Rhubarb is the most neglected and underrated fruit in the garden. It often sits in a poor shady spot, producing sad little stalks every year. It’s time for attitudes to change. Rhubarb is our earliest garden crop. As I write in early February, despite all the snows and hard frosts, my crowns are bursting into life, and that’s in a 200 metre high garden.
With a little attention, my different varieties will produce a goodly harvest for months to come and one of them could throw up a fresh flush in August. Who could ask for more?
Most of us happily tuck in to rhubarb crumble and aren’t averse to that childhood favourite, rhubarb and custard. But rhubarb is much more versatile and can be used as a vegetable, adding a refreshing lemony flavour to pak choi salad or a lamb tagine (see my website for recipes).
As with most crops, rhubarb varieties are sold as early, mid-season or late harvesting, so if you’ve got the space you could plant for succession. They’re available at garden centres or by mail order. Chris Bowers (www.chrisbowers.co.uk) is probably the best stockist.
Buy rhubarb as crowns, in pots and even as seed, if you’re very patient. The crowns are normally available from late winter but potted ones can be planted at any time.
For crowns, prepare the ground and plant direct, but you’ll get stronger plants by immersing a new crown in water and potting up in moist compost. After about a month, when the new roots have filled the pots, plant in the open ground.
Rhubarb is a large plant and needs plenty of space, feed and some sun; without these you’re heading for a wretched harvest. Prepare a planting hole two spits deep and a metre square to ensure good drainage and room for an expanding crown.
Mix in half a barrowload of very
well-rotted muck or a barrow of good compost. Spread the roots evenly and just cover the crown. As the soil settles, the top will peek above the surface, which you want, as this reduces the risk of crown rot. Keep well watered, but not soggy.
Do the same with potted plants and, in both cases, leave a good metre between crowns. Let new plantings get established during the first year, keeping well watered. Start pulling stalks the next year. Keep the ground fertile by spreading compost round the crowns at the start of every year. After several years, you may need to lift and divide the crowns; allow replantings a year to recover.
If long-established crowns produce spindly stalks, cut your losses, dig up and destroy. They may have become riddled with virus, so should be consigned to landfill.
As with every other crop, replant in a different place. Prevent crown rot by removing dead vegetation at the end of the summer and cut off any rotten parts of a crown.
And why not force a well-established crown every year for a really early picking. I can’t wait for the first bright pink, juicy stems, so plonk a large bucket over a crown at its first sign of life and earth up round the base to completely exclude light.
After a few weeks, I remove the cover and fall upon the stalks but won’t pull any more for the rest of the season. Special forcing pots also do the job. I’ll force a different plant next year.
You can also enjoy a late harvest by removing all the growth from a different plant at the end of May. A fresh picking should be ready later in the summer.
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