rhubarb rears its head

On my rounds of the garden this morning I noticed that the first shoots of rhubarb are now poking their heads above the mulch. This is earlier than the last few years but I guess that’s down to the mild winter so far.

I might have ago at forcing one of the plants this year to give an early crop but the disadvantage of doing this is that it weakens the plant and is likely to give a lower yield the following year. Am I that desperate for rhubarb?

In my efforts at compost self-sufficiency I've been hoarding sacks of stuff all last year in addition to the daleks and the open heap. When I tipped out one of the sacks of mulch material to see what condition it was in I was pleasantly surprised.

As you can see, it looks rather like shop-bought compost although it has some biggish woody bits that haven’t rotted down yet. This lot was made from shredded prunings, etc. mixed with grass mowings and a scatter of chicken manure pellets every three or four inches as the sack filled up. As a mulch round fruit trees and bushes it certainly helps to keep weeds down and must add something to the soil structure....and it's free!

I'll finish this post with a pic of tonight's sunset taken from the back garden. It's a great shame that so few people, because of work, etc. rarely see anything like this.