Rhubarb

Today has been a beautiful sunny summer day complete with a nice breeze. I went out to the garden to see what was coming along and the rhubarb caught my eye. This is the second year for one plant and now it is full with many stalks. The second plant was given to me by a friend and just planted this season. Both plants took off early in the spring and while small I held hope they would grow strong and full. They have surpassed ym expectations and next year will be even larger. I am now glad I made the decision to plant just the two rhubarb plants in that garden box. I can just barely see any soil under the plants which is a good thing because I haven't seen any weeds all season.



I decided to stew the rhubarb to sample the taste. I washed the stalks carefully and cut off the ends and leaves. Remember the leaves are poisonous. The ends and leaves were put into the compost bucket to make compost tea. I will return to that subject later.

Next I cut the stalks into one inch pieces. I put the cut pieces into a copper bottomed sauce pan along with one and one half cups of water and 3/4 of a cup of sugar. I turned the heat onto medium and cooked it about 30 minutes till soft.
Stewed rhubarb is tart and sweet. I like it plain but it is great as a topping on pound cake or ice cream. I also like it on my oatmeal instead of a sweetener in the morning. Yum yum!


Tip #2 Compost Tea
I have a compost box in the garden and I also have a compost bucket for compost tea. I use an old laundry stocking bag in which I put garden clippings, veggie scraps, manure and compost from the box. I let it steep in water for a couple of days and when it looks a nice tea color I side dress my plants with the tea. I then throw the sludge from the bag onto the top of the compost box.
At this moment in time, I do not have an aerator. I have been watching the yard sales and know either a fish tank pump or garden pump will show up. When I have a pump to add air bubbles to the tea it will be even yummier.