Plant Rhubarb
I am on a mission to encourage rhubarb, which I find an astonishing number of people have never tasted. You start a bed by digging a big hole, filling it with good mature, and planting rhubarb roots. Thereafter, you will have a supply of rhubarb every spring for fifty years and your bed will keep getting bigger. Don't eat the leaves; they are poisonous. The stems look like pink celery. Cut them into chunks, add a little water and sugar, and stew quietly for 10-15 minutes then use as you would applesauce. The color will be beautiful. Variously you can make pies with rhubarb, mix it with strawberries, or make all kinds of desserts. It's not a fruit but tastes like one. A rhubarb bed gives you something to depend on in life. BTW rhubarb right now in Chicago costs $7.99 lb: grow your own and beat the luxury market rap.
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I have to say that being from Manitoba I find this thread cute! I don't know many people that DON'T have rhubarb around here. It's the most tenacious thing in my garden! I cut judiciously off it all summer to make desserts with....it's delicious and along with my strawberry plants makes for a great example of practically free!! :) Then in the fall I cut it all down, chop it up, pop it in some foodsaver bags and freeze it. Then I've got it all winter long to bake with. There's nothing tastier or faster than a rhubarb crisp or pie with some ice cream.
In my experience over three houses rhubarb will grow pretty much anywhere you pop it into the ground....›1 Reply-
re: perpigillium
NYchowcook
May 11, 2009 12:30 PM
yes, us cute Americans :)
In the northeast US, rhubarb sends up shoots in the summer, and then the stalks are no longer good to eat, I'm told. Ah the virtues of zone 3!? (as I also envy the fruit/nut home growers in California . . .)
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BobB
May 6, 2009 09:42 AM
My best friend's mom grew it when I was a kid so I was exposed to it a lot. I remember she warned me the first time I tried it that it would make my teeth feel fuzzy - I think her exact words were, "It'll grow hair on your teeth."
I liked it back then but haven't had it much as an adult. Now you've got me thinking I should put in a little patch.
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Ok. You've all convinced me to plant rhubarb this year. Is it too late or shall I wait for next year? I live in the San Francisco Bay Area where it's still cold and rainy right now.
I've only ever had rhubarb raw with a sprinkling of salt because that's how my boyfriend likes it. Blech! After that my curiosity about its other preparations waned even though it wasn't fair for me to judge rhubarb based on that one experience. .›1 Reply-
re: PaperMoon
I live in a wildly different geogrpahic climate but I suspect it may not be too late...
My husband pulled our rhubarb plant from our shed this morning! And low and behold - it's growing! Also saw some rhubarb crowns?(roots?) at home depot last night available for sale. Also - I was at the farmer's market this morning and there was not one stalk of rhubarb to be found yet.I think you do need to keep in mind that you really can't start to harvest rhubarb for about 3 yrs (we trimmed off 2 or 3 stalks off ours last year which was our first year and it was a measly contribution to the rhubarb strawberry crisp.)
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Kizzle
May 1, 2009 11:56 AM
I have rhubarb that I got from my ex-mother-in-law 30 years ago, neglected it for at least a decade...last year, we dug it up, and replanted it in new holes with manure and mushroom compost, and I have big, BEAUTIFUL stalks as I type.
It makes a great relish, and I'm hoping to try making some rhubarb soda next year!
I know some of the bigger seed companies offer all kinds and colors, check online.~Kizzle
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Sal Vanilla
Apr 23, 2009 04:12 PM
Do not plant it where you want to grow anything else or want it to be gone one day. Also, it will grown in any soil and will not die if you forget it.
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Couldn't resist chiming in on Rhubarb! Totally underrepresented on fine-dining menus and at the family dinner table in my opinion!
Found this article in the NYT that gives a good overview of how to plant it and what to do with it, too: http://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/07/sty... for anyone interested in giving it a go.
I see the article says not to plant Rhubarb started from seed since it doesn't produce decent stalks but rather beg a nice start from a friend. But says to be sure it's rhubarb that will produce red/pink pies. And not the stuff that makes greenish pies. I believe the greenish stuff is the 'Victoria' strain that I often see advertised. 'MacDonald' is the preferred strain of many cooks/gardeners.
I also noted that moles do like rhubarb, so maybe that does account for your disappearing plants. If you sprinkle castor bean powder around that may deter them, although it can be toxic for other animals, I suppose.
Mine is almost ready to pick and I will be making a brioche crust with rhubarb filling this weekend. And NO strawberries with it, please! (-:
You know it's springtime when the talk turns to Rhubarb! I love your thread!
dumas.
