Anne Jackson writes
The message from "FarmI" ask@itshall be given contains these words:
"Anne Jackson" wrote in message

We lost all out earthworms a few years ago, when New Zealand flatworms
appeared over here. That was when I bought my wormery, and we're about
back to notmal now...haven't seen a flatworm in last past couple of years.

UK earthworms had no difficulty in establishing themselves in NZ despite
the presumable presence of the flatworms, so it seems logical that your
earthworm population should have settled

I never harvest rhubarb after the end of May, and what growth it makes
after that will, eventually, rot down...this feeds the plant.

This seems to be a very different thing than is done here in Aus. Your
May would be equivalent to our October here, yet I've just stewed a batch
for tomorrows breakfast cereal a full 4+ months after you would have
stopped
harvesting. Why isn't it usual to crop for a longer time in the UK?

I had never stopped to think about it, but I suppose that by June other
fruit would be available, and the rhubarb would be getting tough and stringy?

I think in the UK it's usual to crop till mid June. That gives about
three months growth to build up strength for the following year. (And,
of course, by June the strawberries are coming in, making rhubarb seem
less attractive.) Your March is our September - by then, my rhubarb is
no longer pushing out new leaves with any enthusiasm and by October it's
dying down for the winter.

I don't think rhubarb gets tough and stringy, but it is supposed to
build up higher oxalic acid levels, which is not good for the joints.


--
Kay