April was a washout. The wettest month in a long time. After the dry start to the year the garden started to thrive with all the water. I have to be honest though, it also kept me out of the garden for a while. When I did venture out it was mostly to grab some rocket leaves. The mild winter meant that the two rows of rocket that I had at the end of the year in one of the raised beds just started growing again as the winter passed. There was enough to make some rocket pesto which was delicious and peppery.
There are two rhubarb plants in the garden and I force each one on alternate years. Last year I used an upturned plastic tub, but it was not quite big enough. This year I tried an old garden incinerator with the bottom fallen out of it. It worked a treat, the holes in the side didn't let in enough light to stop the stems shooting up. The rhubarb was lovely and tender and nice and long. The harvest yielded about 1.2kg. I left a few stems behind to give the plant a chance to recover. I won't take any more from this plant until next year.
Forcing rhubarb in an old incinerator behind a Nottingham cobnut (29 Apr 2012)
Rhubarb ready to harvest (29 Apr 2012)
Forced rhubarb after removing the incinerator (29 Apr 2012)
Forced rhubarb harvest in front of wild garlic in flower (29 Apr 2012)
Remaining stems on plant after harvesting (29 Apr 2012)
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