Rhubarb, a plant with ancient virtues

His origin

Formerly called “racine de Barbarie”, it is the deformation of this term that gave the name rhubarb.
Originally it was its medicinal qualities that introduced it into gardens.
Multiple qualities, disinfectant, anti-inflammatory, it has become a very popular edible in the East of France and in Belgium.
It is native to Asia (maybe from the banks of the Volga). But it is known by the Chinese as a medicinal plant since antiquity. Marco Polo pointed it out in his writings.
It also seems that a species was known to the ancient Greeks for its medicinal qualities.
It would have been admitted to French gardens during the reign of Louis XIV.

What do we eat in rhubarb

The roots are used in pharmacology. (Anti-inflammatory for the mouth, anti-infective for the liver, etc.)
In cooking, baking and confectionery, it is the ribs that are eaten, but especially not the leaf blades, which are toxic, even cooked. It is mainly the oxalic acid that makes these leaves dangerous.
They are used in pastry for pies, compotes, jams, sorbets, but also in confectionery in fruit jellies and candied fruits, syrups.
In the East, it is made into a sparkling, slightly alcoholic drink, by fermenting the juice with sugar.
More and more chefs are using it in cooking, so salty use to accompany meat or fish or combine them with other flavors.

Are there several varieties?

Vegetable rhubarbs are in principle derived from hybrids of Rheum rhabarbarum
There are a good ten of them with more or less colored, more or less acidic ribs. It is said that the red ribs are sweeter than the green ones.
Some are earlier, others a little more hardy or less voluminous for growing in containers.
There are also ornamental varieties with laciniated leaves from Rheum palmatum Tanguticum for decoration although the flowers of all the rhubarbs are spectacular and attract a lot of very diverse insects (ants, bees, cetonia, etc.). However, for the production of ribs, it is advisable to remove the buttons as soon as they are visible.

And the culture?

Easy to grow provided you feed it well (organic matter, nitrogen and water (soil freshness).
It is very easy to divide as it has a large stump at the end of winter.
It is planted at 1m X 1m for 4 to 5 years. Then it is advisable to divide it to rejuvenate it. It is better not to divide the whole square at the same time because the first year the harvest will be almost nil.

I recommend bringing organic matter in the form of manure preferably at least every two years and supplementing with organic nitrogen in the form of cornaille or feather meal.
Mulching is also recommended as well as support by watering during hot and dry periods in light or too draining soils.
But a strain of rhubarb can live 50 years or more.
Do not bury the plants too much, the large red buds should be low to the ground.
Personally from the third year, I disbud the stumps by removing the small shoots at their base to leave only 3 or 4 large buds which will give more beautiful ribs. I do this using an asparagus gouge.

Ask all your questions during the gardening program on Sunday morning on France bleu Isère from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. by calling 04 76 46 45 45.