ARCADIAN ARCHIVES

Rhubarb

At one time, this was a plant that languished in an untamed corner at the bottom of the garden, close to the compost heap, or hidden behind the shed amongst a tangle of old fencing wire and rubble. But now it is in the limelight – suddenly an icon of home-grown, healthy cooking. In March, rhubarb crumble was even on the menu for MPs at the Palace of Westminster.

It is only in recent years that fresh rhubarb has been readily available in supermarkets, and demand is rising. Last year, according to retail figures, sales of fresh rhubarb more than doubled. This has been fuelled in part by celebrity chefs who seem to include rhubarb in their recipes at every opportunity. As a result, our appetite for rhubarb is growing. Also, in light of the topical issue of air miles when it comes to our supermarket fruit and vegetables, rhubarb has a clean bill of health. All rhubarb sold in Morrisons supermarkets, for example, is sourced in Yorkshire in an area known within the commercial horticultural trade as the ‘Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle’. Most of this rhubarb is produced in large forcing sheds, providing successive crops from December until the end of summer.

In domestic gardens, rhubarb is one of the easiest and least demanding crops to grow. It is also thrives in our northerly climate. Attractive, crimson-stemmed cultivars develop their seductive, intense colouring with ease when grown in cooler temperatures. Further south, most gardeners have no option but to grow green-stemmed cultivars. This is because different cultivars have different temperature requirements. Rhubarb aficionados refer to ‘cold units’ when describing the amount of frost or cold weather needed to break winter dormancy and encourage plants into full growth. In general, early cropping cultivars require less cold units than later cultivars.

Rhubarb is so tough and resilient, and once young plants are established, they will provide a harvestable crop for many years. Because they are going to be in your garden for a long time, often decades, named cultivars are a worthwhile investment when buying new crowns.

Rhubarb can be classified into three main groups: early cultivars are ready for harvesting in April, second early rhubarb is ready by the beginning of May, and late cultivars produce a crop that begins around late May and continues for several weeks. By choosing cultivars from each of the three groups, it is possible to create a source of rhubarb that can be used from mid-spring until late summer.

Terracotta rhubarb forcing jars not only look ornamental, but they give gardeners the opportunity to raise a very early crop. Placed over an established crown in early spring, the forcing jar encourages rapid growth of the stems as they grow upwards in search of light. The result is a small bundle of tender, pale pink rhubarb – just enough for the first delicious crumble of the season.