Very cold out but there is new life.
[#]rhubarb #gardening
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@lionelb Very nice! Mine is not looking like that yet! I'm trying to force it for the first time this year. Will see how that goes
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@JimmyB @lionelb I found some rhubarb coming up. Wondered about forcing it, then promptly forgot again! Is it too late to start now?
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@lionelb @helenclayton have you gut a forcing pot? Got one on spesh last year at Trebah gardens. It’s all terracotta and Monty Don… and surprisingly didn’t break on the way home…
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@JimmyB @lionelb I don’t know…quite possible there’s one knocking about in the garden (I’m finding all sorts of things now that the foliage has died back). How tall are they?
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@lionelb @helenclayton mines about thigh height I think? I’ve no idea how they are supposed to be used tbh. I just put it over my rhubarb crown in about November hoping that might do it!
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@JimmyB @lionelb hmm don’t recall seeing anything like that but will double check.
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@lionelb @helenclayton well otherwise an old box or something might do it? I have no idea how special this forced rhubarb is sposed to be. I mean the emperor might be naked here 😀😀😀
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@JimmyB @helenclayton
A black plastic bin liner and some sticks would keep the light out.
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@lionelb @JimmyB I’ve just looked at the special pots…super fancy! I’m pretty sure I can find something knocking around in the garden this time. I’ll try and do that tomorrow lunchtime if I can.
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@helenclayton @lionelb just got the weekly email from the local auction house and was looking to see if they’ve got one as an eg - they sometimes do - but not this week.
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@JimmyB @lionelb I have just rigged up something that is so Heath Robinson my dad would have been proud 😂. I found an old iron frame - maybe a plant stand - put that over the rhubarb crowns then covered it in a double layer of bin bags. The bin bags didn’t reach to the ground though so I’ve wrapped some thick agricultural fabric (spare from log store cover) around the sides and put a bit of slate on the top for good measure 😂. Monty Don it isn’t. A couple of crowns wouldn’t fit inside either.
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@helenclayton @JimmyB
It will work a treat. The rhubarb will taste just the same.
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@lionelb @JimmyB but how long before I can take a peek?! I haven’t put any mulch down either. Should I have?
The crowns outside the ‘tent’ can be my control I guess.
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@helenclayton
They are hungry I think. If you've got anything to feed them with, I believe they respond well... And love the idea of a control!!!
@lionelb
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@JimmyB @helenclayton
My grandfather used to sprinkle chimney soot around them. I am absolutely not advocating that. Horribly toxic. But interesting.
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@lionelb @JimmyB I’ve got plenty of wood ash.
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@helenclayton
Soft fruit can use it, I think. I have added it to my gooseberries but that wouldn't be an advert...they're rubbish and the bull finches get the flowerbuds most years...
@lionelb
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@JimmyB @lionelb we have soft fruit bushes of some sort. I don’t know what yet.
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@helenclayton @JimmyB @lionelb
This whole thread is fascinating to me because my rhubarb won't make an appearance for months (April) and I have no idea what the forcing is about? Longer stems?
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@IcooIey @helenclayton @JimmyB @lionelb Forced rhubarb is earlier, a delicate pink and far less acidic than later rhubarb. I used to use it to make a lovely tart a bit like a Bakewell but with rhubarb. My sister used forced rhubarb to make rhubarb gin. Don’t mistake me for any kind of expert though. My mum had a lovely old terracotta rhubarb forcing pot.
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@IcooIey @lionelb @Sarah111well @helenclayton I got one of those terracotta forcing pots last year - trying it now for the first time. Like so much in my garden I have absolutely no idea what it’s going to do…
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@JimmyB @IcooIey @lionelb @Sarah111well I did read that you shouldn’t force it two years running, so hoping the previous owners didn’t do it last year.
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@helenclayton @Sarah111well @IcooIey @lionelb oh! We’re all education here today! I love this: Mastodon can be ace sometimes. We’ve got a fella who clearly knows all about it, some folks who’ve sort of heard of it (I’m in that group) some ‘what is it - never heard of it’ here in this thread. And all except the first (sorry @Lionelb ) are going to learn some useful stuff!
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@JimmyB @Sarah111well @IcooIey @lionelb great isn’t it.
So blueberries, discuss…
Just kidding, but I do know that I have blueberries! We came here in time for their harvesting.
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@helenclayton @IcooIey @Sarah111well @lionelb only question with blueberries: are they worth it???? I eat them by the billion when I’m fishing in #Norway (they grow wild by the kilo). But in a garden?
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@JimmyB @IcooIey @Sarah111well @lionelb these are kind of no bother, space wise. They are in a large planter alongside the house - about four bushes - and they’re in a cage to stop the birds getting at them. Quite nice to go out and pick a handful to go with a bowl of yogurt and muesli…or pancakes.
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@IcooIey @Sarah111well @lionelb @helenclayton well quite! Ok. I’ll think about it! 😀😀
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@JimmyB @IcooIey @Sarah111well @lionelb shop bought blueberries here are huge and have no flavour. These are more like the wild variety.
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@IcooIey @Sarah111well @lionelb @helenclayton I discovered - the hard way - that flavouring porridge with wild blueberries, is really underwhelming. Needs honey or something too!
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@JimmyB @IcooIey @Sarah111well @lionelb blueberries, maple syrup, and sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
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@Sarah111well @helenclayton @lionelb @IcooIey that’s quite the recipe in a tent in the mountains!!! Pretty much tomorrow’s breakfast if I go and shop! 😀😀
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@JimmyB @Sarah111well @lionelb @IcooIey there’s porridge in there too ofc.
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@helenclayton @lionelb @IcooIey @Sarah111well so I have this funny mix of oats and milk powder in a big bag in the cupboard (periodically the moths get in and…hmmm..start again time) which I take away to the hills when I go. But the question is always: what else? In Norway or the Scottish isles from late August, then blueberries are abundant. But it turns out… you need a bit more! Like honey or a banana.
Shame.
But true.
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@JimmyB @helenclayton @IcooIey @Sarah111well
If you are adventurous you can use the waxy outer of ripe mountain ash berries. Similar to marzipan.
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@lionelb @JimmyB @IcooIey @Sarah111well I’d have never have guessed they’d be edible!
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@Sarah111well @lionelb @helenclayton @IcooIey me neither!
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@helenclayton @JimmyB @IcooIey @Sarah111well
Along with honey, one of the few paleo sweets.
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@lionelb @JimmyB @helenclayton @Sarah111well wow! Nice!
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@JimmyB @lionelb @IcooIey @Sarah111well you could pack a bit of honey 🍯. Wouldn’t recommend raiding a wild bee hive!
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@helenclayton @lionelb @IcooIey @Sarah111well I’ve been know to! 😀😀😀. I love the hills but I’m not addicted to discomfort. I feel if I’m schlepping for miles and kipping in a tent in a gale then decent grub (and maybe a dram) is ok…
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@helenclayton @Sarah111well @IcooIey @lionelb ok good people: it’s an hour on here and I’m working tomorrow.
Night all…
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@JimmyB @Sarah111well @IcooIey @lionelb don’t forget to go foraging for breakfast. Night all.
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@helenclayton @JimmyB @Sarah111well @lionelb
Good night all! Had to go in to teach and missed all the fun. I’ve got one relict blueberry that’s an incredible producer and two I planted two years ago that haven’t don’t anything but are very compact. May move to more sun.
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