Actually, what I learned was how to sieve compost. At the allotments, there are compost piles and apparently one of them has matured into some really nice black earth. But it's black earth filled with twigs and rocks and the occasional plastic cup lid (we're in a park, after all). It turns out that we have a big mesh-bottomed container that fits nicely over the wheelbarrow and all you have to do is pitchfork compost into the sieve, shake it around, and suddenly the wheelbarrow has all of this lovely soil for you.
I was (sternly) informed to put it on top, not to work it in to the soil. Useful, because I would have worked it in for sure.
In truth, the best thing about it was that I got help from another gardener (quite forcefully ... she came over and hijacked me from what I was doing to get another barrow full before she left) and then I helped someone else when she came to get the barrow from me.
I planted 2 tomatoes. They were free. This is a shock to learn, but the public gardens has lots of extra plants and they want good homes for them! Wish fulfilment time! One of the more active gardeners produced a largish number of tomatoes (I didn't even know that they had tomatoes in the public gardens) and said we should all take some. The gardener says she'll share her public gardens contact info (she says he's called Dave) so the rest of us can maybe score some pretty flowers or something.
The tomatoes won't be able to produce fruit. The plot doesn't get a lot of light and the city doesn't get a lot of hot summer. But they were free! And ya gotta try sometimes anyway. So, I have put one tomato between the onions and the potatoes and anther between the potatoes and the walking trench. I dutifully covered them with compost, but I totally forgot to water them, so they are probably done for right out of the starting gate. What an idiot. What an inconsistent gardener!
I also brought home some chives and strawberries, which I am planning to put into the back this afternoon.
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