I tickled the rhubarb patch with a fork to pluck out weeds and keep the couch grass at bay. Then I added a mulch of leaves which are part of nature's bounty at this time of year. Bare earth is often regarded as a sign of a 'tidy' garden or allotment but nature abhors a vacuum and that includes bare earth. The emergence of 'weeds' is the first step to repairing the damage done by exposing the soil.

 Having said that I don't want the rhubarb patch to become overgrown so I aim to protect and build the soil with mulches. Leaves decay over winter to make an excellent soil conditioner but they are low in nutrients. I watered the mulch with comfrey tea to add NPK. This also had the effect of wetting the dry leaves which will hopefully stop them from blowing away until they get properly soggy.