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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2019 10:25:46 GMT -5
Wife was given some rhubarb and it triggered memories for her. Now I have to grow some rhubarb so that she can carry on a childhood memory.
I know nothing about rhubarb---None in South Texas that I know of.
How much does a small family NEED? How many plants? Does it require a lot of attention?
Wife made a kind of jelly with hers. What is the stuff good for?
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on May 6, 2019 10:31:12 GMT -5
I think that it is to hot to grow rhubarb in South Texas. It is in South Mississippi.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 6, 2019 11:52:50 GMT -5
I'm not sure if it's the summer heat or lack of winter chill, but we can't grow it in North Florida, either.
However, I want to say that I read an article or blog post several years ago about someone who set out plants in early fall in Texas and they grew all winter and he harvested in spring. Not the huge harvest you would get where you can grow it as a perennial, but enough to be worth growing.
Let me see if I can find it again.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 6, 2019 12:08:22 GMT -5
Here we go: not the same article I read before, but detailed instructions on growing rhubarb as a winter annual in Texas: www.texasgardener.com/pastissues/julaug03/rhubarb.htmlI found a couple of other websites that gave similar recommendations: *Grow it as a winter annual from SEED; you probably can't find dormant roots for shipment in early fall anyway *Sow seeds in August *Plant out 8 weeks after sowing. If the weather is still hot, provide filtered shade for a few weeks while the plants transition to life in the garden *Don't let it get too dry while the weather is still hot after transplanting; that's vital *You need very rich soil because it has to grow FAST get it to harvest size by spring *It needs consistent water but good drainage / no wet feet since it's prone to fungal infections of the roots *Protect it from hard freezes (if you have any) *Harvest from March or April through May or until the heat kills the plants. In addition to the "Victoria" and "Glaskins Perpetual" varieties in the article I linked, elsewhere I saw "Cherry" and "Cherry Red" mentioned as varieties to try. Hope it helps!
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on May 6, 2019 12:22:45 GMT -5
Well I guess if SWMBO really wants rhubarb you could plant it in the fall like Laura_in_FL, said. It's about like a couple of years ago when I tried planting Jostaberries though, a lot of effort for the pay off when blueberries grow quite well here.
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Post by paquebot on May 6, 2019 12:31:57 GMT -5
Rhubarb is usually listed as a perennial in Zones 3-8. Below that it is an annual. First-year plants may only produce 8 or 9 stalks depending on size of the roots and variety. If one wanted to make a pie the first year, North or South, 3 plants would be best.
When permanent planting, excavate a hole foot wide and 2 feet deep. Fill 18" with rich compost or aged manure and top off with soil. That will set you up for big harvests after 2 or 3 years.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by spike on May 6, 2019 14:45:32 GMT -5
What is the stuff good for? NOTHING! It is good for nothing. It is used to ruin strawberries in pies >,< One stalk is enough for 75 families of 15 each. bleh! I too have childhood memories
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Post by paulf on May 6, 2019 16:13:10 GMT -5
Oh Spike, my favorite pie is strawberry-rhubarb, heavy on the rhubarb. Rhubarb cobbler is really good, too. But then, most of ours goes to waste since more people think like you than me. We try to give it away...sorta like zucchini. The leaves make for really nice concrete decorations. As kids we used to put sugar in a bag and dip rhubarb in it and have it for a snack. What used to be very popular (every vegetable garden had a rhubarb patch way back when) but not many go for it now. asparagus and rhubarb are the first edibles? in the garden. And now we have radishes, too.
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Post by spike on May 6, 2019 16:32:18 GMT -5
* SHUDDER *
As a kid momma was not the best of cooks so I always looked forward to dessert. Imagine my horror when she plopped down a big bowl of chopped up, boiled pink goo. Momma would be slurping and smacking her lips while I watched in horror knowing I too had to eat that glop.
NOT a fan.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 6, 2019 16:41:23 GMT -5
After reading this thread, I'm not sure whether to be sad or relieved that I have never eaten strawberry-rhubarb pie.
