Rhubarb is without doubt one of the first plants of the year; the plant springs to life when temperatures upward push into the 40sF; get started the rhubarb harvest as soon as stalks are able.
Stems harvested in early spring will be the most delicate and flavorful. (Rhubarb is after all tart and is most often coupled with strawberries.) Do not sit up for stalks to get too large spherical (or too mature)—they may be able to be pithy and difficult specifically when hit by the use of sizzling local weather or drought. (Pithy stems can be used for stewing, sauces, and jams.)
When to Harvest Rhubarb
- Harvest rhubarb stalks when they are about as thick as your finger and a minimum of 8 inches (20 cm) long.
- Stalks 12 to 18 inches (30-45 cm) long and longer will probably be most fascinating. Mature stalk length varies by the use of variety.
- Color moreover sorts by the use of variety: cultivars corresponding to ‘Victoria’ and ‘Linneaus’ have green stalks that blush slightly of crimson on the subject of the ground; cultivars corresponding to ‘Ruby’, ‘Valentine’, and ‘Canada Red’ have cast crimson stalks.
- Rhubarb is a perennial plant. A rhubarb clump will probably be productive for twenty years or additional. Do not harvest rhubarb the main year after planting from seed. The second-year harvest a few stalks over a 4 week length. The third-year after planting and the following years, harvest as many finger-thick-sized stalks at you like over 8 to 10 weeks.
How you can Harvest Rhubarb
- Harvest rhubarb by the use of grasping the stalk firmly on the subject of the ground then pull and twist gently. You’ll be able to moreover cut back stalks away with a sharp knife; cut back as in terms of the crown as you are able to. Go away in the back of new, transient, and thin stalks. Be careful not to injure the central bud which will produce additional stalks, and do not cut back more than one-third of the stalks transparent of the plant each year.
- Straight away upon harvesting, trim the leaves from the stalks the usage of a knife and discard the leaves; leaving leaves attached to the stalk will objective the stalks to dry and wilt.
- Rhubarb harvest maximum regularly lasts about 8 weeks and each plant will yield two to three pounds of stalks. After harvest allow plants to broaden new stalks and store energy reserves for the next year. A few stalks will also be pulled later in summer season alternatively no longer continuously; it’s best to let the plant gain energy for the following season.
- If plants send up flower stalks remove them immediately. Flowering uses energy that may be used for rejuvenating the plant. Crops that flower will probably be a lot much less productive.
How you can Store Rhubarb
- Once throughout the kitchen cut back away the leafy best leaving best possible the colored stalks. Do not consume raw or get ready dinner rhubarb leaves or roots they contain oxalic acid which is in a position to objective convulsions, coma, and lack of lifestyles. Leaves are safe to compost.
- Freshly harvested stalks are best for cooking and freezing.
- Store rhubarb in a cold and rainy place, 32°-40°F (0°-4°C) and 95 % relative humidity. Cold and rainy storage usually is an issue. Refrigerators provide the cold, alternatively as well as they dry the air. Wrap rhubarb stalks in a damp subject matter or paper towel and put them in a perforated plastic bag throughout the vegetable crisper drawer of the refrigerator; this may increasingly take care of humidity.
- Scale back stems will keep throughout the refrigerator for two to 4 weeks. Refresh stalks saved throughout the refrigerator by the use of allowing them to stand in a glass of water quicker than the usage of it.
- Chopped stems will also be frozen in a plastic freezer bag for later use—continuously with strawberries that come to harvest after rhubarb.
Further tips: How you can Expand Rhubarb.
