Well hello there. Where have you been? I was out watering the dark corner behind the chicken coop where I’m trying to grow some rhubarb, and look what’s popped up: another shoot.
Not just another shoot, though, but a whole new plant. When I put them in the ground way back in February I planted two distinct roots. They looked the same. They came from the same place. They were dug down to the same depth and had the same fertiliser… yet only one came up.
I’d pretty much given up on the second one, and in fact dug it up to take a look at it a few weeks back. It didn’t look good. I’m sure something had been eating it.
Perhaps that digging did the trick, though. Today there was that little leaf up above finally marking out the spot where I hope a good strong plant will grow over the next few months.
We won’t get anything to eat from it this year, but together the two of them should be enough to provide us with a few crumbles next summer. With rhubarb being as expensive as it is in this country, I can barely wait.
Let’s hope it catches up with its older brother, which as you can see from the picture below is considerably further ahead.
Rhubarb
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Very nice! It’s super expensive to buy rhubarb here, too (in Canada). I guess not many farmers grow it. We don’t have room now, but I would love to have a giant rhubarb patch some day! It’s so delicious. Congratulations on your surprise shoot!
Be careful, I think Rhubarb is poisonous for chickens and I note you write ‘behind the chicken coop’ in your article. I’m not sure what part is poisonous but I keep my chickens well away from my Rhubarb just in case.
)
Yes, it’s expensive here too & I don’t really understand why as it’s got to be one of the easiest things to grow, once it gets started.
For generations it was the first good source of vitamin C in the spring. It’s an excellent plant to have in the garden & quite ornamental really. I have no problems sticking it into mixed perennial flower beds.
Thanks, Carla. I believe that the leaves are poisonous – and not only to chickens, which is why you should never eat them. Don’t worry, though, as the rhubarb is indeed behind the coop, but also separated from the chooks by some fine wire that they won’t be able to get their beaks through.