Homeschool Garden Club - Rhubarb

There are few crops that you can grow which take such little effort to succeed as Rhubarb. It is my personal favourite. Over the winter, I look forward to the rhubarb. Forget the daffodils or the cherry blossom heralding spring, I am look for the wide green leaves of the rhubarb. Rhubarb is high in Vitamin K and calcium both of which are important for bone health.

The leaves and roots are certainly not edible, they are poisonous – although I have never heard in any of the murder mysteries I have read of someone being “dun-in” by rhubarb. So when picking you are only going to pick, cook and eat the red stalks. Stalks that are still pale green can cause you to have an upset tummy.

As far back as the Elizabethan times, they knew that rhubarb stalks were good for constipation in small dose, but eating too much could give you a very sore tummy for quite some time. This laxative effect is why rhubarb is made into pies with other things like apples here in the UK and with strawberries in the USA. This served the cook well in two ways; firstly to dilute the effects of the rhubarb and secondly using up the last of the stored apples, those that had made it through the winter store and were now looking not their best and most appetising.

Nowadays, we use it as great flavour for things like smoothies, cordial, cheese cakes, pies, crumbles, fools, rice puddings, cakes, jams, tarts and even savoury dishes like curry.

How to Grow

Plant the crown in a sunny weed freed stop, that has had manure, compost, blood fish and bone dug in a few weeks before hand.

Don't harvest the first year, leave it to settle and grow for its self. Lightly pick on the second year and from the third year you can can pick stalks - pick evenly and don't take all the stalks from one crown at once.

Keep the rhubarb plant free of weeds by covering the ground with a mulch of composted manure, Do this early in the winter so you can mulch around, but not over the top of the crown and this will stop it from rotting. In March, weed and then add some slow release fertiliser. Water in dry spells, you will be able to tell its too dry because the leaves start to lay flat.

The Longest Day of the year is the last harvest day in my garden. Stop picking after this to allow the plant to replenish its stores.

During autumn pick the dead leaves off and compost them.

When harvesting the stalk it is important hold the stalk at the base, to avoid snapping off. grass the stalk firmly and pull with a sharp tug in the direction the stem is growing.

Once the clump is over 5 years old and it is starting to get a bit woody, it is a good idea to lift it and split it. These then can be put in to another area of the garden, a very large pot or into an allotment.

I am about to lift and separate some of my rhubarb, if you would like a small crown please let me know.

We have always grown ‘Timperley Early’ but we don’t bother with forcing it. It does just fine on its own and 2 crowns givens enough rhubarb for a family of 4 over the session.