Perennials
Rhubarb
Harvest from year two.
- Outside
- Plant crowns early fall, permanent corner
- Where
- In ground, deep rich soil
- Sun
- Full sun; afternoon shade is fine
- Water
- Weekly deep soak; finger test, mulch holds it
- Harvest
- Apr to Jun, from year two
Care
- Water
- A long, deep soak at the base every week or so through the season, more in the first year while it roots in. The finger test rules: water when the soil is dry a few inches down, not on a schedule. Mulch holds the rest.
- Sow
- Set dormant crowns or divisions in fall, buds 1 to 2 inches under the surface and about 3 feet apart in a permanent spot. A fall crown needs several inches of straw piled over it, or the first freeze heaves it before it roots.
- Feed
- A real feeder, but not the bottomless one it is sometimes called. Work compost in around each plant every spring and, in most soil, a light scratch of an organic nitrogen feed is the one supplement it wants, kept well off the crown. Save aged manure for a fall topdress, clear of the spring picking, so it breaks down long before harvest.
- Ready
- Pull nothing at all the first year, then only a few light stalks the second while the crown builds. Once settled, grip each stalk low and twist it free instead of cutting, taking stalks a foot or more long and quitting by the end of June so it can rebuild.
- Trouble
- Eat the stalks only: the big leaf blades hold enough oxalic acid to make you sick and belong on the compost, not the plate. Wilting stalks with brown mush at the base: crown rot, so give it drainage and never replant rhubarb on the same spot for years. Grubs boring the crown: clear the grassy weeds and dock nearby.
In a bag?
- No
- Rhubarb is a permanent clump that can outlive a fence and needs deep, rich ground to spread its crown. A fabric bag cannot carry it through fifteen Beacon winters of freeze and thaw, and cramps the crown besides. Give it a corner for good.
Planted once, rhubarb pays out every April through June for a decade, asking one permanent corner and an annual load of compost. The single hard rule is patience: nothing gets pulled until year two.
Growing
Set crowns in early fall in deep, rich ground with a yard of elbow room; it needs a permanent corner, not a rotating bed, because it will outlast most fences. Pull stalks with a twist instead of cutting, take nothing the first year and a light harvest the second, and always stop by late June so the plant rebuilds through summer and fall. Snap out flower stalks on sight, and pile on compost or manure every autumn; it is a hungry plant, but keep the feed off the crown itself. A dry spell wants one long soak at the crown rather than daily sips; between times the mulch and the huge leaves keep the moisture in.
Varieties
Victoria is the vigorous green-red standby; Canada Red brings the color the pie photos promise.
In the kitchen
Pie first, obviously, but roasted with sugar it holds its shape for yogurt and cakes, and chopped raw it freezes well enough that June can supply Christmas. The leaves go to the compost, never the pot.