Rhubarb is a lush large leafed perennial. It adds a tropical touch to our high desert gardens. With stalks ranging from deep crimson to green with a touch of red, it is truly a beautiful plant. While leaves are toxic, the stalks are the prize used in pies, jams, lemonade, sauces, and breads.
Harvesting
Early spring is the time of year to harvest stalks unless it is a first year planting. To harvest reach in to the base of the stalk and twist. A perfect harvest comes away with part of the crown. Do not cut the stalks. You can harvest up to 1/2 the stalks of established plants for 8-12 weeks. Stop harvesting after that to allow the plant to nourish the roots. Don't harvest from a 1st year planting.
Lift and divide the plant every 5 years or when the stalks become thin. Do this in early spring. Lift the roots, divide into sections each with a visible bud, and put the old section in the compost pile.
When you twist off a stalk and smell the end it's amazing! A combination of sweet and tart! I love it. I've never tried this but heard that back in great grandmother's day they dipped the raw stalks in powdered jello and ate them like that.
Stewed rhubarb with yogurt is also a delicious treat.
Another chore to help maintain a healthy continuous crop is to cut or pull out bud stalks which will develop into flowers. These stalks are hollow and will have a few leaves on them. Add them to your compost pile.
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| Flower buds developing on rhubarb. Remove these. |
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| Flowers of rhubarb. Remove before they get to this point. This is an ongoing chore. |
Once you harvest rhubarb cut off the leaves to put in the compost pile. Don't feed to your chickens or livestock. Rhubarb stores for a couple weeks in the refrigerator. Rhubarb can be cut into 1/2" to 1" pieces, individually quick frozen on trays, and then put in freezer bags for use later in the season. You can also freeze dry it.
Planting Rhubarb
Rhubarb is planted from rhizomes planted 2' deep. Before planting dig a larger hole and amend it with compost and a handful of dry organic fertilizer.
Rhubarb tolerates afternoon shade and I recommend partial shade for our area.
Care of Rhubarb
In early spring, give a feeding of fish emulsion. Clean up the area, add a dry organic fertilizer, and mulch with 2" of mulch. Even moisture is important
Rhubarb Recipes
Click on the link below for the recipes. Watch for new recipes this week. This is one of my favorite crops and should have a spot in every garden.
Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler (my favorite)
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