Cripes - Rhubarb

[Iceni]

We have two crowns of rhubarb and as the weather is so ruddy dire in north 46 we put a deep metal bucket over one crown. I took about 5 flower heads of the uncovered one and yesterday as that strange orange thing was in the sky and it stopped raining. We also took the metal bucket off the crown to discover 3.5 kilos of beautiful forced rhubarb. We ate some last night and I have frozen quite a bit cooked today. I also had to remove umpteen flower heads.

I have never seen so many flower heads this early in the season, are they trying to tell me something? We mulch our crowns with manure up to 5 times a year - very often after a good rainstorm in the hot summer to keep the moisture in. It really seems to work. Bought the crowns from the market year before last and will split them this autumn and plant on piles of the brown stuff in a new fruit bed.

[Patf]

Rhubarb is something I want to grow. Last year I managed to buy a few small plants but they disappeared. This time I've bought some seeds and will keep the plants ( if any) under some kind of protection until they are a good size. Do you know if you can buy a good sized crown? If so, at what time of year? Pat. ps the weather in 32 is dire too, but everything is growing at a great pace.

[Iceni]

We got our plants from the market - small and cheap. The trick seems to be dig out the planting hole and fill with 50% soil and 50%  manure and then manure, manure and more manure mulched round the plant. If you don't have any, follow a horse or go and talk to your neighbouring farmer. Leclerc last year sold this in blue bags. Rhubarb may well be in the market now, if not, buy in the autumn.

Shame you are not nearer, we are splitting ours this autumn.

[Dick Smith]

Interesting that you put manure on your rhubard, Di.

I always have custard on mine.

[Jonzjob]

We had a wonderful Victoria radebarb crown in our garden in Stroud. A few years ago I took one stick off it and it weighed in at 4 1/2 lbs. It was delicious ! The secret was that it had been planted on the downstream side of our twin chamber septic tank. It was NEVER plastered with manure, it must have found it's own from somewhere ? It was big when I moved into the house and 23 years later it had never been split and was still producing lovely rhubarb. Lovely with natural yoghurt, cooked of course. The reason it was never split was that we always forgot to do it!!!

 

John (now very happy in our newhouse in the Aude!!!)))

 

P.S. Before you get in Dick, it was the rhubarb wot was cooked, not the yogurt.... Never tried it with manure though. Our vet in the U.K. reconed that our chokky labrador like the horse muck because it's sweet. I didn't want to know how he knew, but I suppose it might be OK ?