Last week on the alloment

It was overcast and breezy when the team were on the allotment last Thursday, but still mild for the first September session.
The FEDAGA/Caley “Grow and Show Together” event was uppermost in their minds. Most of the day was spent digging, pulling and picking for it. Potential entries were gathered together, debated pros and cons of various groupings, and a masterplan hatched for presenting on the day. In the end, the spread was quite wide – kestrel potatoes; Discovery apples: Lanes Prince Albert cookers; blueberries; beans of all kinds; onions; kale and marrows. Alongside Show prep, they did manage some weeding of paths and around the blueberries plus yet another picking of the never-ending sweet peas.

The Big Day arrived… Lovely to walk into the Show marquee to be met by rows of beautifully presented vegetables, fruit and flowers, preserves and home baking – a real illustration of the productivity of Edinburgh’s allotments and gardens, despite tricky weather conditions this year.
And the team came up trumps! First for the tatties, which they are very proud of, and some seconds and thirds for Discovery apples, onions, beans, kale and marrows. In the end, all the deliberations bore fruit!

Thanks to everyone who took part, both in pulling the show together and for entering such a wide range of produce. If you visited and were inspired, please take part next year. It’s a great family to be part of.

Jobs for next week: try and keep up with harvesting beans, courgettes and apples; weed empty beds, ready for a sowing of green manure; prepare for The Caley’s next Workshop on the 19th of Sept “Preparing for Autumn and Winter” which will cover areas such as looking after the soil, composting, caring for winter crops and tool maintenance.