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Post by farmerjack41 on May 6, 2019 17:34:31 GMT -5
Eating good strawberry rhubarb will make you think you gone to that "happy hunting ground". Warmed up a wee bit and a pint of ice cream on top. The wife used to make it with brown sugar topping, sure miss that. Neighbor lady at the farm made me two pies last week. Sounds like need to send you some down to Florida!
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2019 17:54:35 GMT -5
LOL, I do not know whether to get out the herbicide or buy more plants!!!
OK, I'll plant two or three plants in a place where I can simply watch them and cut down what we do not use.
My post may have been misleading; I am in N. Arkansas and I know the stuff Will grow here---I grew up in South Texas where it was unknown.
It is late in the Spring here, so I am prepared to wait until next year for first harvest.
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Post by paquebot on May 6, 2019 19:05:11 GMT -5
Until now, I have thought that Spike was my kind of gardener. But someone who does not like rhubarb and strawberry pie? That's un-American! We used to assure that such pies were available year around by canning rhubarb. Sometimes just a rhubarb pie. What I used to loves was canned rhubarb and cream or on ice cream.
I have two types, a large greenish one with 2' stalks and all-red with 8" stalks. May also have a hybrid. They may make a million seeds but never a viable one. Last year, had a small plant show up about 6' away from the others. Waiting to see what it turns out to be.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by spike on May 6, 2019 19:26:22 GMT -5
Until now, I have thought that Spike was my kind of gardener. sniff that sound you heard was my little heart breaking.
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Post by octave1 on May 6, 2019 20:52:00 GMT -5
LOVE rhubarb pie! Too bad it requires a pound of sugar. But rhubarb is absolutely delicious.
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Post by september on May 6, 2019 21:21:57 GMT -5
Split down the middle here, I like it, husband hates it! As much as he likes pie, he won't touch rhubarb or strawberry rhubarb pie! I like the sweet/tart contrast (yes, lots of sugar needed for rhubarb products!)
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2019 21:50:31 GMT -5
Been studying; I see that now the vegetable companies are propagating Rhubarb in the lab, a thousand times quicker and more productive than by dividing or from seed. That accounts for the stuff showing up at the big box stores.
Even so, easy to find and cheap to buy, I still cannot see using more than two or three plants per garden.
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Post by paquebot on May 6, 2019 23:58:04 GMT -5
Even so, easy to find and cheap to buy, I still cannot see using more than two or three plants per garden. Once 3 plants are established, they often are more than one can use unless a lot is canned. An old healthy plant will actually be a number of plants in a cluster 2' wide. Years ago, I recall those on the old farm contained in bottomless tubs. When the plants began to go dormant in late summer, some old manure was dumped in each tub. Fall rains and winter snow would wash the nutrients into the soil directly over the plants. Stalks would be monsters the following spring. Martin The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by brownrexx on May 7, 2019 7:17:34 GMT -5
We have 2 rhubarb plants and it is more than enough for us. We like it but it takes so much sugar that we really don't eat it more than a few times a year and I freeze a couple of pre-measured packs for making rhubarb bread later in the year. I have never actually had strawberry rhubarb pie but it sounds good to me. I usually make the rhubarb sauce (pink goo) that spike, describes once or twice, rhubarb cobbler and rhubarb bread. Some people in my PA Dutch area add strawberry Jell-o to the rhubarb sauce but I don't do that, just lots of sugar. I may have to try rhubarb sauce in the Instant Pot this year.
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Post by spike on May 7, 2019 8:03:03 GMT -5
I usually make the rhubarb sauce (pink goo) that spike, describes once or twice, NOPE! Was not a sauce! It was pinkish water with stringy lumps floating in it. The sort of thing you would expect in a cauldron. Nasty stuff.
