Barbara Beardsley wrote:

Hi
This will be my first harvesting of rhubarb (planted last year, when I
didn't TOUCH it, as the nursery suggested, and I could harvest SOME the
following year...)
So how do I tell if it's ready? I live in NY (zone 7) I believe the variety
is Victoria- it's at the stage where the stalks look like celery (tinged
with pink)
Also I read that you should always cook it- it's too tart to be eaten raw??
Thanks

Barbara

Sounds like its ready to be cut. Cut at the base, clip the leaf and eat/cook
away. It is really not a good plant to eat raw. Take a bite from the first
stalk. Yuck! But cooked with strawberries, raspberries or other fruits it is
delicious. Or even with a bit of sugar or honey it is great. Great for pies
too.
Stan (zone 5)

Get on rec.food.recipes and ask for ways to use it in your cooking. My wife
makes cobbler, pies, Etc. I dont care for it much, but she and several of
my friends and relation love it.

Dwayne

"stan" wrote in message ...


Barbara Beardsley wrote:

Hi
This will be my first harvesting of rhubarb (planted last year, when I
didn't TOUCH it, as the nursery suggested, and I could harvest SOME the
following year...)
So how do I tell if it's ready? I live in NY (zone 7) I believe the
variety
is Victoria- it's at the stage where the stalks look like celery (tinged
with pink)
Also I read that you should always cook it- it's too tart to be eaten
raw??
Thanks

Barbara

Sounds like its ready to be cut. Cut at the base, clip the leaf and
eat/cook
away. It is really not a good plant to eat raw. Take a bite from the first
stalk. Yuck! But cooked with strawberries, raspberries or other fruits it
is
delicious. Or even with a bit of sugar or honey it is great. Great for
pies
too.
Stan (zone 5)

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

Dwayne wrote:
Get on rec.food.recipes and ask for ways to use it in your cooking. My wife
makes cobbler, pies, Etc. I dont care for it much, but she and several of
my friends and relation love it.

Dwayne

"stan" wrote in message ...


Barbara Beardsley wrote:


Hi
This will be my first harvesting of rhubarb (planted last year, when I
didn't TOUCH it, as the nursery suggested, and I could harvest SOME the
following year...)
So how do I tell if it's ready? I live in NY (zone 7) I believe the

variety

is Victoria- it's at the stage where the stalks look like celery (tinged
with pink)
Also I read that you should always cook it- it's too tart to be eaten

raw??

Thanks

Barbara

Sounds like its ready to be cut. Cut at the base, clip the leaf and

eat/cook

away. It is really not a good plant to eat raw. Take a bite from the first
stalk. Yuck! But cooked with strawberries, raspberries or other fruits it

is

delicious. Or even with a bit of sugar or honey it is great. Great for

pies

too.
Stan (zone 5)





As a frequenter of rec.food.cooking, you'll get faster results. You can
also do a google search under Groups, and you'll get instant access to
hundreds, if not thousands, posts.

Also, The Joy of Cooking, has a great Rhubarb Compote.

Enjoy,

R

Yeah you can have the occasional bit, just dont eat it too often. Same goes
for spinach, and beets.

--
Anna Merchant

http://www.thecotfactory.co.nz
If electricity comes from electrons, does that mean that morality comes from
morons?
"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
Just dont eat i if you suffer from kidney stones !

I know kidney stones can be very painful, but I'd sure hate to give up
strawberry-rhubarb pie :-).

Is it cumulative? Could one still have the occasional pie? Say for
birthday and xmas?

--
To announce that there must be no criticism of the president or that we
are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic
and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.
Teddy Roosevelt

In article ,
says...
Yeah you can have the occasional bit, just dont eat it too often. Same goes
for spinach, and beets.


Well, I detest beets (my wife loves them), but I eat spinach both cooked
and raw at least twice a week. No kidney stones yet (at age 66) but
maybe I'll cut back on the spinach :-).

--
To announce that there must be no criticism of the president or that we
are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic
and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.
Teddy Roosevelt

(Scott Parker) wrote in message ...
On Fri, 2 May 2003 14:12:37 -0400, "Barbara Beardsley"
wrote:

This will be my first harvesting of rhubarb
So how do I tell if it's ready?

As soon as the stalks are long and thick, it's ready. Don't leave it
too late in the season to pick or it will get fibrous.

Also I read that you should always cook it- it's too tart to be eaten raw??

Myself, I don't eat it raw, but I do know someone who loves to eat it
raw. It's a matter of taste, I guess.

Scott

I have rcently read that Rhubard should be harvested "ripe" ie at the
end of the season, but another posting has said that there is a build
up of acid.
There are not many plants that are eaten "early".Does anyone know
better...Ken

(Scott Parker) wrote in message ...
On Fri, 2 May 2003 14:12:37 -0400, "Barbara Beardsley"
wrote:

This will be my first harvesting of rhubarb
So how do I tell if it's ready?

As soon as the stalks are long and thick, it's ready. Don't leave it
too late in the season to pick or it will get fibrous.

Also I read that you should always cook it- it's too tart to be eaten raw??

Myself, I don't eat it raw, but I do know someone who loves to eat it
raw. It's a matter of taste, I guess.

