Rhubarb, berries, pear tree, broad bean landrace and comfrey

I've made another video taking note of things that I've not recorded, or have visibly changed. This will be quite helpful in keeping track of things like having a visual record of which pear is which on the double-grafted one.  You can't trust the nurseries and orchards and should check these things yourself, I've had several instances where they've botched things.  And also noting the traits of individual varieties of broad bean in the landrace as they cross-pollinate from year to year.

It's another foggy Spring morning. The fog actually lifted earlier, and the sun was so low I almost had to close the blinds so I could work. The grass and dock have taken off in the past two weeks, as has the rhubarb.  I'm going to have to clear the grass before making movies, or taking photos, as it is quite hard to see some things that are growing amongst grass.

I increased the quality the phone camera was recording, and used a weight to try and stablise the camera from shaking.  In this case I basically sat the phone sideways on the rock and held it there, carrying it around.  It seemed to make a difference, but wasn't perfect.

Rhubarb 2014-2015

The last garden bed I grew rhubarb in, grew two great crops.  Large luscious leaves both times.  The first time it rained hard, they sat in the water which pooled around their bed for days on end, and the leaves and stalks wilted.  They they grew back, and the second time the chickens accidentally sampled a leaf and decided they loved it.  Just like that, the rhubarb had leaves one day, and none the next.  The stalks wilted before I could harvest them.

Last year, I broke up the crowns and planted them out in a hugelkultur bed alongside the water race, fenced along the front and sides with chicken netting.  They didn't grow for ages, well into Spring.  Along the way I wondered whether my choice to lay old wood under the bed was hindering their growth, and the chickens worked out how to walk around the back and in, to scratch the bed out.  I fenced the back, and left it.  No watering, except for watering it in.

Now it's looking lush.  If it rains, the water will drain off into the water race.  One of the stalks was broken, so I picked it and offered the leaves to the chickens.  They may be stupid, but they are great at recognising things they like eating.

They've taken to drinking from the water race, rather than the water I put out for them with vinegar and minced garlic cloves in.  "Internet advice" has it that the rhubarb leaves will kill worms in their stomachs, probably randomly inspired by the fact that the leaves are poisonous to us humans.  I'd love to know for sure, as otherwise I'd probably make rhubarb leaf tea out of them, as a fertiliser.

Rhubarb

If there is some garden bed the chickens can scratch up, then they will scratch it up. It's as inevitable as taxes. My new rhubarb plots, placed so they would have good drainage were just starting to look good with new growth. Then.. chickens. There's a saying about a watched plot never spoiling, and it's true, because the chickens come when you're not watching.

Here are two shots before chicken.

And a shot after, with netting in place. That's some of the more affordable netting, at $3 for 1.5m x 6m I think. I'll have to lift it up as a fence when the rhubarb gets bigger.

Rhubarb / 2013-2014

I had unwanted rhubarb donated from two different parties. In both cases, what I got was crowns, which I divided and planted out. It didn't fare well. And I got maybe one feed out of it.

Day X+0: One divided crown has already sprouted and started growing leaves. The second divided crown will have just been planted out the day the photo was taken.

Day X+50: More growth for both. A mini-bed dug out for comfrey, purchased from Koanga, at the back.

Day X+80: Both beds were getting overgrown and the leaves were sitting on grass. I dug out around them and joined all three beds up.

Day X+101: Both beds are looking even more lush.

Day X+120: Heavy rain for a day or so flooded the bed, which causes the rhubarb to die back. What I should have done in this situation was harvested all the stalks immediately. Unfortunately, I left them on, the leaves wilted and also the stalks with them.

This actually happened several times. And finally, the chickens started eating the leaves right down. It is said that the leaves help kill worms in their stomachs. But how many old wives tales have to turn out to be false, to make all the unproven ones untrustworthy. As I recently read somewhere else, putting a silver coin in a bucket of milk was supposed to stop it from spoiling, yet here we are with refridgerators.

The comfrey is supposed to be good for chickens too, and some people report them eating it freely. Mine won't touch it. It also takes up a lot of ground with it's leaves.

Planting Rhubarb

I used to like eating rhubarb, but have always found it to expensive to eat.  In the local store nurseries, you can get a small chunk with an attached leaf, for around $6 NZ.  Instead I obtained a large chunk from someone else's plant, for free.

This bag with the chunk in, had been sitting in my warm shed, and a bud had been knocked off somewhere along the way. I wasn't sure if that would affect the plant badly.

Unpacked, and worse for wear.

Planting this was the same process as planting a fruit tree.

Ready to go in.

Cut the edges with the spade, slice off the grass, dig out the dirt, bung in the plant, and then replace the dirt and maybe do the border thing.

Planted.

It seems to have worked rather well, this is one of the more vigorous plants I have. Every day I can see more growth, whether that was a few additional buds, or the leaves on the larger bug growing larger and larger.