Rhubarb- Midwesterners Unite!

Rhubarb is another crop that we're going to be growing at Heritage Hill Farm.  
We are waiting for our crowns to arrive from the seed company. Once they do, we will plant them in a safe place so that every Spring we can patiently wait for them to emerge.

 
Its going to be a small wait for them to establish, but we made sure to purchase the older, more mature grades of the varieties. 

Rhubarb is something that Midwesterners rally around, especially the further North you go. You could even call it a conversation starter. Every late Spring and Summer, people look forward to their rhubarb crisp and the dynamic dual of strawberry and rhubarb for pies and jam. I believe some towns in Minnesota even celebrate with festivals. This is a plant that doesn't do well in the hotter Southern states.

Growing up, I didn't understand why people bothered with it. It was tart, tangy, and looked kind of strange when it was growing. For some reason, back in the day, I thought that people who ate large amounts of it were crabby, tart, and mean. Maybe I was afraid of it. But I'm fessing up- now I happen to look forward to the tart and tangy, especially when it's in a jam. Funny how someone's tastes can change.

Here's how to grow and harvest it-
Growing rhubarb is relatively easy. It does best in a well drained soil and will produce more stalks as it becomes more established. Rhubarb is typically planted by plants, crowns to be exact, in early Spring.

During the first couple of years do not harvest heavily. The idea behind this practice, that's commonly applied to other perennial crops, is that the plant should be spending its early years establishing itself. Think of all of the important energy going to the future, instead of a traumatic heavy early harvest.

Harvesting usually happens when there is a slight pink- red tinge to the stalks and they are about an inch thick. It is best to twist the stalks (from the crown) as cleanly as possible. Be sure to not leave any broken stalks on the plants because this can encourage bacterial and fungal problems.

To harvest, cut off and discard the leaves. Do not use as they are actually poisonous. Then slice and use in jams, pies, crisps, muffins, and other great baking projects. Another juicy tidbit is that rhubarb freezes quite nicely.
Enjoy!