Pride of place has to go to this snap of a woodpecker I took on Easter Sunday! I've heard him at work before and even caught a glimpse but this was amazing!
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| Woodpecker centre stage |
For anyone asking about the rhubarb blanching, here's a picture of the clump after two pickings. It's looking a bit sorry for itself and I will now be removing the bin, but you can see how it contrasts with its neighbours (who were blanched last year).
That's a great picture of the woodpecker!! The blanched rhubarb look very sorry for itself stood next to it's sun loving neighbour!!!!
ReplyDeleteI was put off forced rhubarb by the floppy stuff on sale so is your forced rhubarb crisp? Will you pick any at all from last years forced rhubarb?
ReplyDeleteYou're right Tany there is a trade off between fast and spindly vs slow and strong. But I have already stripped the blanched clump twice so it is not a fair comparison. If I wasn't so mad keen for eating it I would leave the blanched clump unpicked and see how they compared then.
ReplyDeleteSue, No floppy rhubarb here, although it doesn't store as well as mature rhubarb. I've always been prepared to let a blanched clump alone for the rest of the year, and they've always bounced back. In the picture the next clump behind was blanched last year and the clump beyond that the year before. Every five years I split one clump and plant out divided plants at the other end of the plot. After one year without picking I then dig up the old crowns and start picking the new ones. After seeing your Timperly Early I bought a pot from Homebase on Friday. I reckon I could be a week or two earlier still with that variety. It is always described as "suitable for forcing". How many varieties are you going to stop at?
Great shot of the woodpecker!
DeleteThe rhubarb looks like something from an alien planet. Star Trek cardboard rocks just out of shot...