Rhubarb ~ Vegetable or Fruit? easy to grow and very versatile!

Rhubarb (is actually a perennial vegetable), or pieplant, was widely regarded as a fine spring tonic to aid the blood and the digestive system. Cooked and stewed rhubarb was called “spring fruit” in early cookbooks. 

The usual way to harvest rhubarb, is to grab the stem, near the ground and pull. Cutting the stalks off will do no harm, and will encourage more growth regardless.  Always leave a few stalks to keep your plant healthy. It is always recommended to only harvest 25% of a perennial on any given year to ensure future harvests. After discarding the leaves and cutting the bottom of the stem off, give them rinse in cool/cold water. Because I don't care for all the "strings" in my cake, I peel the stalks before cutting them into smaller pieces. For jams or for stewed rhubarb, I don't bother to peel the stalks. 

Caring for your plant: As flower stalks appear on the growing rhubarb, remove them right away so they don't rob the plant of nutrients. Make sure you water the plants during dry weather; rhubarb doesn't tolerate drought. Mulch generously with a heavy layer of straw and cow manure to provide nutrients for the plant, retain moisture, and discourage weeds. 

Rhubarb ~ 19 June 2020 Ready to harvest!

Asparagus memories

I remember going out with my family, when I was a child, foraging for wild asparagus along ditches and fence lines. My grandmother would use her apron to hold the bounty of spears and deposit them in a dish pan as she and my mother would visit and pick the wild asparagus, on a warm spring day. These days you won't find wild asparagus due to spraying and cultivation practices but the happy memories are still there. Now I just pick asparagus in my garden ~ the variety is probably Martha Washington.

When gathering, simply take the end of the asparagus spear between your thumb and forefinger and bend until it breaks, the spear automatically breaks just where the woody part ends and the fresh, juicy asparagus begins. That being said, you can peel the woody parts and use the tender centers, on the larger spears. I like to cut the spears at or near ground level rather than leave the stalks (and then snap them), as they are just in the way as the new, fresh spears are growing.

Apple Blossom time

Apple blossoms give us hope for future harvest. Fruit should be ready to pick in about September. One of my apple trees is grafted stock originally purchased from Stark's in about 1957 and planted in our 20 acre orchard, on a farm in Idaho. It's the best Red Delicious you could imagine. The fruit is red with green stripes, sweet, crisp and solid. Makes wonderful pies, applesauce and fresh eating.