rhubarb....... what do i do with it...

[clairissa]

Apparently I have rhubarb?!! A lot of it...... a friend found it in my garden and cut it and now its in a pile in my kitchen. No idea what i'm supposed to do with it. If I dig it up (what's left) will it come back next year? Anyone want any? I wonder if they will take it at a charity shop?.
update:- You mean i have to learn how to cook it!!!!!!

[leicestershirelass]

you could make rhubarb marmalade, rhubarb chutney, rhubarb jam .....

or give it away to neighbours so they can have rhubarb crumble / pie after their Sunday dinner ....

you could freeze some and use it another time ...

if you've got lots and lots ... what about selling it at a farmer's type market or to your local veg shop and make some money to buy something to use in your garden ?

[shirlthegirl43]

You lucky thing! You can also make rhubarb wine, rhubarb crumble, rhubarb pie.... YUMMY YUMMY

[pdblake]

Firstly, you don't dig it up unless you want to move it or split the crowns. Secondly, you don't cut it either, you 'pull' it.

As for what you can do with it, just treat it like a fruit. Jams, wines, fruit cheese, crumbles, pies etc.

It should come back year after year, for many years.

[Sheepish]

I would check out some samples of it before launching into action with the whole lot. I find by this time of year most if not all of my remaining rhubarb is too woody to eat. However earlier in the season we enjoy a rhubarb pie once a week, sometimes a crumble or spounge mid week too.

[HayleyB]

Don't let anything eat the leaves, they're poisonous

[clairissa]

oh terrific!!! not

[shirlthegirl43]

oh terrific!!! not

You don't like rhubarb?

[HayleyB]

You haven't have you?

[pdblake]

You'd need to eat a lot to kill you, I think someone worked it out as ten pounds of the stuff Apparantly they are 0.5% oxalic acid and you need 25gms to kill you, you'd probably burst before you dropped dead

The boiled up leaves make good insecticide, they also make good compost.

[jacob]

This thread raises two questions for me:

1) What's up with cutting rhubarb (I've done this the last couple of years with no obvious ill effects).

2) I'm not sure that sticking insecticide leaves on my compost heap sounds very clever! Have I done wrong?

[HayleyB]

It's animals I'm worried about...........