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When we had the dairy farms, so long ago it is almost a faint memory, we had Rhubarb every spring. It was a harbinger of spring. Rhubarb sauce and Hazel’s famous Rhubarb pie!
Rhubarb seemed to grow near the house and not in the garden and we went out and snapped off as many stalks as was needed and brought it in, washed it, cut it up and went from there, sauce or pie.
We got some pretty cold winters in northern New York up near the Canadian border and rhubarb survived each winter. Matter of fact, Rhubarb is so hardy that it survives even in Siberia and Alaska. It does not grow well in Florida.
Rhubarb can even be made into a fairly good wine. When one adds strawberries, raspberries, apples, and other fruits it will enhance the wine, pie, tarts, jams or sauce.
Since Roman times there has been a controversy as to whether Rhubarb is a fruit or a vegetable. Basically, Rhubarb is a member of the buckwheat family.
It does well in zones 2 to 9 because Rhubarb needs two months of really cold weather in order to survive.
Rhubarb is very easy to grow, but it does not grow from a seed. It needs a root division taken from the crown, or base of the plant. You will find Rhubarb with red or green stalks and great bushy leaves and the color of the stalk makes no difference in the taste even though most people choose the red stalk kind simply because of the color when it is cooked up.
It likes rich organic soil and when you plant it you will only need about 3 to 6 plants for a family of four providing all of them like Rhubarb.
When you plant the crowns, plant them at least 4 inches deep spacing them 3 to 4 feet apart in holes filled with generous amounts of well-aged manure or compost .The leaves may wilt at first, but watering them thoroughly at first will prevent transplant shock. Just be sure to keep them good and moist and they will recover.
When the stalks are tall and the leaves are large you can harvest by reaching down the stalk and giving it a twist at the base to snap it off like you would a piece of celery and just as celery likes a lot of water, so does Rhubarb. Never eat the leaves as they are poisonous.
On the farm, each late fall, one of us would go out and cover the Rhubarb bed with straw and evergreen boughs to help them from the few times in the winter that we might go to 40 to 60 below zero.
About every four years one of us would go out to the Rhubarb patch and divide the Rhubarb as by then the bed had become crowded. The divided ones would be sent home with family members or friends who did not have Rhubarb at their homes.
One last bit of information. Never cook Rhubarb in an aluminum pan or pot. It has something to do with the high content of oxalic acid in the Rhubarb which will turn your Rhubarb a really terrible looking brown.
Most people either love or hate Rhubarb and for those who enjoy it below are some recipes.
Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients:
4 Cups Young Rhubarb, Unpeeled & Diced
1Tblsp Butter
1 tsp Orange Rind, Grated
¼ Cup All Purpose unbleached Flour
2 9” Unbaked Pie Crusts
2 Cups Sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line the pie pan (9”) with one pie crust shell. Mix all the ingredients for the filling together and pour into the pie crust. Top with the second pie crust shell. Cut several decorative vents or slashes in the upper crust. Seal the two crusts together around the edges. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake about 20 minutes longer.
Easy Rhubarb Sauce
Ingredients:
6 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp water
Directions:
In large saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to medium low. Simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally for about 15 min or until slightly thickened and rhubarb is in threads. Let cool. This can be refrigerated up to 5 days. Makes 3 cups;
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books. Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site.”
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