Patience

I’m best known for my impatience and it doesn’t seem to be a characteristic that is improving with age or experience.

Mindset plays its part too. I’ve decided that the soil at this plot is awful; a weird combination of blue clay over a sub-base of yellow clay and sand. It sets like concrete in the summer and is like a spongy bog in winter. Therefore I’ve decided that little has any hope of survival on this plot, so when I fail to see new green shoots appear it must mean the plant has rotted, yes?

Well no and fortunately for me, the rhubarb has more resilience than I have patience. Last month, it appeared the two smallest crowns (I had split one larger plant the year before) had rotted over the winter and in my defence it had been a very wet season. I dug them up and added them to the compost heap.

Fast forward about four weeks and this week I emptied one compost bay to fill a raised bed and was turning the active pile into the empty bay when I spied the same ‘rotted and dead’ rhubarb crowns sprouting small pink stems. Now despite this evidence, my mindset is still holding on to its beliefs about the soil “well, maybe it prefers the conditions in the compost heap to the soil”. The ‘dead’ crowns have received an apology and are now back in the old rhubarb bed with added coir in the hope of improving the soil conditions. Mindset yet to be convinced…

Impatience loves action. In this case that meant purchasing 3 new rhubarb rhizomes. T&M wanted £20 per pot!!! so back to Google I went and discovered Otter Farm who had 3 x Fulton’s strawberry surprise in stock for £20 – much more sensible. I’ve placed these on the opposite side of the plot, where it is less soggy in winter but in full sun during the summer. Lots of compost has been dug in and a good sprinkling of lime to ensure red stems. If sprouting continues, I’ll have seven rhubarb crowns – that’s a lot of compote.

I don’t have any photos of the rhubarb growing in 2024 but it did so well that I picked a few stems from the largest of the plants. This is the only shot I can find is this one, one huge plant in the background to the left spilling over the path in July.

This is why I keep a photo journal of the plot to track progress from year to year. The asparagus crowns (Guelph Millenium or Eclipse) planted last year also had a brilliant first year’s growth and currently are yet to emerge from the soil. I’ve been prodding the soil but no sign of buds lurching just below the soil – I’m gripping on to patience and looking at this shot from September 2024.

I’ve added two double-height raised beds to the plot. This is the end that was previously the unofficial dumping and bonfire site. I covered the whole area with weed membrane and located the blueberry cage, shed and compost bins plus large pots for carrots. That left a space just the right shape and size for two 6×4 beds. Double-height to give sufficient space for root growth but that is about a cubic tonne of soil each. I’ve taken a hugelkultur approach and filled the bottom third with wood chips, then a layer of fresh manure and topped up with compost that’s been cooking for about 9 months. Now I need to be patient and allow those layers to get to know each other and settle before adding a layer of purchased top soil. I’ll sow seeds this week – spring onions, beetroots, lettuce etc and plan to have the bed ready for them to be planted out in May.

I’ve only managed one post per month so far this year but as shoots emerge, be ready for posts proclaiming ‘it lives!’ or if mindset is right, ‘it’s dead!’

I hope all your shoots are green.