RHUBARB
Rhubarb was always popular in childhood days as
most folk with a garden had a wee patch. It was free food, happy to be left to
grow in a dark corner. Mother used it for pies, crumbles, and we kids often got
a wee treat going to school with a stick of rhubarb and a poke of sugar. We
always looked upon it as a fruit. No-one had any idea of its nutritional merit.
Today it is a different story as it has been well studied and just about
reached super
food status, so long as you cut back a bit on the sugars. It is a
very healthy food being high in anti-oxidants, calcium and potassium, manganese, and magnesium. dietary fibre, protein,
vitamin C, vitamin K, and B complex.
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| Is this rhubarb ready to pick ? |
Rhubarb has been in use for thousands of years though
mainly as a medicinal drug, but then in the 19th century a London
nurseryman looking for ways to use the new imported sugar, added the sugar to
the rhubarb waste products to make a sweet tart. His rhubarb tarts took off in
a big way.
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| Planting rhubarb crowns |
Rhubarb grows best on clay soils so Yorkshire
became famous for its forced rhubarb grown in huge sheds in complete darkness.
This area in Yorkshire became known as the rhubarb triangle from Leeds and
Wakefield to Bradford. They had the best clay soils, a woollen industry to
supply shoddy, an organic manure, a coal industry to supply cheap heating for
the forcing sheds and a road and rail network to get the product to markets.
During the last war its popularity faded due to
restrictions on imported sugar, then later on there was a surge of imported
tropical fruit from all over the world. The humble rhubarb could not compete,
until today as research is discovering just how important rhubarb is for our
good health.
Cultivation
Rhubarb grows best on well drained clay soils that
have been well manured and deeply cultivated. Give them a dressing of
fertiliser in spring and keep them well weeded and watered in summer. Regular
picking will encourage new leaves to continue to form. Remove all flowering
stems as they appear. Plant crowns with two or three buds in winter about three
feet apart in well prepared soil. Do not pick off any leaves in the first
year. They will then grow and crop for up to five years before needing dug up,
split up and replanted. Some mature roots can be forced to give an early crop. Good
reliable varieties include Timperley Early, Stockbridge Arrow and Queen
Victoria follow and then Cawood Delight crops later but with the best deep red
stems.
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| Fresh forced rhubarb |
Forcing
Use mature roots about three to five years old. Dig
them up in early winter and let them get their cold period of frost. An excellent
spot for forcing is under the greenhouse staging with light excluded with black
polythene. Keep them moist, but don’t water the stems otherwise they could rot Sticks
are ready for picking in four to six weeks. Always twist and pull them, do not
cut them off. When the crop is finished put the old crowns on the compost heap
as they will be spent.
Cooking
Rhubarb
crumble, pies, tarts and stewed rhubarb
with custard is heavenly. However try rhubarb and fig jam, or rhubarb and
saskatoon jam. This one is our favourite. Crush 3 pounds Saskatoon berries and
2 pounds chopped rhubarb and add to jam pan with a half cup of water, juice of
one lemon and a teaspoon of citric acid. Add 5 pounds sugar and bring to a
rolling boil for ten minutes then test. It is quick, easy and delicious.
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| Rhubarb crumble and rhubarb and saskatoon jam |
Wee jobs to do this week
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| The last winter harvest |
Enjoy the remains of
stored crops as not many keep beyond April. Apples dessert and cooking, onions,
potatoes, beetroot, carrot and parsnip kept in a cool airy place have lasted
till the end of winter. Some potatoes have sprouted, so it helps if you remove
these as soon as possible otherwise they suck the tubers dry. Outdoors,
cabbage, sprouts, leeks, kale and swede have all but finished, although the
freezer is still bulging with fruit and vegetables.
END
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