Straw in, roses out; ubiquitous rhubarb

Am still here! When I do have some time in the evening I’ve been heading down the allotment, so the posting has been a bit sparse. However, a couple of things to note today and an obligatory picture of rhubarb.

Bought a bale of straw from Gorgie City Farm. 15 minutes later, we had manged to get it strapped into the bike trailer. It’s one of those things where it would be far quicker in a car (but I don’t have one) and I did get to have a chat with a couple of the farm workers in the interim, so I’m quite happy with the way it turned out.

straw bale in a bike trailer

Now I’ve got my strawberries protected by straw underneath and netting above, so I’m expecting a bumper crop.

Later this evening, my allotment neighbour gave me some roses that were blooming.

a posy of roses: white, pink and peach coloured

And here’s the haul of rhubarb from last week, all 4.4 kilos of it.

jam, rhubarb and sugar prepping for making more jam, and bags for the freezer

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Starting a no-dig bed

First time at the allotment this year on Sunday, and it was very cold. Too cold to dig (thankfully) but there were some signs of life: birdsong, and small shoots of the onions and garlic. Nothing from the broad beans yet.

Started to build a no-dig bed with the cardboard left over from presents. Took a full load on the bike…

Bike with trailer full of carboard

Cardboard left over from presents

… but that didn’t actually make a very large bed. Ironically, the evening after I did this, my partner decides to get rid of 2 square metres of cardboard, and today I notice that a local shop put a load of cardboard out for recycling.

First, the cardboard from family and friends; then a layer of manure from Gorgie City Farm; finally a liberal covering of leamould that the council drop in the Saughton Mains site. Now to wait for it to cook, and decide what I want to put in there.

Cardboard, manure and leafmould

The start of a no-dig bed

A helping hand is very welcome

I’m almost delirious with tiredness after spending the best part of today down the allotment. Add a vodka and Barr’s cola and I’m in serious danger of wobbling …