Archive for rhubarb

Rhubarb and Asparagus starting to come up!

Asparagus coming up!

I can’t wait! It’s been 4 years since I planted the asparagus and I hope I get enough to harvest this year. About 5 spears are already poking through the straw they hide under and that is just one of 4 plants.

Rhubarb coming up too!

Last year I read rhubarb is a good companion plant for asparagus so I got 2 that were already in gallon pots and transplanted them. I got lots of rhubarb last year because they were already 2 years old. They are now coming up like gangbusters. I have them covered with row cover on freezing nights but they seem fine with cold nights. Spring is here!

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Winterizing perennial vegetables

Strawberry patch shown here in July need protection now

We should winterized our perennial vegetables and fruits. I have rhubarb, asparagus and strawberries. I already winterized my rhubarb, covering it with some straw and the leaves have died back under it but the roots are protected under the straw. Next I’ve been waiting for the asparagus ferns to turn brown and they just started so now I can cut them back to 3-4 inches high and cover them with straw too. Lastly I have a pretty big strawberry patch (about 8 feet x 40 feet) and was most concerned with it as I almost lost it last year when I did NOTHING to winterize it. So after the -20°F we had last winter, I want to make sure I help it for this winter. I’m going to cover it with about 6-8 inches of straw this year. It’s leaves are still green with the underside of them red. This week I will cover them for the winter. DON’T FORGET TO WATER YOUR PERENNIALS THIS WINTER as well especially if we don’t get any snow.

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Rhubarb

Rhubarb plant in the middle

This spring I bought 2 rhubarb plants from one of our nurseries that were the most pitiful plants I’ve seen but I really wanted to try to grow some and they were the only two plants they had so I bought them. They now are very beautiful and I can imagine them in other parts of my non-veggie gardens. I read they like sun or sun/part shade, rich soil and need water but not an exorbitant amount. They would give it a very lush look with their HUGE leaves. They have both grown so big that I decided to cut some and cook it up. Here is one of the plants in the middle of some asparagus ferns and ornamental japonica corn.

Here is the other one with the stalks ‘trimmed’. After I cut off the bigger stalks and discarded the leaves which are mildly poison.

Here is the rhubarb/strawberry compote I made. I cut the stalks into 2 inch pieces and cooked them up with the strawberries and lots of sugar and cornstarch. My variety of rhubarb is called ‘Victoria’ which isn’t one of the red varieties but is green instead so I cooked some of the strawberries with it for the classic red coloring.  My mom use to make rhubarb compote that she served in bowls with whipped cream that we gobbled up for desert or breakfast if we could get away with that!

I then poured the compote glaze over the fresh strawberries in a precooked pie shell.

Here is mom at 23 years old-a fabulous cook!

Thanks mom for the recipe.

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