Rhubarb Ideas, Tips & Guides

After the last couple of weekends being frantic, one with ringing for the Jubilee, and the other with a retirement party and collecting George from university, I finally had a weekend to myself and at home. Saturday morning was busy with shopping and getting pet supplies, the chickens eat so much. The afternoon was house chores and we had a BBQ in the evening which I managed to get it all cooked before it rained. There are 6 of us in the house at the moment so that’s a lot of food for a BBQ. Still the best thing about a BBQ is the left overs for the next couple of days.

Wondering what to harvest in April? There’s a fair few things to gather this month, from fresh veggies to forced fruits. Here are just a couple of examples to harvest now or very soon!

The Ole' Rhubarb Switcheroo! Find out how a friend with extra «rhubarb» turned sour in this hilarious plant mixup. Rhubarb: The taste of nostalgia

Rhubarb is easy to grow, and an excellent choice for beginners and experts alike. Especially if you want a low-maintenance option for your vegetable garden.

With their bold, vibrant leaves and distinctive features, plants that look like rhubarb offer a unique charm of their own that sets them apart in a unique way!

This is a month for planning ahead. What seeds do you need to order? Do tools need cleaning? And does the greenhouse need a good tidy? By the end of January it’s time to start pruning wisteria to ensure a showstopping display of delicate blooms. It’s also time to plant bareroot roses, take hardwood cuttings, plan this year’s crop rotation and force rhubarb. Start the year off as you mean to go on.

What are the methods of rhubarb preserving that will help to store this versatile vegetable year around? Rhubarb is a vegetable but is often thought to be a fruit. It is mostly used in sweet applications but can also be a savory addition. It has a short season, only blushing during the spring in most regions. So can you freeze fresh rhubarb? Learn how to preserve rhubarb and enjoy the tart goodness of this gorgeous vegetable even in winter.

Composting can seem like a minefield. Do you compost perennial weeds, what type of bin do you use, how often should you turn, and what composting method to try? These are just some of the common questions we’re asked. Many myths surround the process. It’s easy to think bagged and homemade compost are the same thing. But bagged compost has been commercially treated, and can contain peat, whereas your own home compost will be made up of a variety of traceable items. It will feel and look quite different from what you buy at the shops – but will be just as good, if not better.

When we last visited my parents, my dad gave me some sticks of rhubarb from the giant plant in his vegetable patch that had gone a bit nutty while they were on holiday. We’re big fans of rhubarb in our house, but although we have a plant in a container, I have yet to establish it in the garden. Rhubarb grows in a container, but it never reaches its full potential, so it will have to be planted out as soon as possible. We’re such big rhubarb fans that I’m considering adding a second plant to our rhubarb family – perhaps Rhubarb ‘Livingstone’, a variety that bucks the normal rhubarb trend and crops in the autumn – meaning 2 rhubarb harvests in one year! Or the new and equally exciting Rhubarb ‘Poulton’s Pride’, which has been bred to crop for 10 months of the year! I don’t know how they have achieved this wonder, and how much you have to feed the plant to make it happen, but it certainly sounds like the best bet for people who love rhubarb and only have space for one plant.

We had plans for the Bank Holiday weekend. The first thing on the agenda was finishing the mini polytunnel. That went out the window when we realised we didn’t have enough netting, and we would have to order some. It’s on its way, together with some ironmongery to make a door.

The last of my root vegetables and Leeks are now consumed and a distant gastronomic memory. New baby salad leaves have been available but I do not take enough care to be able to binge on them until later in the season. Rhubarb once again is prolific and abundant so that I and the neighbours are enjoying the fruit of my labours literally.

Early Spring Rhubarb breaking Through

If you want to help your  Rhubarb water it even when it is raining!

I promised a simple approach to thinking about your compost.  Compostable materials are either Green or Brown and you need a good mix of both. If you want the full scientific monte then you need a book.Green Compostables include grass clippings, tea bags, old flowers, nettles, weeds, comfrey or rhubarb leaves, pond algae, spent bedding plants, rotting fruit and vegetable peelings – these provide the nitrogen and bacteria to generate heat.

