When we took on our allotment 22, there was a smashed greenhouse at one end, near the entrance. We made a brief attempt to clear it last year but we had so many other tasks to do that this one kind of fell by the wayside. We finally set aside a whole day to work on this area last week and managed to not only dismantle the metal frame and clear up lots of smashed glass, but also unearth a pretty sturdy looking brick base.

The marestail (OBVIOUSLY) had taken over the whole area, along with long grasses, brambles and bindweed. For want of a more refined technique, we simply hacked away at the weeds with a pair of garden shears. This at least allowed us to see bits of the greenhouse frame poking out from the greenery. We worked section by section, trying to take apart the frame as we came across new parts. The metal was pretty twisted in places and a lot of the bolts and screws were no longer usable so we ended up pulling most of it apart rather than using any tools.

There's a greenhouse under there somewhere...

It took most of the day to clear the greenhouse and part of the surrounding area but it's made a huge difference. Now when you're working on the plot, you can look up and see other plots and people walking by rather than just a 5-foot high wall of marestail!

Partway through

Unearthing parts of the greenhouse frame...

...and lots of old gloves, trays and rusty tools

We have a greenhouse base!

We've managed to get up most of the glass and that will be heading to the tip. As for the frame, we're going to keep hold of that until there's another scrap metal collection on the site. 

This weekend will involve clearing more of the land around allotment 22 and possibly even laying our first section of path! We're planning on using heavy duty weed membrane with woodchip on top. Handily, the council have just dumped a pile of woodchip inside the site entrance so we're hoping there's still lots there tomorrow. The problem with working full-time when half of the other plotholders are retired is that they're there every day in the week so we miss out on things like free woodchip as it's all gone by the time we get there!