Finally the weather has been good enough for me to kick on with the next project in the garden! I started the foundations of the clay oven walls last year, but had to wait for the spring so I could use the lime render I had spare to build the walls.

I calculated the blocks needed and got a delivery from the local merchants. I would have rather used some natural stone, but with the space I wanted to keep underneath the oven for wood, and the limited stone I had in the garden, I went for the more engineered solution.

Once the walls were on the final course, I spaced the blocks to fit in the beams. The overhang on the right is going to be a space for plates & other things when cooking.

The cover was 18mm structural ply which I had spare from my roofing last year. I knew if it was strong enough for my green roof, it would be fine for the clay oven! Unfortunately, all I had was offcuts, so I didn’t quite cover it all in one go!

Small scrap bit to complete the plinth. This was then covered with waterproof membrane to ensure the wood stays dry in the worst of the weather!

The brick square shows where the oven will be. On the right will be a herringbone pattern of bricks for the plates and cutlery when cooking. I’m currently trying to figure out how to hold these bricks all in place!

One day down, hopefully I’ll be working on the rest of the platform by the end of the week!