Exercising The Rotary Soil Sieve

Three hours on the plot Sunday morning clearing weeds from buckets of soil and then using the rotary soil sieve to remove the large stones to put a first layer of topsoil on top of the weathered woodchip in the boundary boarder beds.

25mm - 50mm or more in each section of the bed working from both ends towards the middle, on top of the woodchips.

Just a thin sprinkle on the middle boundary beds at the moment, with a stack of soil to process behind. The top flower buckets are empty with no drainage holes and there to catch any rain so the soil is dry when I sieve it at a future visit.

A stack of square flower buckets with soil that needs to be processed in front of the Plot 1 Dalek Army. These buckets have been knocking around way too long. The objective is to have the plot super tidy for kick off and direct sowing at the end of March/April. And clearing these buckets will enable me to sort out the corner and get the Greenhouse climbing frame in.

Wide angle panorama from the main path just in from the gate.

Corner shot of plot 1 looking up towards plot 1A. I did give the boundary bed a sprinkle of coffee grounds to try and put off the foxes from doing the Watusi* on it and also put off any slugs and snails from getting in there and laying eggs, plus it will also act as a fertiliser.

D.T.Brown Rhubarb Livingstone   was ordered for the plot 1 allotment in 2021. The growth during the first year was astounding although due to the weather some stalks did go to seed and had to be chopped off. 

By 2022 all three of the plants were in their own beds, when I received the plants, I only had two beds ready, and the third plant was squatting in Rhubarb Bed 1 for a while until I managed to get the third rhubarb bed ready. One does not take any stalks in the first year of growth and the goodness goes back into the plant and helps it establish.  

In 2022 I have taken about 40% of the stalks late in the season from two of the three plants and have made a number of Rhubarb crumbles, and I have to say I didn't have to add much sugar, as Rhubarb Livingstone is succulent and delicious and well worth the waiting until the second year before harvesting.  

In 2023 without the need of forcing one of the 3 plants to provide an early harvest, I will have Rhubarb between March and October.

The rub on this is that it was my wife who passed away in January who really loved Rhubarb, my fear now is that I may have way too much of it. I may have to consider making Rhubarb wine, or seeing how many friend and neighbours like Rhubarb. 

* The Watusi /wɑːtuːsi/ is a solo dance that enjoyed brief popularity during the early 1960s. It was one of the most popular dance crazes of the 1960s in the United States. "Watusi" is a former name for the Tutsi people of Africa, whose traditions include spectacular dances.