25th day on the plot - hoe, hoe, hoe

Weather: 5 degrees, bitterly cold NW wind.

Back up at the plot, after just over a month away. I spent an hour and a half giving a really thorough hoe to my two cleared lower sections...

The plot rents are now due, too. £30 a year for these three sections and half of the top "garden" bit. Where I've found found four nice patches of early rhubarb coming through already...

My first real crop! I've emptied two black buckets of their rainwater and placed them (with brick on top) over the most vigorous rhubarb, to "force" some early sticks. I'll need to carefully weed a circle around each patch at some point, or they'll get swamped again.

Not sure if I should get a rope and tie back the currants up at the back of the plot's top "garden", or prune them right back. They were racing away from the hedge until I cut it back, and have grown all lopsided. I'll have to consult a gardening book on how and when to cut currants — I'm thinking it might be too near the Spring to do it now.

Got a nice crop of mushrooms on the small tree that's growing up the side of the shed. Possibly edible, I think most bracket fungi are, but I'm not going to risk it...

And some lovely lichens on the apple tree tips, showing how clean the air is up here...

That'll probably be it at the plot for another week — as the weather looks set to be foul over the weekend and into next week, plus a return to slight frosts.

Next up is sorting out a seed order, in about a week, when I should have enough in the PayPal to justify spending £20 of it.