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Post by brownrexx on May 7, 2019 8:07:36 GMT -5
It was pinkish water with stringy lumps floating in it. Yep, that's what they call rhubarb sauce but maybe your mom used extra water. To make rhubarb sauce you cut the stalks into chunks and add just enough water so that they do not burn to the bottom of the pan and start to cook it. As the rhubarb heats, it releases liquid and you end up with a pan of broken down rhubarb which does have a lot of fibers and then you dump in a bunch of sugar. I don't usually have chunks left in the final product. It is thin but not watery.
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Post by september on May 7, 2019 8:51:54 GMT -5
My granny used to make a thin clear summer fruit soup to be served chilled. There were chopped pieces of stewed rhubarb in it, but it was not rhubarb sauce based. It was mildly sweet and had raisins and possibly pears and plums. Maybe dried reconstituted apples and other fruit? It really was a perfect light dessert for hot summer weather, probably thickened with potato starch. My mom never made it, so granny's soup was a long time ago. I also like rhubarb coffee cake, and I think a rhubarb crisp is great with ice cream.
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Post by paquebot on May 7, 2019 9:11:25 GMT -5
The traditional strawberry-rhubarb pie is because it was the first fresh fruit available and at the same time. If enough strawberries were used, not as much sugar was needed.
Rhubarb also is often referred to as "water standing on edge". In wine making, the juice has an interesting quality of taking on the taste of whatever other juice is mixed with it. When extracted with a steam juicer, only the pulp is left. Waste not, want not so I have pressed it through a sieve and canned that. Goes great with ice cream. No strings, just great sauce.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 7, 2019 9:15:20 GMT -5
Eating good strawberry rhubarb will make you think you gone to that "happy hunting ground". Warmed up a wee bit and a pint of ice cream on top. The wife used to make it with brown sugar topping, sure miss that. Neighbor lady at the farm made me two pies last week. Sounds like need to send you some down to Florida! Thanks for the sentiment , but I actually see rhubarb in the stores here seasonally. (It's grown somewhere far away, I'm sure.) If I ever get curious enough, I'll buy some and look up a strawberry-rhubarb pie recipe.
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Post by ladymarmalade on May 7, 2019 9:55:37 GMT -5
Rhubarb plants really love to be dosed with aged manure every once in a while. I have two plantings in two different parts of the garden. One was already here when we bought the place, the other came from my mom when she divided her plant a few years ago. It moves easily and isn't fussy about being transplanted. The strawberry-rhubarb combination is classic and good, but you haven't really experienced rhubarb until you've paired it with blueberry. One of my favorite pies is Blueberry-Rhubarb, and I also make a blueberry-rhubarb jam. The super sweet blueberries and the super tart rhubarb are a match made in heaven. I also make muffins, crumbles, sauces, and my favorite Rhubarb Custard Bars when rhubarb is in season. There's nothing like a healthy smear of rhubarb jam on a warm biscuit with a bit of butter. Rhubarb Custard Bars recipe.
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Post by september on May 7, 2019 13:03:27 GMT -5
ladymarmalade , I'm sure I would like it, but my husband would KiLL me if I ever mixed his precious blueberries with rhubarb!
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2019 17:32:15 GMT -5
Goo was what Barb made, but she made it green. Ox
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Post by Hensaplenty on May 7, 2019 18:12:38 GMT -5
I grew up eating lots of rhubarb/strawberry pie. YUM! Even plain rhubarb pie was great!! My Dad had marginal success growing it in the foothills of NC. Memory says he generally had to get new "dividings" every couple years. I tried to grow it in central NC with no success. My husband's cousin in Indiana has no problem growing it. If you've never tried rhubarb/strawberry pie, you gotta try it.
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Post by paquebot on May 7, 2019 20:34:48 GMT -5
The mention of it being available in Florida stores means that the system hasn't changed in thousands of years. When it was originally only available from China, Europeans got it via the "silk road". Cost rated right up there with rubies and other precious commodities. Farmers market here can;t bring in enough. If there's any left after a couple hours, must be raining!
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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dirtguy50
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Post by dirtguy50 on May 8, 2019 22:19:13 GMT -5
I am with spike on this one. I know a lot of folks like it but not in my world. I like the strawberry part of the suggestions though.
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