In article , "Rachel"
wrote:

"stan" wrote in message ...

[...]

Another rule of thumb: harvest no more than about 1/4 - 1/3 of the stalks in
a given year. To tell the truth, I haven't tried to see what happens if you
overdo it, but I read this somewhere and tend to believe it - at least on
young plants.

Rachel
Zone 6B

If you pull too many stalks off, the plant won't be able to feed itself,
to make it through the winter. It needs some leaves left on, to put
nutrients back into the crown.

If you're going to put some in the freezer for the winter, do it with
the first stalks of the spring, while it's still tender. Cut it up into
1" pieces, blanche for 30 seconds, put into ziplock bags and put in
the freezer. Then use for pies, cobblers, or rhubarb sauce for ice cream
in the deep, dark part of winter.

Jan