Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Planting (and eating) rhubarb
My dad LOVED rhubarb. And my mom made a LOT of pies and froze a lot of cut-up rhubarb for winter. This perennial is well worth growing.
Rhubarb needs full sun, well drained soil and a nice layer of rich compost each year. It’s best to plant rhubarb in the spring. Some cultivars recommended by the University of Wisconsin Extension include ‘Canada Red’, ‘Cherry Red’, ‘Crimson Red’, ‘MacDonald’, ‘Valentine’ and ‘Victoria’.
It’s best to plant PLANTS, not the seed. Let your rhubarb grow the first season, wait to harvest the second season. Your new plants need an inch of water a week, keep in mind that rainfall counts!
Always keep in mind the mature size of the plant. Rhubarb will grow to 3 square feet, so give ‘em room. Harvest rhubarb late in spring as the leaves and stalks become large enough. Grab, twist and pull the stalks from the base of the plant but be careful not to pull the plant out of the soil. A knife works well also!
Pick rhubarb until the end of June, then leave it to just grow the rest of the season. Throughout the summer, the large green leaves will photosynthesize and send energy down into the roots for next year’s crop.
Rhubarb really don’t have any pests. It’s very important to know that rhubarb stalks are delicious, rhubarb leaves are toxic. Don’t eat them. They contain oxalic acid which will make you very sick!
Some recipes from my Recipe tab:
Rhubarb-mint chutney
Rhubarb Jam and Rhubarb Spread from my Aunt Glee
Rhubarb/strawberry/rose compote