How to get tasty rhubarb for free

NZ GARDENER

With the summer harvest well and truly over it’s time to get busy tidying, spraying stonefruit, dividing perennials such as rhubarb, and planting more winter crops before it gets too cold.

You may even want to get adventurous and go foraging or plant something you haven’t tried before.

REJUVENATE RHUBARB

After four or five years, rhubarb clumps get crowded and form smaller leaves with thin stems. Clear away most of the leaves, then chop the clump with a spade into 2-3 pieces with several buds and as much root as possible.

Bigger chunks establish faster. The new plants are going to be in the same place for years so it’s worth giving them a good start with the rich nutrients they require.

A farmer once told my father to “bury a dead sheep and plant rhubarb over it”. We didn’t have any dead sheep but we got the point that rhubarb likes animal-based nutrients in the soil, and I guess lots of it.

Dig a big hole and half fill with compost, manure and fertiliser. A 45cm layer of manure and a few handfuls of wood ash is ideal, or use compost plus half a bucket of sheep pellets and a handful of Nitrophoska.

If you don’t have rhubarb, try to get a clump off a friend, neighbour or family member. My father’s clump has lasted for years and has been divided, moved and shared many times.

If you can’t source a plant, try gardening stores for the Cherry Red seed variety, which comes highly rated, with deep red stems and excellent flavour. Heritage varieties which have stood the test of time include Glaskin’s Perpetual with its bright red stems, along with one of the most popular varieties Victoria with its flavoursome red and green stems.

My friend who works at a Mitre 10 garden centre says the newer Moulin Rouge is a top seller with strongly red stems, great flavour and being evergreen in all climates. A swag of other varieties he recommends are Ruby Tart, Crimson Crumble and Claret Cobbler. All good for cooking with.

In northern regions, plant in a cool part of the garden as it will bolt to flower and slow growth if in too hot a spot. In colder regions, protect rhubarb crowns from hard frosts and prolonged cold with a swathe of frost cloth or a cloche.

Rhubarb is most often very easy to care for, with few pests or disease problems. Leaf spots are usually not serious – just remove spotty leaves and spray with copper oxychloride if particularly bad.

SPRAY STONEFRUIT TREES FOR DISEASES

While you’ve got the spray pack out, target your stonefruit trees (I usually wait until most of the leaves have dropped).

Diseases such as leaf curl (peaches and nectarines), brown rot, silverleaf, bacterial blast and bladder plum (plums and prune plum varieties) can be problematic but are entirely preventable.

Fungicide spraying with organic copper oxychloride solution in autumn and winter will control most of these, along with applications around flowering time for peaches and nectarines to control leaf curl.

SALLY TAGG/ FOGGYDALE FARM Rhubarb is most often very easy to care for.