[basketcase]

Hi - I was down at the Lotty on a bump of earth I call The Mound because, for some reason, it's been dug over and is now in, well, a mound!

I picked up what I thought was a stick lying on top of the soil, but it seems to be a root with leaves attached to it.  It's quite difficult to get a good shot of it, but I've attached a couple if photos.

What is it, please?  It looks like rhubarb - but if it is how the heck did it get there?  It wasn't there last time I looked 

And what do I do with it?!

[snowdrops]

Yes looks like rhubarb to me, think someone may have dug it up & thrown it!

[greenjay]

Looks like rhubarb.
What to do with it?  if you want a rhubarb plant grow it on and see if it does indeed turn out to be rhubarb.
if you don't want it get rid. chop and compost make sure it doesn't grow

[basketcase]

Thanks for the help, snowdrops and greenjay. 

Not something I'd grow for myself, but my daughter likes it so I was going to have to buy a plant.  Someone else's peculiar behaviour has saved me time and money!

[snowdrops]

If you salvage it plant with some manure in the planting hole & mulch well with it as well, then water well & stand well back, up f you can resist don’t pick any next year to allow it to get established. Seems a lot of people have trouble  growing rhubarb but I think it’s cos they don’t consider its root structure & allow it to really establish. I went to the rhubarb forcing she’d in the rhubarb triangle earlier this year & their advice was that when you do pick it to pick everything on it & then leave it for 2 or 3 weeks.

[basketcase]

Thanks for the advice, snowdrops.

Sorry to be a pain, but another question.  Would I need to buy a bag of well-rotted manure?  (I don't have any at the mo). 

I do have fish blood and bone, chicken pellets and veg-growing compost.  Could I mix some combination of those and plant it in that?  Got oodles of rabbit poo too...

Personally, I can resist rhubarb indefinitely!  I'm growing it for my daughter, and she's of a mind to be glad when she gets it whenever it arrives.  A great combination, under the circs! 

[greenjay]

I would make the most of what you have available. Mulch in the winter with what ever you have.

[basketcase]

Thanks all

[snowdrops]

Yes all of those would be good & you probably know already that you can use rabbit poo directly without the need for composting first, so a good dollop of that in the planting hole with the other stuff you have & then water well & mulch with more rabbit poo will be great

[basketcase]

Thanks for getting back, snowdrops.

Yes, I'd heard that rabbit poo could be used straight away.  Mind you, I'd also read that it was considered good stuff, but I'd begun to doubt it because I was telling someone on the allotment that I'd got access to the stuff and they were completely underwhelmed.  So I thought maybe it wasn't too good after all.

So.  The rabbit can relax. (I'm still going to try growing Chervil, though!    )