In message , Mike Lyle
writes
On Sun, 8 May 2011 19:38:58 +0100, Roger Tonkin
wrote:

In article ,
says...


Also, my sister gave me a rhubarb and it has quite a lot of leaves
with long
stems on it, some of which now seem to have got old and died. Again, how do
I know when I should harvest the rhubarbs? When they have just grown
and are
red, or leave them to go green, or what?

You should not harvest rhubarb for the first year, to allow it to settle
and develop its root system. After that pick a few stems by pulling
outwards and upwards, when they are reasonable size. The earlier
rhuibarb is always much nicer than later in the season, so pick little
and often. Many people say not to pick after the end of July, because
toxins build up in the stems, I tend to stop by mid-August, depending on
how much I've got preserved!

The quality of young rhubarb stalks is certainly much better than that
of the older ones; but I understand that the harmful oxalic acid is
mostly in the leaves rather than the stalks, even when they're turning
green.


And in reality you probably need to eat quite a lot to get nough Oxalic
acid to be a problem.

As to waiting, we are much to impatient and always harvest sooner than
you are supposed to. Rhubarb is such a productive plant, taking afew
stems this year won't do much harm I reckon.
--
Chris French