Growing Rhubarb
Growing rhubarb is easy and well worth the effort. In my garden, rhubarb is one of the earliest of fruits. When I see the stalks, it tells me that spring has sprung! The stalks are usually ready in May and can be pulled from then until August. 
Growing rhubarb starts by digging a hole and filling it with a generous amount of compost. Rhubarb likes soil that is well drained and high in organic matter.Place the roots in the hole and cover the tops or crowns with 2 inches of soil and water well. As with most perennials, it is best to let the plants sit for a year to get established. Once the plants are established, you can anticipate the harvest! 
Harvest the rhubarb stalks by holding each one as low as you can go and pulling gently and twisting slightly at the same time. The stalk should come out easily.After pulling the stalks, remove the leaves (these are poisonous and should never be eaten). The leaves can go in the compost pile. I then take the rhubarb stalks into the kitchen and wash them and remove the bottom part with a knife. They are then ready to be used immediately in rhubarb recipes or frozen for later use. 
If you wish to have rhubarb at a really early time, you can go to the trouble of forcing it.The English discovered that rhubarb could be forced to mature early by denying it light and raising the temperature. In the Victorian Age there came to be what was known as the “Rhubarb Triangle”.This was in the villages of Wakefield, Leeds and Morley in England. Thousands of shacks were built where rhubarb was planted. These places were heated and market farmers went through the rows of rhubarb with a candle seeing which ones were ready to harvest.It was said that one could literally hear them growing in these buildings. At one time there were trainloads of rhubarb sent to the big cities in January and February. 
For forcing rhubarb in your home garden,all you need is a box or bucket that will exclude the light.When you see the stalks beginning to emerge, put the box over the plant. The lack of light and the heating from being covered, will bring the rhubarb on quickly and you should have it ready in about four weeks. After picking the forced rhubarb, remove the cover and let the plant recover for the next season. The color of forced rhubarb is lighter than that which is grown outside in the garden and it has been said that the flavor is more delicate and sweet. Consider growing rhubarb in your garden this year. It is easy to grow,easy to put up for the winter and is good for you too!
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