Close up of our Rhubarb crop
The Author (not usually barefoot) and this year’s Rhubarb growth
Yellowish seed head of Rhubarb seen on right
Rhubarb, Rheum rhabarbarum, is a vegetable with a confused lifestyle. Most people think of this veggie as the tart ingredient in the Summer favorite, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. But Rhubarb can be served in other ways, and its very hardy, perennial nature makes it a great food plant that requires little care or inputs and provides an abundant yield. In addition to pie, Rhubarb can be used to make tasty muffins and a Cobbler like crunch mixed with raspberries or peaches for instance. It makes a great glaze for on top of Key Lime Pie or ice cream, and can be used as a relish for seafood. It is popular in cold climates as a fruit leather. Web searches for “Rhubarb recipes” return an enormous list of recipe sites listing a multitude of recipes for this unusual plant.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
Rhubarb is so unusual, many people try to call it a fruit somehow. The well known cookbook, “the Joy of Cooking” is even less dipolmatic, saying “Only by the wildest stretch of the imagination can rhubarb be included in this [fruit] chapter, but its tart flavor and its customary uses make it a reasonable facsimile, when cooked, of fruit.” Whatever you call it, Rhubarb can be planted and once established…it takes almost no care and yields great amounts of nutritious, tart, food. Rhubarb contains : 351 mg 0f Potassium, 17 mg of Phosphorous,14.5 mg of Magnesium, 105 mg of calcium, 8.5 mcg of Folate and 10 mg of vitamin C in each cup of chopped stems.
Attention: Only the stems and individual flower heads are eaten…the leaves of the plant are actually poisonous.
Rhubarb Harvest
Grown in zones 2-9, Rhubarb prefers climates that have cooler weather…not thriving where temps are blazing hot most of the summer. It actually needs to have part of the year with cold temperatures to do well. Rhubarb is best started from division of crowns or roots as seed does not produce true to the parent plant. As a bonus…Rhubarb is attractive enough to serve as a showy landscaping plant. Attractive and edible too!
Rhubarb can get quite large as seen by this Giant Irish variety.
Grow some Rhubarb on your property today! For a classic book of Rhubarb recipes, click the link below:
Delicious and healthful from an abundance of Rhubarb and Strawberries!
