I planted three roots last Spring Fruit or Veggie? and a fowl abode They grew but then warm weather set in early and they disappeared. I never dreamed anything would survive but here is one of them. Rhubarb....Surprise!!!! ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden )
I am so glad you are beginning to see Spring. What a relief. Isn't it? I still don't really see new life but if you do now, we will in weeks to come. Bet you will do something with that Rhubarb as soon as it is ready this year.
Frank, I make Rhubarb sauce, buttered biscuits (not cookies) and the sauce is the most wonderful treat around. My grandmother used to make Strawberry-Rhubarb pie but I just go for the sauce. Randy had never had Rhubarb before we married, but now we both are on a search for it in Feb and March every year.
I can't really say if you can eat it yet or not, because your zone is so different from mine, but I will say that folks here place a large, tall earthwork pot over the rhubarb and let it grow until the leaf stems are 1½ feet long. Then they harvest it. I can't imagine that you would harvest that one little leaf that I see in your piccy. That isn't what you meant, is it.
Toni, Keep it well watered. Maybe even save your dishwater if you don't use a dishwasher and water it in the mornings. Just dump your water into a bucket (or even a gallon jugs) and try to water it slowly. Even poke a hole in a jug and just set it by the plant. A dry growing rhubarb may make for a tough stalk.
I was always told not to pick any rhubarb for the first full year after it was planted. Then just a few stalks the following year.
I do exactly what Sjeord advised with my rhubarb plants. When I harvest from them I make pies, tarts, crumbles, jam and jelly. Ian used to make rhubarb wine which he said was delicious.
I wasn't thinking about its age. I was thinking about how dry it is there, but if there isn't enough to pick for one recipe...I would not pick any at all. And Netty may be right, I haven't worried about whether or not to pick mine for a long time, so If you just keep it watered this year next year should be a much nicer yield.
Soooooo, nobody noticed the smilie face at the end of the subject line? I was just joking about picking it that small Thanks for all the advice though. I had not heard about covering it with a pot while it's growing, everything I had read mentioned not harvesting any the first year and then just a little bit each year after that. If it grows full size before the heat hits I will probably go ahead and harvest it just to see if it's edible. I really didn't expect it to come back this year after last summer, coming back next year is just as iffy and I want to have at least one piece of home grown Rhubarb.
