Monday 24 June 2013

Last of the Rhubarb

As it's the end of June (that is, midsummer), it's time to stop harvesting rhubarb. It's done really well: we planted it in December 2011, and the combination of young plants and awful conditions meant that we didn't really have any stems from it last year. But this year it's been prolific.

The Timperley Early has done fine, but the late spring probably reduced its usefulness, as by the time it was really growing, the Victoria had come into its own. The stalks on Victoria have been monstrous, as the photo below suggests. Leaf and stem, together, have been nigh-on four feet long, and each stem's weighed about a pound. We've had rhubarb available whenever we wanted it for the last six weeks or so, and it's been delicious.

The Sutton's Seedless hasn't particularly impressed, but we'll have to see how all three do next spring.

Tonight I've taken the last picking, leaving the crowns with a few stems to recover for the rest of the year.


Rhubarb 'Victoria' stem, with Chess for scale (© Ian 2013)

No comments:

Post a Comment