Jane Ransom wrote:

In article , Kay Easton
writes
You'll be fine. Don't you remove the flowering stems?

Yes - but these leapt up behind our backs overnight in a couple of
seconds!!!!!!!!

They're hoping you notice how beautiful they are in flower :-)

regards
sarah


--
"Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view,
is silence about truth." Aldous Huxley

Ophelia wrote:

"swroot" wrote in message
...
Jane Ransom wrote:

In article , Kay Easton
writes
You'll be fine. Don't you remove the flowering stems?

Yes - but these leapt up behind our backs overnight in a couple of
seconds!!!!!!!!

They're hoping you notice how beautiful they are in flower :-)

I have to admit I have never seen that. As soon as I see a flower bud I
pick it off

Try leaving one to see. I think the appropriate buzzword is
'architectural', and if you cut it down before it sets seed, then the
plant hasn't wasted too much energy.

regards
sarah


--
"Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view,
is silence about truth." Aldous Huxley

In article ,
Jon wrote:


I have quite a large patch of rhubarb, but know very little about it other
than I love to eat it. Someone told me last year to cover it to keep the
light out. I put an oil drum over some of it and it produced lovely long
thin stems as opposed to the unshaded shorter, thicker, more woody stems. I
have done the samr this year and there are stems ready now. It is obvious
that the unshaded ones are developing a strong leaf structure, which the
others are not. Am I doing the right thing?
Jonny

Have you got a riding stables anywhere near? This winter, get hold of large
plastic sacks, fill them with stable manure and put a sackful on top of
every rhubarb plant. Yes, a sackful to each plant. Will do it a world of
good. Speaking from experience.

Cheers
Jane

--

Jane Gillett : : Totnes, Devon.

"swroot" wrote in message
...
Ophelia wrote:

"swroot" wrote in message
...
Jane Ransom wrote:

In article , Kay Easton
writes
You'll be fine. Don't you remove the flowering stems?

Yes - but these leapt up behind our backs overnight in a couple of
seconds!!!!!!!!

They're hoping you notice how beautiful they are in flower :-)

I have to admit I have never seen that. As soon as I see a flower bud I
pick it off

Try leaving one to see. I think the appropriate buzzword is
'architectural', and if you cut it down before it sets seed, then the
plant hasn't wasted too much energy.

I might just do that. I split the plant this spring and the stalks are
quite thin so I will not be pulling any this year

O

I would reccomend that if you want more rhubarb type stuff, you go for a bit
of a forage. Haven't got the picture scanned for my web site yet, but Steve
Brills rather neat web site has a picture of Japanese knotweed, that well
known destructive weed, and a description of what to do with this rather
gastronomic plant:
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Pla.../Knotweed.html

If you've got any Japanese knotweed growing locally, you could consider it
your civic responsibility to eat it into oblivion :-) I came across a patch
in Essex the other day, and it was just at about the right age and size to
be really scrummy.

My fav is stewed and when cold mixed into natural yogurt. I also save
the water it is stewed in as juice, but you can feel your teeth
rotting :-)
Jonny


Jonny you will find rhubarb is a very tough resilient plant. No matter
what you do to it, you will do no harm to it :-)) (Even I can grow the
stuff!!)

Experiment with it. Cover some with straw. Cover some with a
bucket/barrel with the bottom cut out. Leave some and just enjoy it when
young (don't we all enjoy the young things;-))

But don't forget to pull it in the evening after a nice sunny day. It
makes all the difference :-))

Rhubarb and Blackberry Crumble hot or cold with Ice Cream :-))
Rhubarb and Apple Pie hot or cold with Ice Cream :-))

Rhubarb Juice drunk straight out of a Glass :-))

Funny taste/feeling on your teeth? Don't care, haven't got any :-))))

Mike
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forthcoming reunions. H.M.S.Collingwood Association Chatham May 30th - June 2nd
British Pacific Fleet Hayling Island Sept 5th - 8th
Castle Class Corvettes Assn. Isle of Wight. Oct 3rd - 6th.
R.N. Trafalgar Weekend Leamington Spa. Oct 10th - 13th. Plus many more

Jane, No stables handy, but I am a farmer and have several hundred
tonnes of cow manu-)) Are you still recommending this treatment??
Jonny
x-no-archive: yes,On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 08:41:36 +0100, Jane Gillett
wrote:


Have you got a riding stables anywhere near? This winter, get hold of large
plastic sacks, fill them with stable manure and put a sackful on top of
every rhubarb plant. Yes, a sackful to each plant. Will do it a world of
good. Speaking from experience.

Cheers
Jane

In message , Rhiannon Macfie Miller
writes
My husband doesn't like rhubarb and won't let me grow any.

Have you considered divorce?

Did you try force-feeding him on it? That is a common cause of
discord, up to and including divorce and probably even murder :-)

When my wife wanted some, I made the formal condition that I would
grow it provided that she never fed it to me. The plants died in
the series of dry summers a decade back, but the arrangement held
until then ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 24 Apr 2003 22:19:23 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

| In message , Rhiannon Macfie Miller
| writes
| My husband doesn't like rhubarb and won't let me grow any.
|
| Have you considered divorce?
|
| Did you try force-feeding him on it? That is a common cause of
| discord, up to and including divorce and probably even murder :-)
|
| When my wife wanted some, I made the formal condition that I would
| grow it provided that she never fed it to me. The plants died in
| the series of dry summers a decade back,

Yes I believe you.

In message , Rhiannon Macfie Miller
writes
My husband doesn't like rhubarb and won't let me grow any.

Have you considered divorce?

Nono... waste of good compost

O