So long as you split them, the vegetable’s pink stalks will guarantee you fresh crumbles for years to come

Now that my veg patch is four seasons old, I’ve found myself reflecting on the decisions I made when I set it up. Some of those choices need to be addressed, or even undone. The wire fence that keeps wildlife from grazing on my crops is buckling and falling down. Two of the perennial beds spend most of the year in the shade of a willow tree and, as a result, some of the plants there have failed to thrive. And, while some crops are doing well, if I want them to continue flourishing it’s time for me to act.

One such plant is my very handsome rhubarb that has been going from strength to strength, year on year. It’s doing so well that its increasing numbers of stems, ever-widening crown (the section of the root that joins the stems together) and enormous, crinkled leaves are pushing over my aforementioned fence. Now it’s definitively autumn and rhubarb is in a state of dormancy, it’s a good time to divide it.