First rhubarb of the season means ... Rhubarb Crumble Just a 'small' helping with custard (to make sure it's fit for general consumption )
Wife had a 'taste' (or 3). I wasn't sure about my first 'sampling' ... Our lad Chris came in from footy ... 'Sall Gone There's still a fair bit in MILs back garden ... I might nip over a bit later - just to make sure 'The Old Bat's' OK ... .
We had crumble yesterday as well. Father-in-law supplied the rhubarb, I made a big one for us and a small one for him. Dropped it round last night about 5pm, supplied instructions about how long in the oven. He is getting rather deaf, missed the bit about the oven and ate it raw. Hard rhubard and soft crumble - not the best combo. Ours was lovely
Considering that Hykeham is a long way from the 'Triangle' (and consists of a great big sand and gravel deposit/pit) I'm surprised rhubarb grows as well as it does here. I'm from Bradford originally and lived in Morley for a few years, so I picked up a few tips on growing the delicacy. Nearly slipped up this year though as I didn't get over to see MIL for the last couple of weeks, and when I visited today and checked the 'patch' the stuff was starting to 'bolt'. I think that I caught it in time and nipped it in the bud. Harvesting should continue as normal
I seem to have a real talent for growing rhubarb. It goes in an old raised bed, in about 4' of soil and I religiously heap a foot of compost on the crowns every February. I get leaves about 2' square and stalks 2" thick, from mid April to mid July. Unfortunately there is only so much of the stuff you can eat. I put five or six carrier bags of it in the freezer, as well as what I manage to get down me for breakfast. Then in the spring I have to throw it away to make room for next year's. It is nice to grow, though; makes me feel like a proper gardener.
I have a couple of crowns in the garden, and it grows quite prolificly. I already have the freezer filled up, and it is still growing wildly at the moment. Anyone else like it cooked with a little ginger?
My Mum used to make rhubarb and ginger jam/preserve (I can't be arsed with jam making ). Later in the season we'll be enjoying rhubarb and strawberry, rhubarb and elderberry, rhubarb and apple, rhubarb and bramble etc. etc. .
As a kid we used to go off over the fields with a bag of sugar. We knew where there was rhubarb groing wild on some old abandoned allotment site. The bag of sugar was to dip the rhubarb in to sweeten it. We'd spend the days of summer out in the fields and woods eating rhubarb and any other soft fruit we could find.
Yes, me. Then sweetened with Dark Muscovado Sugar, which gives it a slight licorice taste. Eat with yoghurt or full hit ice cream.
It needs no encouragement in our garden and is about the only thing we don't need to protect, feed or nurture. Which suits me fine as I love rhubarb and I'm not so clever in the garden... so it's the perfect plant imho! Whilst I love crumble (and last year's mega plum harvest meant we could have plum crumble all through winter), I actually prefer rhubarb stewed with ginger and sugar to take the edge off... and custard off course! The misses is away at the moment, so I might score some brownie points and get some rhubarb in and have some stewed ready for her return. It'd be the first of the season!
