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JUICY RHUBARB HAS BEEN PLANTED FOR MORE THAN 2000 YEARS
My two rhubarb plants used to be an embarrassment. They struggled to survive in hard-packed clay soil where they received insufficient sun and nutrients. They expressed their displeasure by sending up several paltry shoots each year that perhaps could have made a strawberry-rhubarb pie, but not an entire rhubarb pie.
About three years ago, I moved the two plants to a 8 ft. x 8 ft. raised bed filled with purchased soil enriched with compost and manure. The next spring, the plants sent up extra shoots and we enjoyed at least one pie and a bowl or two of rhubarb sauce.
Now, several years later, these two plants seem headed for the pages of the rhubarb believe-it-or-not book. My wife and I have picked three giant crops and last weekend my daughter took an armful of stalks home to her house. The plants show hardly any signs of harvest.
It's amazing what full sun, bountiful soil nutrients and rainfall can produce.
Although we often think of it as a fruit, rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum) is a vegetable - a member of the buckwheat family. It is rich in vitamin C and dietary fiber. Three commonly grown varieties are MacDonald, Chipman's Canada Red, and Valentine.
Rhubarb originated in Asia more than 2,000 years ago. Initially cultivated for its medicinal qualities, it was not until the 18th century that rhubarb was grown for culinary purposes in Britain and America.
Early American records reveal that a Maine gardener obtained seeds or rootstock from Europe in the late 1700s. He later introduced rhubarb to Massachusetts, its popularity spread, and by 1822 it was sold in produce markets.
The large green leaves of rhubarb are poisonous. They contain high concentrations of oxalic acid crystals that can cause the tongue and throat to swell, preventing breathing. The edible petioles (stalks) can grow to 18 inches in length and are prized in many sauce, pie and cobbler recipes.
Rhubarb will grow well in any deep, well-drained fertile soil. Before planting, till soil to a depth of 12-16 inches and mix in rotted manure, compost or other form of organic matter and a complete fertilizer.
Locate plants in an area where they will get plenty of sun and will not be disturbed by normal garden work. A few mature plants will supply all the stalks an average family can use.
To divide an old rhubarb plant, lift the plant from the soil in the early spring before growth has started and cut the roots into pieces, each with one or more large vigorous bud. Plant the root divisions upright 4-6 inches below soil level.
Top-dress each plant with well-rotted manure in the fall. In the spring, apply a pound of complete fertilizer, high in nitrogen, around each plant.
Rhubarb should not be harvested heavily until the third year after planting, although a limited number of stalks may be pulled the second year. To harvest, pull the leafstalk upward and to the side; do not cut the stalks.
The harvesting period for rhubarb can continue to mid summer. Do not harvest during late summer or fall unless the bed is to be discontinued. Quality of stalks begins to decline during the hot, dry weeks of late summer, and the plant needs leaf mass to allow photosynthesis.
As plants mature, they will produce flower stalks, which should be removed by cutting as they appear. This will preserve manufactured food materials for new leaf stalks.
Rhubarb can be forced indoors during the winter. If you have excess plants, dig up a few plants in late fall and place them in a protected place where they will freeze but not dry out. Roots left outdoors to freeze should be covered lightly with soil. After freezing for several weeks, place the roots in a container and cover the crowns with 2-3 inches of soil or sand. The plants should be grown in semidarkness for best color and quality. The ideal temperature range is 50ƒ-65ƒF.
When harvesting rhubarb, do not remove more than one-third of the stalks from any one plant. Young, dark pink, smaller-diameter petioles are sweeter and more tender than thick, long green ones, although characteristics vary among varieties.
Rhubarb petioles will keep in the refrigerator for two to three weeks in sealed plastic bags.
An Internet site on rhubarb explains that, in addition to its use as a food, rhubarb can be used to clean burned pots and pans, to color your hair, and to deter insects.
To make light-colored hair more golden, simmer 3 tablespoons of rhubarb root in 2 cups of water for 15 minutes, set aside overnight, strain, and pour over hair for a rinse.
To make an effective organic insecticide for leaf-eating insects, boil shredded rhubarb leaves in water for 20 minutes, strain, and use the liquid as a spray for aphids, cabbage caterpillars and other insect critters.
Finally, here is a rhubarb limerick from the rhubarb website:
Your rhubarb, I've noticed it grows
By the outhouse where everyone goes!
Grandad said, "Lad,
It isn't so badÖ
They're family! Just people we knows!"
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
Gardening Wisdom, Wit
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by Cliff Johnson |
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