Thought I would post a picture of the second lot of Rhubarb of 2013, it seems to be flurishing this year, perhaps because it had a year off last year and was able to store up some energy.
Second Lot of Rhubarb of 2013
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Category Archives: Rhubarb
First Rhubarb of 2013
We have just finished tea, pudding was Rhubarb Crumble… The first produce from the allotment in 2013… long may it continue!
First Video from Allotment Plot 131
We went to the allotment to make sure all was well and watered up, we have not been able to get down there to do any work due to the weather and commitments with the business, but it is still looking good. I hope to get down there on Wednesday at some point weather permitting.
This video gives an overview of the allotment, and re-introduces Eva to our YouTube viewers who last saw her aged 2 working on our last allotment plot
Bumper crop of Strawberries
I went to the allotment this morning and picked Strawberries in the rain. Surprisingly there wasn’t anyone else down there, I can’t imagine why!
Here is a picture of the Strawberries we have just enjoyed!
Strawberry crop
While I am posting here is a nice picture of Eva taking some Rhubarb home the other day
Eva with a crop of Rhubarb
First Crops, First Losses and two days at the allotment
I have just got back from the allotment, I had been working on the business since early, and when it got to 2:45 I decided to go down to the allotment to do some more work, but more of that later.
This post covers two days at the allotment, Tuesday and today, Wednesday.
Tuesday 19th June 2012
It was our first real major effort at the allotment, Eva is not at pre-school at all on a Tuesday so we decided that we would go down at about 11ish, do an hour and a half work and then have a picnic on the Allotment, followed by some more work after out lunch.
Cheryl worked hard pulling weeds, I made a trip to Sainsburys and bought some picnic chairs which we will leave at the Allotment, when I got back she had cleared a large patch of the taller weeks, helped by (or hindered by) Eva and I was able to start doing some digging over.
Weeded and Dug Over, the plot is starting to come together
By the time lunch had come we had managed to make a great impact on the weeds and the plot started to look more like an allotment rather than wasteland.
Lunch in the sun was lovely, Eva always enjoys a picnic, especially when it is out of her prize lunch box, with Pringles as a special treat!
Picnic on the Allotment
After lunch Cheryl continued to weed through the raspberries while I got some of the Leeks in that we had been given. I managed to get two rows of 24 in.
Two Rows of Leeks
Meanwhile Eva built a Scare Crow…
Eva’s Scare Crow
All in all a successful day, and after an hour or so we finished for the day, only to return after tea to pic some Strawberries.
Wednesday 20th June
Thats today!
I finished working on the business at around 2:45 and went down to the Allotment for an hour, I managed to get some more of the ground turned over and another row of 24 leeks.
I then planted 5 rows of Onions, 2 Red and 2 White. I know it is really too late to be planting them, but I got them cheap at B&Q so I thought we have not lost anything if they do nothing. I should thing that the worst thing that will happen is that we get small onions, but that is fine by me.
Unfortunately, we seem to have lost one of the cucumber plants we planted int he greenhouse to slugs/snails. I don’t like using slug pellets due to birds picking them up, but I figured in the greenhouse it would be ok.
We also have a big Ant problem in the greenhouse so I have laid some ant powder to see if that will get on top of them. Ants are a big problem in Hessle, I know at my last house we had an ant problem under the patio.
I have again picked enough Strawberries for a nice desert tonight, they are as sweet as anything, no need for cream or sugar. It is amazing what a little sun light does to the strawberries. I can see that we will havea steady daily supply right through the season.
I also picked some Rhubarb so hopefully a Rhubarb crumble might be on offer.
The weather is not looking so good for tomorrow, but we will have to wait and see. I have a couple of meetings with clients so it will probably be a flying visit to water the greenhouse.
No Pictures today, I forgot to take my camera, I will get some more tomorrow if I go down.
Video – Progress on the Allotment – 24th May 2009
Its bank holiday Sunday and everything on the allotment is blooming. It is a glorious day, blue sky and the world could not be better!
Have a look at my quick video of the progress
First Day back after holiday – 5th April 2009
The weekend just gone was the first day back on the allotment following our holiday and Evas birthday. The progress on the allotment is very exciting.
The Rhubarb is motoring along, Mange Tout is coming through, the first rows of early potatoes are showing through, the rows of carrots, beetroot and parsnips are coming along.
Unfortunately there are some weeds starting to sprout, especially in the raised bed area, where unfortunately I can not get in with anything to get them out due to the danger of disturbing the rows of carrots and beetroot which are still very small. I will leave it another week until they are stronger and then get in and weed.
