A Year of Gratitude – May 1, 2024
I found my gratitude in the garden again today. It’s that time of year, so it wasn’t surprising to find it there. It was waiting for me in the rhubarb patch.
We have been growing rhubarb in our garden for almost 20 years now. What began as a single plant gifted to us by a friend has now become a patch of rhubarb that produces far more than we can enjoy ourselves. Fortunately, we have a few friends who don’t grow rhubarb in their gardens. They know that we have plenty to share with them and are happy to gift them rhubarb for their pies, crumbles, and tarts.
A few months ago, I learned that you could force rhubarb to create a sweeter crop. I found that to be an intriguing proposition. I couldn’t wait to learn more about it.
I passed the information on to my mom who was also eager to give it a try. The process is simple. You choose an established rhubarb plant and cover it. The lack of light forces the rhubarb to grow faster as they reach for sunlight. Because of the lack of light, the stalks don’t produce the enormous leaves typical of rhubarb. Instead, the glucose from the plant that would normally feed the leaves is retained in the stalks. That’s what makes forced rhubarb sweet.
In Europe, this practice is quite common. Indoor growing spaces for rhubarb allow for forcing. Stalks are sometimes picked by candlelight to avoid breaking the forcing of the developing stalks.
We couldn’t wait to try it, but we wanted to try and use something we had on hand. So, we had a look through the old barn. We needed something that would block out the sun but keep the rhubarb warm enough on the chilly nights we have been experiencing.
The answer came to us in the potting shed. We had a few terracotta chimney liners we have used in the gardens before. It didn’t take us long to settle one over one of our rhubarb plants. We added a large terracotta saucer as a lid. Now we just have to wait and see what happens.
Oh, how I love a garden experiment! No matter how many years I garden, there is always something new to learn. I can’t wait to see how this forced rhubarb will grow. More importantly, I can’t wait to taste it and make a pie or tart with every single inch of it!
Do you grow rhubarb in your garden? Have you ever tried forcing it?
This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.