Rhubarb
Rheum rhabarbarum
L
et’s assume for a moment that your garden rhubarb, you should bend the stalk, twisting it
patch has a quiet side that faces north, a sideways, and pull—don’t cut.
place where you could gather some permanent Please don’t ever eat the leaves; they contain
plantings of tall or large-foliaged vegetables enough oxalic acid to be toxic.
like Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes), Brussels Rhubarb is very sour on its own, though less
sprouts, or rhubarb. Their sheer size could so for the varieties Valentine and Strawberry.
block the sun if planted on the east or west. Because of this, it takes a good deal of sweeten-
Here we have another patient plant that’s ing, and that can offset the plant’s nutritional
going to take 2–4 years to produce a meaning advantage. You may want to cook it along with
ful harvest, but after that, rhubarb is virtually a very sweet fruit, like Bosc pears, and see how
indestructible for up to 15 years. Aft er the you like the natural association.
third year, you can divide the crown and plant
at least 24 inches apart. The red color can be
intensified by cold weather and frosts, which The Numbers
they tolerate quite well. For each 100 g raw (3.5 oz ; ½ cup): 21 calories, 0 g
The best size for harvest are stalks 1 inch in fat, 0 g saturated fat, 5 g carbohydrate, 1 g protein,
diameter and leaves 24 inches long. To harvest 2 g dietary fiber, 4 mg sodium
224 • GROWING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE
