At this time of year things can't grow too quickly in the garden. After a long cold winter we're desperate for something green, to show us a stem, give us a leaf. Anything, something! How maddeningly slooooooooow everything grows, what's a desperate gardener to do? We can't force the plants to grow more quickly. What would you have us do? Twist their leaves behind their backs? Give their stems an Indian burn? Not very likely is it? And yours truly is not a violent person so that kind of malarkey is not really an option.But gentle persuasion could and should be used. The first pic shows a rhubarb plant growing on its own and so far it has produced two miserly leaves.Two!
But this one is much further along thanks to a bit of gentle persuasion in the guise of a bit of fleece that I use to protect it from the worst of the weather and it worked as you can see.
The little fleece blanket really helped my rhubarb grow more quickly but, unfortunately, still not quickly enough for this impatient gardener who's very partial to a bit of rhubarb for dessert.
Here's my third rhubarb plant and as you can see it is much further along than the other two. How on earth did I manage to do that, you ask?
Simple, I used a terracotta rhubarb forcing pot. Quite a nifty little thing and pretty too. So yes, I did use some force but of the gentle, green kind.
May the force be with you!copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen
28 comments:
Wonderful post. I love that forcing pot. We don't have those much here in Oklahoma. We don't usually need to force. However, this spring has been unseasonably cold. We're getting another freeze tonight, I could use an entire forcing garden cover to keep everything warm.~~Dee
Great post Oh Impatient One. I know how you feel though. We are back to snow flurries today. UGH...I love that forcing pot. I have never seen one around here. I will look a little more closely for on. It would be fun to see what I can move along with it.
It is interesting how plants, like humans, respond well to tender loving care!
Here in the UK it has been warm and sunny, so lots of growing is happening!
I need the force here to protect the garden from the same cold front that Dee's garden is getting. Love the pot...it is a great looking and hard working! gail
I love how you unfolded the story. You kept in suspense the whole way. A wonderful and beautiful garden tool.
I've never seen a forcing pot. It's much more attractive that that floating row cover. Do they make garden-sized forcing pots? It snowed again here.
Mmmm, rabarber lekker.
Dee, I had to look for mine for a very long time but I'm sure glad I found one. I've noticed how bad the weather still is in some states of the US.
I feel your pain, my dear, and do understand your wish for an enforcer that could cover the whole garden. Here we joke about the Netherlands being such a great country to live, at least it would be, if they would put a roof over it. ;-)
* Lisa: snow flurries yuck! I think you've had quite enough of those to last you a life time. You can also use a forcing pot to force other veggies but, at a pinch, you could make do with an old bucket too. But that's not so pretty. ;-)
* Phoenix C. : here the weather has been pretty good too with temps around 20 C. Not bad for early April and in my garden lots of plants are growing fast, almost as fast as the Impatient One would like.
* Gail: you poor things, I hope that you all will be enjoying some real spring weather soon!
* Andrea: glad you liked the way the story unfolded just like the petals of a plant, wouldn't you say? ;-)
* MMD: what's happening over in the US? So many gardeners have unseasonally cold weather. Snow in April GAAAAAAAAA!
* Margo: rabarber is heerlijk, vooral als je ze zelf gekweekt hebt. Mijn rabarber is zelfs zelf gezaaid. Binnenkort is het smullen!
What a clever trick, and what a clever post. Delightful!
A little encouragement - that is a neat clay pot. Some times we need to encourage them a little. Good post. Have a good day.
Speaking of things not growing fast enough, we got SNOW today! I too love rhubarb. Ooh, I'm almost salivating thinking about it. I love its tangy flavor! I like your forcing methods, especially the pot. I've seen other people forcing rhubarb by covering it, but it blanches the color. Is that what the lid on your pot is for, to let some sun in? Your color looks nice!
My rhubarb this year is the best it's ever been. We've had a really long, cold Winter here and rhubarb enjoys a good long dormant season and a good freeze. The colours of the forced rhubarb are spectacular aren't they? The taste is lovely too, much less acid than ordinary rhubarb!
I love the pot too. I like anything terra cotta...I wonder if we have them here? Our ground it white in Northern Illinois.
I love rhubarb - and as Matron said the very cold winter over here has given it a real boost this year. I've never tried forcing it - though the high shop prices for forced rhubarb suggests that I should make an effort!
YE: You will laugh at this but as I took recent pictures of my emerging rhubarb, I thought of you. Wish I had one of those forcing pots but they seem unavailable here. I will have to speak with my pottery supplier about carrying those.
And with you also. Amen. That is too cool for school, YE! I am tempted to grow rhubarb here, just for its ornamentation. Talk about ornament though, the pot is a pretty as the plant! Thanks for the inspiration to find a place for rhubarb here. :-)
Frances
ps, we call it Indian rub!
Oh Yolanda wishing and sending you lots of sunshine so you and your rubard can enjoy! One of the things we gardeners possess is patience!!RIGHT!!! :)
Der Rhabarbar wächst! Wie schön! Und natürlich lecker!
Liebe Yolanda, Dir und dem ganzen Bliss-Team wünsche ich ein schönes Osterfest und sende Dir liebe Grüße, Birgit
I remember you posting a photo of that forcing pot before. It's beautiful and serves a great purpose!
Like we say in Sweden, All things are good exept the bad ones;)
Ken
Hi Yolanda. My father used to place a large pot or bucket upside down over rhubarb in the Spring to force it on a little faster. Your pot is much more elegant!
John
We love rhubarb.
hello Yolanda, it's been a while since I stopped by, but this winter had really taken its toll on me with colds and all. I love rhubarb! I need to get some for our garden.
You asked about Pulsatilla? Well, mine didn't show, so I bought 3 new ones. :) Have a nice Easter!
Andrea
That has got to be the most beautifully colored rhubarb I've seen. And that forcing pot is really cool. I've never seen one before now!
Cindy
Hola Yolanda - paying you a long overdue visit, having got on top of our garden at last. (We're about 2 months ahead of N. Europe)
As always, so much of interest and beauty to see. Loved to see the felines dining together and Tara helping with seed sowing.
I wondered about your forcing pot when you first showed it. What a neat trick! Yum, rhubarb sauce over icecream. Mmmm.
Ours has begun to grow and we'll have scads of it in the not-too-distant-future. But not as soon as you, Yolanda!
I've never heard of a rhubarb-forcing pot before. What a nifty trick! I too am partial to rhubarb for dessert. :)
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