This weekend I bought 17 strawberry plants from Homebase, 15% off which is always a bonus! I managed to get them into the soft fruit cage. I suspect I have planted them too close to the gooseberry and black current bushes but as they will not fruit this year, I hope they will fill the space with a view to moving them to the back of the plot in the flower boarder next year.
Mum also brought 8 raspberry canes down with her when they came for Evas birthday. They are taken from runners from her established plants and should bear fruit this year. I gave away two to a friend and planted the rest in the soft fruit cage. I will need to rig up some supports for them, but this should be fairly simple.
I also got two rows of cos lettuce, two rows of radish and a row of spring onions into the cloche. I hope that the slightly warmer and sheltered conditions in the cloche will bring those on fairly quickly.
I also took the opportunity of the cloche to plant some sweetcorn in post. Again the shelter and the warmer conditions will allow these to come on quicker, and help them establish themselves before I plant them out.
I got a row of dwarf French beens into the top of plot 4. I had wanted to get another row of carrots, beetroot and parsnip in but time got the better of me!
Have a look at the video I took of the plot this weekend:
Gooseberry, Blackberry and Black Current Planted
I managed to get three more fruit bushes for the soft fruit area. Homebase are doing a 3 for £10 deal for good sized year old plants.
I bought the following
Gooseberry – Hinnomaki Green
Blackberry – Waldo
Black Current – Ben Lomond
I got them planted today and the soft fruit area is now looking good. Just need to get some strawberries to fill in the gaps and provide some fruit this year as most of the fruit bushes will not fruit this year.
Soft Fruit Area - Rhubarb, Raspberries, Blackberry, Black Current, Gooseberry
The Rhubarb is coming along fantastically. I would guess that another couple of weeks and we will be picking those first tender shoots… Mmmmmm!
I am presently surprised at how they are coming along. Just two weeks after been planted, two weeks after being split and all this after they had been dug up and left in a bucket for two months!
Rhubarb Progress 7th March 2009
Video – Progress on the allotment – Carrots, Onions and Raspberries planted
I could not do a piece to camera today as the neighbours on the allotment were here. I did however take a short catch up video after I packed up.
I will be back at the allotment today to get some first early potatoes and anything else I can get done.
Planting the Rhubarb – First Planting on the allotment – Video
In addition to the last video post, I planted the Rhubarb that I dug up from one of our properties some time ago. It has been stuck in a couple of heavy duty bags for the last month or so and has begun to sprout, so time really was of the essence.
I decided to plant them in the fruit cage, not really because they need the protection of the cage, but more to keep the soft fruit all in one place.
I took a short video of the plot after I dug it over, the results were quite staggering, just 5 minutes work and the soil had broken down into a nice crumb. The hard work really has been done on this plot, I am so lucky!
Here are some pictures of the Rhubarb after planting. I divided the clumps up, there are now six clumps in a 4×5 foot plot. I had some left over so have given some of it away. Not sure how well it will do this year, and not sure if I should even just let it recover this year and not try and crop it but we will see how it goes. If any one has any advice on this please do post me a comment.
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- The Rhubarb in the Soft Fruit Plot
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- Planted Rhubarb
First Weekend on the Allotment
Following a short delay, we are now ready to start on the allotment. I am planning to go down this weekend and size things up. I am looking after Eva (10 months old) on Saturday so I will take a stroll out with her in her chariot to see the plot again. I plan to get it measured up so on Saturday night I can plan out the plot.
Not sure what I should be planting at this time, so some research is needed, if you have any advice please post a comment. I think that early crop of potatoes should be going in around about now so I will have a look at that.
The Rhubarb I dug up from one of our properties still needs planting so I will find a good corner for that, I will bed it in with a bag or two of manure to give it a really good start.
Excited now!
Moving Rhubarb from old property to new allotment
I have been very fortunate that this plot of land has coincided with a property that I own just going up for rent. I have been doing some work on the property, putting a new window in and some other improvements, so I have not had any tenants in the property for a while.
The property has a nice Veg and fruit garden, from which I have taken the Rhubarb as this is something that I have been tending for many years and is very nice and established.
I have dug it up with as much of the tubers and root ball as I can, from my reading, it appears that a good frost into the roots of the rhubarb can do it good, so I am happy to leave it until I get time to plant it at the allotment.
When I do I will be splitting it, and giving it a little more space that it had. I suspect that this year it wont do as well as it would have done, but hopefully it will like its new location.
Look out for my plans when you will see where Ihave decided to put the Rhubarb and possibly other soft friut bushes.