It is time to clip and clean the strawbs...then add a bit of old cow manure for the coming year. There is a debate about this practice...pro and con; however, we do do it...and have excellent harvests each year. I wonder if those opposed to this practice live in a different climatic zone or have incorrect ground sorts...I just do not know. The first step is to remove most of the leaves. Next clean all the dead stems, leaves and debris from around the base of the plants Then scratch the soil loose and apply the manure...and work it in. That's it. Keep watering them regularly through the rest of the season and watch for the new, fresh leaves to appear. If they are tardy, then a very, very light sprinkling of blood meal crumbs can be given. Here are a couple of foto's of half of the job done: The bride was doing this task when her back went out a few days ago. I finished the other bed and she is already almost back to normal. What a blessing, as we are already making plans to pull down the bean racks and planting Phacelia (a green manure) in their places. Tonight we will have a leek dish--a sort of stir-fry with our own veg. She's working on that now...I have to go now and put the rice in the bed to finish cooking.
Thanks CAROLYN and ISLANDLIFE.--Things are going well for those strawbs. We timed it good again this year, as we are getting plenty of rain now.
Mart: --Bring plenty of lightly salted water to a boil (at least 6x as much as the rice you want to boil). --Add rice, cook 8 mins without lid, stirring every now and then. --Drain water off in colander or sieve, place back in the pot...lid on and wrap in towels or newspapers --Place in bed under covers and/or pillows for 15 mins. --Take out and remove lid...fluff with fork. You always end up with good, dry fluffy rice--never sticky. This is the modern version of the "hay chest" method, since no one has a hay chest any-more.
