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I have been trying without success to get some rhubarb plants by trading them for something else on a local forum (the english here didn't seem to realise I wanted to swap and kept telling me I could buy it an any garden centre ). Well imagine my pleasure when down to the botom of the garden - where OH had been clearing the ground with a digger - I found some lovely rhubarb growing - how he had missed if with the digger I don't know.

Ooh - rhubarb crumble soon then

well done and all for free

Excellent! It should be sprouting away nicely now. Get an old bucket or big pot on top and it will come all the quicker!

The buds are just breaking the ground on ours now.

Brilliant news -- mine is currently under a feed bucket - I might need to check it shortly (and move it out of the - admitedly very large - pot that it's just about managing to survive in )

Great news!

ours has been sprouting very nice fat stalks for the past month now! cant wait for the first crumble! anyone else got any other rhubarb recipes though?

Here's one I made earlier... Rhubarb cakes that I posted some time ago. Mine is just breaking through the crust of compost!


http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... ht=rhubarb

I've got some rhubarb recipes too - I'll hunt them out later on.

In the meantine I have a couple of questions:

1. If I cover (force) some of the rhubarb, will I still be able to crop it as normal next year or will I need to rest it?

2. If I move the crowns now will I still be able to crop the rhubab this year?

1. You'll have to rest it - I believe even next year (have never tried it, but read about it).
2. You shouldn't crop it this year - well, that's what the books say... Again, I've never tried moving a fully grown crown; but if you plant a smallish, new plant, you definitely should leave it alone for the first year. It needs to get some strength up!

eccentric_emma wrote:ours has been sprouting very nice fat stalks for the past month now! cant wait for the first crumble! anyone else got any other rhubarb recipes though?

I fancy this one, but I haven't tried it yet. http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/foo ... 70,00.html

ina wrote:1. You'll have to rest it - I believe even next year (have never tried it, but read about it).
2. You shouldn't crop it this year - well, that's what the books say... Again, I've never tried moving a fully grown crown; but if you plant a smallish, new plant, you definitely should leave it alone for the first year. It needs to get some strength up!

There's quite a lot of it so I might force one lot (as I am impatient for a crumble ), move all the smaller ones and leave the biggest one to harvest this year - providing OH doesn't come back and say he's about to dig the whole area over in which case I'll move it all and crop a few bits if it seems quite productive.

Now all I need is an asparagus bed to spring up and I'll be REALLY happy

Yeah - I was thinking of planting more, so I can force at least one of them... I've still got some bottled - that's nice with custard; but this year I must stick some in the freezer, too!

Btw - I have in the past made rhubarb crumble with peanut butter (to replace some of the butter or marge in the crumble). Very nice!

It's meant to be ace with ginger. I haven't tried any recipes yet because I love it all on its own.

I made some great Rhubarb and Ginger Jam last year, every recipe I found used crystalised ginger, but I used fresh... delicious... still have some in the cupboard.

I also made some sort of rhubarb chutney... rhubarb, onions, sultanas, chillies, vinegar boiled up and then whizzed it in the blender... a lovely spicey brown sauce, well worth a go.

I bet that would be good with cheese......