Doin' Dirt

The sky was looking ominous as Kash and Sevan met Madhan and Steph at Bixley Allotments this afternoon. They were prepared to get their hands dirty in the soil, so met the task owner, Mani, and got straight to work. The first job of the day was to weed the beetroot and potato beds. Madhan grabbed the only hoe and the others got to work with hand spades.

There were big changes to the allotment since Sevan last visited 2 months ago, with many of the plants, including the beetroots, having gone from saplings to having fruit and vegetables that were ready to eat.

When weeding the first beds was mostly complete, Madiha arrived and started to weed the corn bed with Steph, while Madhan prepared a new area for seeds to be planted. Regular volunteers, Shaz and Julia also arrived to help out.

Help Me Out

Mani asked for a volunteer to go with him to the garden centre to stock up on supplies. Sevan said that he'd help, so they jumped in Mani's car. As they left the allotment, Sevan pulled the entrance gate shut, leaving it unlocked.

They sped around Homebase, picking up compost, some tools and seeds that could be planted in the coming weeks. As they exited to load up Mani's car, they saw that the heavens had finally opened. It was absolutely pelting down with rain... 🌧️🌧️🌧️

Is Anyone Out There

...which caught everyone at the allotment, Kash, Madiha, Madhan, Steph, Shaz and Julia by surprise. They looked for somewhere to stay dry and tried the tool shed... which was full of tools and only had room for one person. Plan B was to run to the mini polytunnel, which mercifully was big enough for everyone and importantly, watertight ⛺.

Kash had had the presence of mind to move the produce and our own bags into the tool shed to prevent it from getting drenched.

Once everyone was in the polytunnel, Sevan received messages that worried him 💬:

We're locked 😂
We don't have the key

Those at the allotments had assumed that the gate was being locked as each allotment holder entered and left.

Sevan thought:

Hmm... 🤔, the gate was unlocked earlier. That's unfortunate.
Well, Mani and I can't help until we arrive back at the allotments.

Back At Your Door

Sevan and Mani arrived back to find the gate open and unlocked, with Madiha escaping from the puddle covered allotments. Madhan and Steph had already left, leaving only Kash, Shaz and Julia back at the tool shed.

Those who had lived through the Great Polytunnel Huddle shared their survival stories. The tool shed was still standing when they emerged and the day's harvest was still there too. As the harvest was indoors, the rain hadn't washed the mud off, but at least the food hadn't floated away into the nearby canal.

As a community allotment, the spoils of the day were shared amongst those who had volunteered, so we each took home a share of potatoes, beetroots, spinach, plums and berries, plus a marrow big enough to feed 5 people, maybe even 5 families! 😋

Hopefully, next time the weather won't scare volunteers the off early and everyone will have a share of the fruits (or vegs!) of their work at the allotment.