May 4, 2001

     It's Rhubarb Time

The first rhubarb was tall enough to pull a week ago in southern Minnesota. It is a cool-climate perennial grown for the thick leaf stalks that are pulled and cooked in spring for their agreeable acid flavor. Native to southern Siberia and the Volga region, rhubarb has been cultivated for centuries. It was introduced to Europe about 1600, and by 1800 many different varieties were listed by horticulturists in America.

Rhubarb is most productive in the northern third of the United States. It is one of the few vegetables that can be grown in Alaska but cannot be successfully grown in the southern Gulf states as it requires a cold period of dormancy, preferably at freezing temperatures.  In Minnesota, rhubarb is a harbinger of spring and is ready about a month before the first strawberries ripen.

In harvesting rhubarb, a stalk is pulled, not cut, but the leaf is cut off as it contains toxic quantities of oxalic acid and should not be eaten. The flower stalks should be removed and not allowed to produce seeds since seed production saps the energy of the plant.  Harvesting of the thick reddish leaf stalks can continue for about two months, after which plants should be allowed to build up a large crown for the next year.