Go With The Throw

Clay rhubarb forcers, once a common sight, had all but vanished from gardens until a chance meeting inspired John Huggins to revive a dying art. Sharon Amos reports:

Does your rhubarb patch produce horrid stringy stalks in summer, fit only for chutneys and jams? To transform a brute of a clump into a cluster of early, delicate pink stems with good flavour and less acidity, all it takes is one simple, elegant piece of garden equipment: a rhubarb forcer.

John Huggins had been hand-throwing all manner of garden pots for years before he taught himself how to make rhubarb forcers. It all began when he was caught unawares at the Chelsea Flower Show, by none other than the Duke of Edinburgh, who wandered over to his stand and casually asked if he made rhubarb forcers.

Despite being quick-witted enough to reply "Only to order", no commission was forthcoming. Nevertheless, John was intrigued. He began by going to farm auctions and buying up examples of old rhubarb forcers. As he is based in the West Country, the design he came across and which he modelled his own, is the classic regional chimney shape, tall and elegant, with the faintest hint of a belly swelling across the middle. "A completely straight pot looks mean," says John.

Once he started making them, people just couldn't get enough - not always, he suspects, because they are rhubarb lovers, but just because the pots look so beautiful in the garden.

When he had mastered rhubarb, it was only natural to turn his attention to seakale forcers, the same height as those for rhubarb but bell-shaped to accomodate seakale's more rounded shape.

Production takes place at his workshop on the edge of the Forest of Dean, where the clay is mixed and the pots thrown, dried and fired. Enormous care is put into the preparation of the clay. Over the years, John has perfected a half-and-half blend of "plastic" grey Lydney clay dug a few miles away, and tougher, redder Bristol clay. The clay has to be blended, sieved and pressed before it even reaches the potter's wheel.

"When visitors see me throw a rhubarb forcer, "says John, "some may think: 'He's got a cheek charging all that for a few minutes' work.' But, in fact, a whole day's labour has gone into the clay before it's evn thrown."

Although John has a team of talented potters working with him to produce planters, lily pots, wall pots, troughs and long toms, he alone has the skill - and perhaps the confidence - to throw the forcers. Heaving the clay on to the wheel is fairly dangerous, since a lump big enough to make a rhubarb forcer weighs nearly 44lb.

Once he starts to work the clay it becomes clear how important it is to have the right consistency. "Too firm and it pushes you around, too soft and it won't stay where you want it, "says John "A lot of energy goes on simply centring the clay on the wheel. I use the structure of my body to move the clay - not my weight."

On average, he makes 15 rhubarb forcers a day. The lid takes almost as long to perfect as the body. Each has to be made in two sessions on the wheel: one to throw the lid, the second to add the knob.

About one third of clay's weight is water and this has to be driven off before the forcers can be fired. To coax this process along, a solid-fuel Rayburn burns night and day.

John has had a large number of orders from Japan - again, not because the Japanese are great lovers of rhubarb, but because they value the pot's design in the garden. He has also customised a batch for Japanese clients who wanted to use them as compost-makers for small gardens: adding a trowel-sized opening in the base means the finished compost can be easily scooped out.

Of course, you can force rhubarb with an old dustbin or plastic bucket and get the same results, but nothing can compare with gracefully ageing, hand-thrown terracotta.

Forcing rhubarb

Rhubarb crowns are traditionally planted in winter but need to be left for two or three years to establish before they can be forced. Put the forcer over the crown in winter and keep the lid on to protect it. Once the crown starts to shoot, John Huggins recommends taking the lid off to encourage the stems to grow towards the light.

When a crown has been forced, leave it to rest for a year to recover. If you're serious about forcing rhubarb, you'll need two crowns to force in turn. A mulch of well-rotted manure in autumn when the leaves have died back will help them recover.

Seakale is forced in a similar way. Buy seakale as root cuttings or thongs and plant them in spring. Leave them to grow for at least a year before forcing in the same way as rhubarb. Seakale plants don't need to rest between forcings, but after three years it is usually a good idea to replace them. You can do this by taking root cuttings from the spent plants.