ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot

One of the earliest plants to stir in the winter garden is rhubarb. How encouraging to see the bright-red, swollen buds pushing their way above ground. Rhubarb is technically a vegetable, but because of its fruity flavour it is most often enjoyed as a dessert, jam or sweet relish.
Rheum rhaponticum, rhubarb, a member of the Polygonaceae family, was first introduced to Canada from Asia. It’s a long-lived, hardy perennial that’s virtually pest and disease-free and easy to grow if you remember one thing: feed it with lots of well-rotted manure. Rhubarb is a gutsy feeder and performs best when grown in soils rich in organic matter.
Rhubarb leaves contain toxic levels of oxalic acid and should never be eaten or fed to livestock, but can be safely added to the compost pile. You can also make a spray to get rid of aphids by boiling three pounds of rhubarb leaves in three quarts of water. Strain and add one ounce of soap flakes, dissolved in one quart of water. Before spraying, do a test patch.
Rhubarb is either green or red-stalked; the latter is sweeter but less productive. The green-stalked varieties, however, are better suited to forcing, so it may be a good idea to grow some of each type. There are a surprising number of varieties: Victoria and Sutton are well known green-stalked varieties, while Valentine, Canada Red and Cherry Red are good red-stalked types.
Rhubarb responds well to forcing, producing an earlier harvest of tender, pink-blanched stalks. At the turn of the 20th century, gardeners used specially designed terra cotta forcing pots for rhubarb, but these are not commonly available today. In mid-February, I simply cover dormant rhubarb with the biggest terra cotta pot I own and delight in peaking underneath to see the long, pale rhubarb stalks leap out of the ground. Rhubarb can be harvested for a period of eight to 10 weeks during spring. Harvest the stalks when they are between one and two feet long, and before they become tough. Rather than cutting them, pull stalks off the crown with a twisting motion. By mid-summer, stop harvesting, as not only does rhubarb become sour from a build-up of oxalic acid, but it’s best to leave some foliage on the plant to feed the roots.
To keep the crowns producing, divide them every three years. It’s best to divide rhubarb in the fall and replant it with plenty of manure or compost to help it re-establish by spring. Divide the crowns so that you have pieces with at least two or three good buds on them. Replant these three feet apart, with the crowns buried three inches deep. Not harvesting any the first year from newly divided rhubarb means more stalks the next year. Remove seed heads when they appear, to direct energy back to the roots and leaves.
Good news for weight watchers: Rhubarb is one of the lowest calorie foods, providing only 10 calories per four ounces. The sweetener is the problem, so try sweet cicely or stevia as a sugar substitute. Rhubarb is a good source of vitamins A and C and also contains potassium, calcium and thiamin (B-1).

Foolproof one-crust rhubarb pie

It doesn’t matter how rough this pie appears when it goes into the oven, it always looks fantastic when it comes out.
Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F)
Crust
375 g (12 oz) short-crust pastry
1 egg yolk, beaten
3 tbsp semolina
Filling
454 g (1 lb) rhubarb cut into one-inch pieces
79 ml (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
1-2 pieces ginger, preserved in syrup, drained and finely chopped (or substitute candied ginger)
Topping
50 ml (1/4 cup) coarsely-chopped hazelnuts
2 tbsp turbinado sugar
Roll out pastry into a 14-inch circle. Transfer onto a baking sheet. Brush a little egg yolk over the pastry. Scatter semolina over the centre, leaving a wide rim all around. Mix rhubarb pieces, sugar and ginger in a large bowl. Pile onto the middle of the pastry circle. Fold the pastry rim roughly over the filling so that it meets in the middle and almost covers it. Some of the fruit will remain visible in the middle. Glaze the pastry with the remaining egg yolk and scatter the hazelnuts and turbinado sugar over the top. Bake 30-35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve warm.

Extracted from A Year on the Garden Path: A 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide by Carolyn Herriot. Second edition $24.95. Available from your favourite bookstore or order online at (www.earthfuture.com/gardenpath).