When we first started allotment gardening Helen and I were given an old bath. We weren't quite sure what to do with it but we soon realised that if you had an allotment you also had an old bath. People grew things in them, used them to collect rain water or made them into ponds. Some allotment people had more than one bath-- the height of luxury! For about three years our bath was left lying at the back of the polytunnel on plot 10b amongst the weeds and brambles doing nothing. We weren't sure if we had room for it anywhere, and I did wonder if we really needed it. I considered getting rid of it--giving it to another allotment person. But I looked around at the other allotments and saw that there didn't seem to be any allotment which didn't have a bath being put to good use. It was obviously the thing to do, it would be wasteful to get rid of it.
Last year we noticed our next door allotment neighbour had the most amazing strawberries growing in his bath. We would love to have strawberries like that. So we decided this was to be the year of the bath and we really must grow something in it. We moved the bath to plot 8 and after much thought a suitable place was found for it at the back of the growhouse. A lot of work was required to get it in place because it had to fit in amongst the new drainage system which my husband was working on and this seemed to be the best place to put it.
Finally last weekend it was there in place and I could fill it with compost and plant it up with strawberries. I have to say it looks really good and I am so looking forward to having some really juicy strawberries this year.
