The Rhubarb is Up

Bright sign of spring.

 

 

The first red shoots of rhubarb are poking out of the muddy ground in my garden.
Yay spring!

Up With Rhubarb

You'll be pie some day, my sprouts.

The rhubarb is up in my garden.
Yay.
It's a sign of new life and the renewal of the earth each spring.
These plants are colorful and stubborn and come back no matter what I do, or don't do, to them.
It's awfully dry this spring and that's worrisome for a wide spectrum of reasons, but mostly it means the produce will be hot to the taste, and bitter or sour.
Rhubarb is a mouth-puckerer to begin with. It needs no help from nature. If this dry weather continues I'll have to water the rhubarb.
It's worth it.

The Rhubarb Triangle

I am confident spring is here. The rhubarb has risen.

The three little red points forming the triangle in this photo are rhubarb sprouts, specifically they are leaf primordia. I found them out in the rhubarb patch on Tuesday and I was very excited.

New life is growing out of the Earth, and in a few weeks there'll be pie.

Have You Hugged Your Rhubarb Today?

It’s a noble plant though considered a bit lowly perhaps as it grows in ditches and is common.
Because of this we rarely give it much thought. After the first rhubarb pie of spring it’s forgotten in favor of more exciting summer fruits and berries.
It languishes along the edge of the gardens barely registering with us until it goes to seed and the stalks turn hollow and woody.

Rhubarb deserves better than that. Relish, chutney, juice, eat it stewed or in a pie. I’ve mixed it in with strawberries and cherries for a favorite glorious summer pie.

Back on the farm when I was young I’d sometimes eat it raw. I’d break off a stalk and munch away. I’m not fond of sour tastes, but on hot days it was quite refreshing.

It grows anywhere under almost any conditions, handles frost well, and I’m not sure it can be killed by conventional means.

It’s free, tasty, and right under our noses. It asks so little and gives so much. Let’s show it a bit more respect, okay?