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re: dumas
NYchowcook
Apr 23, 2009 04:44 PM
Thanks dumas for this article. I am a big Anne Raver fan. However, it was disheartening that most likely I purchased the dreaded green Victoria. So I just ordered a Valentine rhubarb plant from Miller's Nursery.
If I'm going to have it for a decade or more, I want a delicious variety!-
re: NYchowcook
greygarious
Apr 23, 2009 06:16 PM
If I'm not mistaken, somewhere on one of the 2 rbubarb links I posted upthread, Victoria was praised. Note that the color of rhubarb doesn't indicate ripeness. Different varieties mature with different colors.
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re: kenito799
greygarious
Apr 29, 2009 10:01 AM
To complicate things further, on a plant show yesterday they said that red rhubarb starts out red, then turns green as it matures. I don't know if that holds true for all red varieties. I do know that the popularity of Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is rooted ina misunderstanding. "Strawberry" in this case referred to a variety of rhubarb, not the berry, which is often not in season at the same time as rhubarb. Bakers who didn't know this combined the two fruits and voila, the most common rhubarb preparation was born.
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re: dumas
I just wanted to report that I made our rhubarb pie with the Victoria in our garden and it was indeed quite greenish and not especially beautiful to look at (ugly, really) but I did buy some pink rhubarb and it made up quite nicely in another pie (to compare). I think I have to order a couple of the Valentine or MacDonald plants, although I googled and did not see that anything but Victora plants were readily available on the market.
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re: dumas
NYchowcook
May 6, 2009 06:41 AM
Miller Nursery out of upstate NY sells Valentine Rhubarb -- I ordered and received bare root, along w/ 2 roses and 1 shrub.
millernurseries.comafter I planted the roses and shrub, I went in the house and checked my order sheet and said: oops! That hunk I threw in the compost bin I thought was packing material was actually my rhubarb root!
I just have to dig up a spot to plant it for its permanent home.
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re: josey124
rhubarb does best in full sun and slightly acid soil. it should be carefree once established...stop harvesting it after early summer to give plant a chance to stock up for the winter...I planted three roots a couple weeks ago and I am thrilled to see them sprouting. I really hope they do well! I am jealous of my sister's access to rhubarb at her house!
Rhubarb is one plant that does better in northern latitudes. amyzan, maybe your climate is too mild?-
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re: Lucymax
amyzan
Apr 22, 2009 03:02 PM
Full sun is better, but they will tolerate some shade during the day. You don't get a FULL harvest until three years, but you can trim judiciously the first and second years, certainly. The plants are slow to establish, from what I gather, but once established will produce and produce for ten years or so. Last year, I had over five pounds from one plant.
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amyzan
Apr 19, 2009 09:38 AM
Only one of our five plants has survived to year four. I don't know what the heck happened, because I was careful not to harvest the first year, then to be judicious the second. At any rate, that one plant is thriving, and very well may produce enough for our family of two. But I am curious, those of you with experience growing rhubarb, do you have any ideas why four of the five plants didn't come up? To be clear, last year we had two left, the year before three, so this was a gradual process. I'm wondering if I don't have them in a good spot. We live on a hillside with southwestern exposure, and the garden is rocky, but we composted it quite well several years ago before we started, and have top dressed since. We do have deer and rabbits, but they seem not to bother the rhubarb.
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NYchowcook
Apr 19, 2009 07:14 AM
Yea rhubarb! I endorse everyone having rhubarb -- carefree, lasts forever, and it's about the first fruit (think: strawberry rhubarb pie, or rhubarb compote for meat)
I had a huge plant where I used to live, and forgot about rhubarb, and then thought I should find someone to divide their plant for me, but I found plants at Home Depot yesterday so splurged for 6 bucks and will plant. So, rhubarb for me next year!
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re: paulabear
greygarious
Apr 18, 2009 08:47 PM
www.rhubarbinfo.com lists mail-order/online sources for rhizomes, seed, and plants.
Also, see www.savor-the-rhubarb.com.
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re: Apple
Gio
Apr 19, 2009 09:02 AM
Yes - three years for the plant to mature enough to eat. Planrt in plenty of compost enriched soil. Top dress the plant in the Spring after the last frost. Pull, do not cut, the stalks from the bottom. And - this is very important. DO NOT EAT THE LEAVES - THEY'RE POISONOUS. But my strong advise is don't plant just 1 - plant 3 or more. They last decades in the garden and get bushier each year. I've had 4 rhubarb plants in my garden for 10 years now!! They are just emerging now.
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