Christmas Rhubarb

[ameno]

My autumn rhubarb doesn't know when to give up, and is still growing even now. It has about a dozen stems on it, of varying sizes.
What do you guys think? Fresh rhubarb pie for the Christmas week (maybe not Christmas day)?

[Bren In Pots]

Enjoy your Rhubarb Ameno all I have is some in the freezer but its not the same as fresh.

[Nicos]

Wow!...what variety is it?

I could do with one of those.

You’re going to come back and say something like ‘Autumn ‘ aren’t you??????


Have you tried slowly roasting it on a low temperature so it turns to a sweet, slightly caramelised mush?
I reckon that would be lovely stirred into vanilla ice cream with crumbled ginger biscuits and a sprinkling of cinnamon for a festive kick?

[ameno]

I'm pretty sure the variety is "Livingstone", although there are a couple more autumn varieties out there.

I'd certainly recommend getting an autumn rhubarb of some sort. It's certainly vigorous and heavy cropping, and tastes just as good as my normal spring rhubarb.
The variety I have does have a slight problem with the buds being not quite as firmly attached as you'd like, and the stalks being a bit too firmly attached, such that if you're not careful you can end up pulling the whole bud out with the stalk (I've done that once this year and twice last year), but otherwise it's great.

They call it autumn cropping rhubarb, but what it actually is is rhubarb with the late summer dormancy bred out of it. Normally rhubarb grows a lot in the spring and early summer, then gradually over mid and late summer, then in late summer to early autumn is starts to die back to the roots, in response to shortening days.
The "autumn" varieties, on the other hand, grow as normal through spring and early summer, slow down a bit for the hot part of summer (rhubarb prefers cooler, damper conditions, after all), then starts growing again in the late summer and autumn. They no longer respond to day length.
You can pick them as normal in spring if you want, but it's best not to, as this is the period where you want to let the plant bulk up in order to give you a good autumn crop. I pick my autumn rhubarb from early September.

Whether you can actually get a crop out of it this late depends on how soon you get cold weather where you are. The leaves can withstand a light frost, but any proper sub-zero temperatures will kill them off and the plant will die back to its roots.
My garden is pretty sheltered, and where I have the plant is more sheltered still, so I haven't had any hard frosts yet (I still have nasturtiums in full leaf), so that's why I still have plenty of leaves on the plant.
And of course it's worth noting that once temperatures get below a certain point it won't actually grow any more, even if it doesn't die back, either, so if you want a late harvest you need to leave the stems on the plant earlier on for picking later.

[Nicos]

^^^^ interesting-thanks!

[burnie]

I love rhubarb, but it sets my arthritic joints off, so sadly had to give up eating it.

[ameno]

Picked 690g of rhubarb today. That should just about be enough for a pie or crumble.
I won't be eating it for a few days or so, so it's in the fridge for now. Picking it the day I use it would have been better, but we're in for some pretty cold nights and if the stems get frosted then they'll be no good anymore (the leaves already looked a bit floppy compared to last week, but fortunately the stems were so far unaffected).

[Nicos]

^^^^ enjoy!

[ameno]

Made my rhubarb pie today. It was delicious.

[Sweet savory]

That is interesting about it being most productive in autumn. I have Apple rhubarb which is also all season. This is its first year so not picked yet but it has grown strongly all summer (from one tiny bud) and continued to bulk up long after the Timperley Early gave up. Will see if the taste varies during the season.