I put Manure on my Rhubarb, some people prefer Custard! (Rhubarb)

Member Name: firemanspam

Product:	Rhubarb
Date:	08/02/09 (219 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A very hardy plant, freezes well, many uses.

Disadvantages: Takes up a lot of room.

Sorry about the title, the old jokes are always the best!
OK not in this case : (

We are of course talking of the Rhubarb plant, not the cartoon Roobarb & Custard, or even the very nice Rhubarb Ale by Ruddles, actually it is now owned by Greene King. I went to the Brewery once at Biggleswade, Sorry I digress a lot these days.

Rhubarb is a plant that is officially a vegetable, although during this review, I will call it a fruit. If you insist on using the term Veg for this plant, then feel free to have a bowl of Vegetables of your choice with custard - Sprouts perhaps?

The plant itself is a brilliant one, it grows like mad, up to three feet high, and a lot wider, produces lots of stalks which can be eaten, and is resistant to all kinds of pests and diseases. It requires no more than slightly fertile soil, a little sun, and not a lot else.

On the downside, it does take a couple of years before it bears fruit so to speak, but after that it will have lovely fresh stalks for you to simply snap off whenever you need them. If you wish, you can freeze rhubarb, with no detriment. It is also very suitable for mixing with other fruits in pies, crumbles, and many other "Puddings". It goes with custard very well.

A lot of people insist that this is too "Tart" but if you use a little sugar in the recipe, is will be fine. It can be "Diluted" remember, with any other fruit you happen to have.

Traditionally Rhubarb is grown in the ground, in soil containing well rotted farmyard manure. When the plant begins to grow, a "Forcing Pot" was placed over the growing stems, making the plant stretch upwards towards the sun. This gave maximum stem length.

Many of these plants are grown not for the fruit, but for the splendid display of foliage, looking like some prehistoric gigantic mutant Fly catcher.

Either way, I can recommend you to have one of these in your garden, as long as you have the room of course.

Summary: Very useful in the kitchen.