If you havent had a kidney stone, I wouldnt worry. If you had something in
your system, that would produce stones from too much oxalate in your diet,
it would have happened by now ) Go ahead and eat your spinach happily

--
Anna Merchant

http://www.thecotfactory.co.nz
If electricity comes from electrons, does that mean that morality comes from
morons?
"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
Yeah you can have the occasional bit, just dont eat it too often. Same
goes
for spinach, and beets.


Well, I detest beets (my wife loves them), but I eat spinach both cooked
and raw at least twice a week. No kidney stones yet (at age 66) but
maybe I'll cut back on the spinach :-).

--
To announce that there must be no criticism of the president or that we
are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic
and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.
Teddy Roosevelt

You can harvest the stalks soon as the large leaves have fully opened
up. I have some strawberry rhubarb. The stalks are excellent right
now. A health plant will be able to handle a heavy cutting, but I would
advise you not to cut more than half and take only the large stalks so
the plant can continue growing. When the flower stalks come up, (they
will be round in cross section and the center hollow) imediately remove
and discard in your composter. The flower stalk will draw a lot of
vitality from the plant. Enjoy.

Scott Parker wrote:
On Fri, 2 May 2003 14:12:37 -0400, "Barbara Beardsley"
wrote:


This will be my first harvesting of rhubarb
So how do I tell if it's ready?


As soon as the stalks are long and thick, it's ready. Don't leave it
too late in the season to pick or it will get fibrous.


Also I read that you should always cook it- it's too tart to be eaten raw??


Myself, I don't eat it raw, but I do know someone who loves to eat it
raw. It's a matter of taste, I guess.

Scott

Anna What's the problem with it in relation to kidney stones? I've hade
to large attackes, but since I've started drinking no less than 2
liters/quarts of water a day I've been fine.

Anna Merchant wrote:
Just dont eat i if you suffer from kidney stones !

--
Anna Merchant

http://www.thecotfactory.co.nz

"Richard Periut" wrote in message
...

Dwayne wrote:

Get on rec.food.recipes and ask for ways to use it in your cooking. My

wife

makes cobbler, pies, Etc. I dont care for it much, but she and several

of

my friends and relation love it.

In article , craignw wrote:
Anna What's the problem with it in relation to kidney stones? I've hade
to large attackes, but since I've started drinking no less than 2
liters/quarts of water a day I've been fine.

Oxalic acid - especially in the leaves, but there's probably some in the
stems too.

cheers,

Marj

* * *
Marj Tiefert: http://www.mindspring.com/~mtiefert/
Marj's Mini Mall: http://stores.tiefert.com/
Coleridge shop: http://www.cafeshops.com/coleridgestore
Marjorie's Morning Star: http://newsletter.tiefert.com/
science editing services: http://science.tiefert.com/

craignw writes:
Anna What's the problem with it in relation to kidney stones? I've hade
to large attackes, but since I've started drinking no less than 2
liters/quarts of water a day I've been fine.

Probably the oxalic acid in rhubarb. It's also found in silverbeet (chard)
leaves and French sorrel. I'll add a note that I've read that oxalic acid
in the diet inhibits the body's absorption of calcium, so anyone at risk of
osteoporosis might consider this. Instead of indulging in rhubarb each day,
maybe restricting it to once a fortnight or so?

You could try chewing on a small piece of raw rhubarb stalk, but I think
you'll find that it's the sugar you add during cooking that is a big
attraction of cooking. Raw it is not very tasty, though.

I have heard that in old England it was common to serve cooked rhubarb
leaves as a vegetable. Most people handled it with no problem, but a few
were extra sensitive to the high dose of oxalic acid involved, and some
of these just dropped dead. It sounded as though this was simply accepted
as a fact of life, a bit like the road toll is in today's world.

N.B. Rhubarb leaves are today regarded as unsuitable for consumption, but
are fine for the compost heap.
--
John Savage (news reply email invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)

I was taught that Rhubarb leaves were poisonous.

John Savage wrote:
craignw writes:

Anna What's the problem with it in relation to kidney stones? I've hade
to large attackes, but since I've started drinking no less than 2
liters/quarts of water a day I've been fine.


Probably the oxalic acid in rhubarb. It's also found in silverbeet (chard)
leaves and French sorrel. I'll add a note that I've read that oxalic acid
in the diet inhibits the body's absorption of calcium, so anyone at risk of
osteoporosis might consider this. Instead of indulging in rhubarb each day,
maybe restricting it to once a fortnight or so?

You could try chewing on a small piece of raw rhubarb stalk, but I think
you'll find that it's the sugar you add during cooking that is a big
attraction of cooking. Raw it is not very tasty, though.

I have heard that in old England it was common to serve cooked rhubarb
leaves as a vegetable. Most people handled it with no problem, but a few
were extra sensitive to the high dose of oxalic acid involved, and some
of these just dropped dead. It sounded as though this was simply accepted
as a fact of life, a bit like the road toll is in today's world.

N.B. Rhubarb leaves are today regarded as unsuitable for consumption, but
are fine for the compost heap.

In article , says...
I was taught that Rhubarb leaves were poisonous.

So was I.

--
Where ARE those Iraqi WMDs?