Time to start on the greenhouse!  I'd got the green light from the allotment committee to put one up and so now I was looking for something cheap and cheerful.  E-bay seemed to have a good selection of second hand ones, most of which were for the buyer to collect and dismantle, so I was sure I could get something for less than £60, it would just be a case of waiting until something in the north east turned up.  All the advice I'd read on the internet said to buy the biggest greenhouse you could afford, as you will always be able to use the extra space.  Structurally anything 10 foot or longer really needs a solid foundation, so I decided to go with Britain's most popular size - 8 x 6 foot.

Next step was to decide upon the type of base to use.  I'm not quite sure why I chose to make my own wooden base out of fence posts -  it certainly wasn't the cheapest option, as I could have bought paving stones for 50p on site.  It wasn't the least labour intensive, as I had to cut them to size, paint them, assemble them and level them.... and then nail on an extra post at one end when I realised I'd got my measurements wrong.  Nor was it a long-lasting solution, as the only space left on the plot was a damp boggy area that almost guaranteed that the whole thing would be rotten within 2 years.  But I went along with it anyway.

When making any foundation, make sure you know the exact measurements that it needs to be built to.  I would learn this lesson shortly...