An Early Crop of Rhubarb
by John Yazo
Rhubarb is a vegetable that can be grown as an ornamental plant, incorporated in your edible landscape or in the garden. It is a vegetable that is most commonly prepared and eaten as a fruit, in pies, ice cream, jams and jellies. It is a cool weather perennial crop that is grown for its fibrous celery-like leaf stalks, that have a delicious sweet-tart taste.
It can be grown in hardness zones 3 to 8 and as an annual in climates that have mild winter months. It does best as a perennial in areas that have at least two months of cold weather and better if the area gets a ground freeze of at least 2 to 3 inches deep, along with a moist, cool spring.
Rhubarb plants grow between 2 to 3 feet high and wide, in a sunny location with a soil that is well drained. It is grown from a root division also known as a crown and is a long lived perennial. Usually 3 to 6 plants are plenty for one household.
When preparing the area for planting, dig a hole about 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep to accommodate the matured root system. Take the soil that you have removed from the hole and mix it with a generous amount of compost and aged manure. Then refill the hole, leaving it filled to within a couple inches of the top, set a crown in the center of the hole and cover with the balance of the soil mix you have from the prepared hole. Once covered, tamp soil mix down well and thoroughly water.
As with most perennial crops, you don't want to harvest them the first year, this allows the plant the time it needs to get established, the second year to can start taking small harvests from the plant. When in it's third year you can harvest for about 1 month and after the third year you can harvest stalks when very they are mature enough for your picking. The main part of there harvesting season is in the spring. You can have smaller harvests that continue throughout the summer if climate conditions permit.
Warning about Rhubarb, Only the stalks of Rhubarb are edible. The leaves themselves are toxic and are removed when harvested. There leaves contain a substance called oxalic acid crystals and are toxic, they can result in poisoning. Also, Rhubarb that has been damaged by a frost may become inedible. If there stems are not firm and upright, do not eat them. Frost damage can cause the oxalic acid crystals to move into the stalks making them poisonous. Rhubarb leaves can be hot composted, even though they are slightly toxic if ingested. The oxalic acid crystals will dissipate in the soil before they are absorbed by other plants.
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