The best Rhubarb is grown in the ‘Rhubarb Triangle’ in West Riding of Yorkshire. There are low brick buildings visible from the M1 around Wakefield that are used as the forcing sheds. Forced Rhubarb is kept in the dark so the stems are long thin pink and early to crop

Yesterday I ate a sharp, fresh Rhubarb crumble made from Rhubarb picked on my own patch and it was brilliant.

Your garden will have viewing points from which you can see a vista. This green vista has scale and impact but you can create your own combination with just a few well chosen plants.

It is barely May, and I have two things in my northern garden to eat, both perennials: the start of the asparagus crop (the previous installment of this collaborative Spring Fling online recipe swap, remember?), and likewise the earliest rhubarb.I’m crazy about how tropical and zaftig my old rhubarb plants looks alongside the vegetable garden—and oh, those sexy, urgent-looking unfurling parts!—so I don’t harvest all its stalks at any time, but rather pick selectively to have both food and ornament.From among the forest, I judiciously cut out some young, tender stems, picking regularly (you’d never notice, the plant is so quick to cover up my withdrawals). The big, old stems are great for holding up the biggest

The aims:to figure out what sweetener was tastiest—yet not too sweet. Typically recipes call for 1 or 1½ cups of white sugar for 6ish or 7 cups of cut-up raw rhubarb, equal to about 2 pounds of fruit, but that seems like too much; to taste-test different spices in the mix (cardamon, cinnamon or ginger are often suggested, as is orange zest); to make use of  any excess liquid that results from cooking the rhubarb, but in some batches makes for a too-swampy compote. With three batches of 6 cups of one-inch rhubarb pieces, we tried these additions, all of which were sweet enough for our taste:½ cup brown sugar and ½ cup fresh orange juice, plus the zest of an orange;

We’d love to hear what aliens of any description you are battling, whether weeds, insects, you name it—perhaps for subjects for future shows. Be sure to add a comment at the end of the story to let us know, and please say where you located. Any questions you have of any nature are also always welcome here as a comment or via the contact form, or on Facebook—not just ones related to invasive species, of course. You can also find Ken directly at his website.For answers to other questions, you can browse the archive of all our monthly segments.Read along as you listen to the podcast version of the August 14, 2017 edition of the show using the player below, and don’t forget: Keep the questions coming.august urgent garden question q&a with ken drusewhy do tomatoes crack?Q. So many questions have been coming in, because of course it’s that time of the garden season really no ma

Usually, Rhubarb is cultivated for its stems, and most gardeners remove blooms just when they appear. If you are someone who’s thinking—”Should I Let my Rhubarb Flower,” then we will help you out!

Growing rhubarb, Rheum rhabarbarum, is not for those who lack patience.Compared to something like a

Alaska made me fall in love with rhubarb, and this is well documented. Just read our guide to growing rhubarb in containers and you’ll see what I mean.When my garden-savvy grandm

The first time I ever tried rhubarb, it was a squishy mess inside a pie at a chain restaurant somewhere. I never wanted to eat it again.That all changed the summer I m

Rhubarb is a beautiful, easily cultivated perennial with large, ruffled leaves and tall stalks of pink or scarlet with a delicious, sharply tart flavor.The pretty stalks of this herbaceous vegetable (or fruit, if you pref

Freezing rhubarb is a great way to preserve this tangy and versatile vegetable for future use. It’s a simple process that can help you enjoy the flavor even when it’s out of season.

Rhubarb jam is quick and easy to make with my recipe, and it is the best. It’s seriously delicious, and you can make your own at home with just 3 ingredients.

Canning rhubarb is a great way to enjoy it in your favorite desserts and more all year round.

© Daniel Carruthers This year ha

Rhubard and Swiss chard look quite identical but are poles apart! People mistake them both for the same, thanks to their somewhat similar appearance. Apart from the looks, they are quite different when it comes to taste and nutritional properties! And, if you’re going to inspect carefully, they do not look alike as well! Check out the article and read in detail aboutSwiss chard vs Rhubarb Difference!

Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) grows all over the place up here in Alaska, and no wonder: it’s a supremely cold-hardy plant, although most cultivars thrive best in USDA Hardiness Zones 3-8.Like celery, this plant features a firm petio