In the garden rhubarb tends to take a background role, sometimes almost forgotten in a corner of the garden. It's so easy to grow and can be left to it's own devices..
However as with so many other plants a little bit of TLC goes a long way. Manure or compost, plenty of water and a period of frost in the winter helps to produce good stems.
This is our rhubarb last year. There are three varieties, Champagne, Victoria and one unnamed one which was a present from a fellow gardener.
It was very dry spring last year and the rhubarb produced a lot of flowers which I cut off. We then added a seep hose to alleviate the problem.
Botanically speaking, rhubarb is considered a vegetable, but it's most often treated as a fruit — though it's rarely eaten raw.
Except by us as children when we used to dip a stick of rhubarb in sugar and convince ourselves it was a treat!
At this time of year forcing is a method of getting an earlier harvest of sweeter stems that don't need peeling. To do this outdoors, cover plants with a container or large pot to exclude the light. Place the cover over the rhubarb as soon as it begins to show signs of growth. We have a rhubarb forcer but a bucket does equally well, it's just not as pretty.
After several weeks the rhubarb should look like this...
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The plant will now be exhausted. It's best to feed it and give it a year or so to recover.
For anyone interested in rhubarb, visit Kellie Castle in Fife where they grow a mind boggling 23 varieties!
And just in case you think I've completely lost it when it comes to spelling, can I introduce you to the "Roobarb" of the title. For those younger folk and others outside the UK, Roobarb and his mate Custard (what else?) got up to all sorts of hair brained schemes in a 1970s cartoon.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI think my Rhubarb has bit the dust after the dry spring last year. There's no sign of it coming back yet and last year it barely produced anything and had no second flush after the first were produced... I'm not complaining though as I always give it away as I don't eat it!
But I am going to miss its large leaves which do add some interest to the spot where they were.
It was so dry last spring wasn't it? looks like it might be the same again for soem folk in the south of England. Have you thought of trying ornamental rhubarb?
DeleteFor some reason the area where I grew up in Denver was a hot spot for rhubarb growers, though they never forced it. Before my mom's plants grew big enough to harvest we used to stop at one little farm stand pretty regularly. The elderly couple who owned it always argued over whether to cut the leaves off or twist them off. You could tell they'd been having the same argument for decades and got kind of a kick out of it... (My favorite rhubarb memory.) I love the look of your forcing pot, very nice esp. with the chicken nearby.
ReplyDeleteDo you ever read b-a-g's blog Experiments with Plants? She posted on rhubarb a while ago. At the bottom of the post there's a link to a really magical video: Experiments with Plants
I pull the stems and cut the leaves. Lovely childhood memory. I do read b-a-g's blog but I must have missed that one. Off to have a browse now.
DeleteSo looking forward to rhubarb again. Nothing to beat Rhubarb and Custard...the edible kind rather than the cartoon!
ReplyDeleteI love it to. It's such a versatile fruit and it freezes well.
DeleteWe used to grow rhubarb as an ornamental plant rather than for consumption but I do love the flavour. Rhubarb pie, yumm!!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many different varieties you can have the best of both worlds!
DeleteI haven't grown rhubarb which is really silly as I love it and find it outrageously expensive in the supermarkets. A very inspiring post and your last photo certainly has the wow factor! I'm going to have to find a corner to put some rhubarb in - and yes, I remember Roobarb very well!
ReplyDeleteCaro I wish the last photo was mine... but I'm hoping our rhubarb will look as good as that in a few weeks!
DeleteI love rhubarb. I just had some raspberry/rhubarb crumble which is such a treat this time of tyear
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a lovely combination. I usually freeze some rhubarb so that would be something to try when the raspberries are in season.
DeleteI remember Roobarb and Custard well even though I now live in the US.
ReplyDeleteStill love Rhubarb (and custard)too and grow it as an ornamental among the flowers and shrubs. It's one of the few things deer will leave alone.Love it in crumble with orange juice added to the fruit and the zest to the topping into which I add oats to keep the flour company.
Love your rhubarb forcer. I had a terracotta one but it seems to have disappeared over the years.
I originally got the rhubarb forcer for decorative purposes (and it was in a sale) and then I thought daft not to use it!
DeleteI've just covered my rhubarb but with a largish plastic pot. I'm very envious of your forcing pot but I can't justify spending £50 on one at the moment. It's on my 'to save up for' list. My dad once gave me raw rhubarb dipped in sugar was I had some sort of lurgy as a child, I think he thought it would have some sort of healing properties. I found it disgusting! Fortunately it didn't put me off the cooked version. Can't wait to tuck inot the first produce of the year.
ReplyDeleteThe forcers are very expensive especially the vintage style. But I do think a pot works just as well.
DeleteLove rhubarb, but only have one plant at the moment, must buy more so that I can force some, your last photo is so inspirational! I like to add ginger to my rhubarb crumbles, gives it a nice kick!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise that rhubarb was quite so popular. I grew up with it and the first stalks are always a treat (cooked of course)
DeleteI love rhubarb as well. I've never tried forcing it - sounds interesting! I don't want to hurt the plant though... will it be OK in the future if you do that?
ReplyDeleteThe plant takes a while to recover and needs lot of tlc and don't pick any rhubarb for a while. You could also take a crown of an established plant and force that in a pot.
DeleteUntil recently, I thought you had to bring rhubarb into a shed to force it like farmers do in the North (or South to you!). Then when I was searching for instructions on how to do it, I discovered antique rhubarb forcing pots like yours.
ReplyDeleteThe antique forcers are wonderful Mine is a modern version. I think the forcing rhubarb in sheds is a very Yorkshire thing. It's still a tradition there.
DeleteHow cool! I heard of rhubarb that was generally grown in the dark - I never thought of forcing one outdoors in a similar fashion! I wonder if that would work to grow rhubarb here early in the season - it's usually too hot here to grow rhubarb. I love rhubarb, especially in strawberry rhubarb pie!
ReplyDeleteGosh I think it probably is too hot where you are unless you can grow it in the shade and give it lots of compost and water. The rhubabrb here didn't like the dry spring in 2011 ans=d kept flowering.
DeleteI was given two rhubarb forcing jars when I left my job at a garden centre. Really chuffed and then they both shattered in hard frost. Humph. Yours is obviously better quality.
ReplyDeleteI've had it about three years. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. We had a old pie crust pot that we moved with us (it must have been about 20 years old) and it shattered last year!
DeleteI want a rhubarb forcer---it's gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI think they're very decorative in their own right.
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