Tag Archives: rhubarb

One last tidy

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Yesterday while watching the weather forecast (the one the farmers swear by) on Countryfile we were told that this present mild spell in SE23 will be replaced with some “normal for this time of year” weather very soon.

This afternoon we spent an hour or two in the garden tidying up, not that you’d think we did looking at the wild patch at the bottom (above) but as we’re trying to cultivate a “wild” look we really don’t know what to do for the best. Do we weed or leave?

Last year we sowed some Bee Bombs alongside more wild flowers using our random sowing technique (aka chuck them anywhere) and considering the area doesn’t get that much light we did alright but we’re going to give it another year and see what happens. It does look messy at the moment and the two random stalks of brussels sprouts don’t help either.

We also forked up some dahlia tubers (top pic) we didn’t get around to lift after the frost, got as much mud off them as we could and now they’re indoors in the dark and dry until the spring. We maybe too late as we took out some rotten parts already but we’ll keep a check on them. More info on lifting and storing dahlias here.

The raised beds at the side (above) are quite tidy and nice to see the overwintering onions and shallots doing well. The usual bucket over the rhubarb is back, to try and force some early stalks out of it come the spring.

We moved a bay bush we got years ago which was not doing well in its old location and it looks like the move has worked wonders. And below is the pond that is looking quite bare at the moment but give it a couple of months and it’ll be back to its former glory. We’re still leaving the pea netting on top as that Ladywell Heron has been seen of late standing motionless at the bottom of the garden the other week.

That’s our update, if the weather’s okay we may do a bit more but we doubt it with what was said on Countryfile!

And in the background while we write this, is the latest Rhythm Doctor’s Waiting Room from IDA Radio (Tallinn). Starts with some chilled Jazz from Finland and then progresses through some nice musical genres.

Played early on the show is this wonderful tune from Brenda Ray called Space Dustin’.

Rhubarb and radio

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We harvested the first bit of rhubarb this afternoon that we “forced” underneath the thrown out crockpot (below). It’s weird, as we were going to chuck out that slow cooker pot but then we had a eureka moment and thought “that’s an ideal forcing receptacle” or words to that effect.

Forcing prevents any light getting to the rhubarb crowns at the same time keeping them that little bit warmer during the winter months. What’s good about it is the lack of light produces those pale stalks (and yellow leaves you chuck away anyway) which are well tender and tastier than the stringy stuff you get in the early summer. Why chuck an old crockpot away when you could be eating sweet rhubarb in March!

Also Monday mornings have been a lot sweeter since we’ve discovered the Rhythm Doctor’s Waiting Room on the Tallinn stream of IDA radio here. Here’s today’s show from 8am-11am UK time featuring some great across the board tunes. Click (here) and collect some great music on a Monday morning!

On the first weekend of lockdown Argos sent to we…

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It was a lovely morning, this the first saturday of the second UK lockdown so a bit of gardening was in order. It was only a light bit of gardening as we don’t know how long we’ll be locked inside for this time so we’ll make all the jobs stretch just in case. Anyway with gardening we at Weeds always prefer the “little and often” approach every time.

It was mainly a tidy up of the beds in front of the “Dad corner”, getting rid of the old tomato plants and whatever had self-seeded there. As you can see we’ve a new feature, (well we’ve had it for ages but it’s been hidden by self-seeded nasturtiums) part of the front wall that came down when we took out the ivy that was holding it up in the first furlough.

Also yesterday we threw out an Argos slow cooker we had for years that was on its last legs not before commandeering the inner crockpot as something to stick over the rhubarb crowns to keep them warm and come spring “force” the rhubarb to grow that little bit earlier. We know an old crockpot is not as good as candlelight in heated outbuildings (that’s the commercial way of forcing rhubarb. More about the practice here) but it don’t look too out of place in the garden. If they ask, we’ll tell people that it’s an expensive “dedicated rhubarb forcer/warmer” bought on HP from a specialist plant supplier (no mention of Argos either).

There were even a few forgotten spuds from the raised bed found too! Gardening during lockdown brings many suprises!

Keep off the Crass

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When it comes to sowing vegetables, straight rows abound in the Weeds HQ garden but of late we’ve got into a bit of anarcho-gardening. That don’t mean we slip into our favourite biker’s leather jacket and do the punk kicking dance on the lawn in the evening but rather we buy a few packs of seeds and scatter them randomly and see how they get on.

One of our favourite beds has a couple of tomato plants, a rhubarb crown or two, rocket and borage alongside all sorts including our favourite night scented stock. Pop down your local seed emporium and buy a dolly mixture type assortment of seeds packs and give it a go. No to (too much) uniformity in flower beds, unless you want it! #gardeningsnotdead