Separating Rhubarb Crowns

I have grown rhubarb for years and have shared through the years many recipes on this site for rhubarb cake, pie and have even made wine with rhubarb. It is an easy perennial to grow and can be paired with many of the fruits that I also grow. I have canned it and it also freezes wonderfully. On the new property here it is not quite as prolific as it was on the Missouri farm but it still grows well enough to keep me in rhubarb for all my many uses. 

This last week started out great with nice warm days on Monday so we took the time to separate one of the rhubarb crowns in my garden. I try to separate the crowns every three years or so or they get too thick and the centers start dying out. 

 

The large crown was just starting to come up from winter dormancy. The root system was very large and we ended up having to take the machete to it in the end but we managed to get it into 7 pieces. 

We had so much help of the web footed variety just waiting for any bug or grub to be turned up. 

In the end I ended up with 7 separate plants all planted in a row down the front of a blueberry bed. It should look nice there and be out of the way. We added lots of worm castings, compost and soybean meal to the hole to help with fertility when we planted each piece. These become massive plants and will need it. I love free plants and I could have also potted them up and probably sold them on the community bulletin board generating income for the garden expenses had I wanted to take the time. While this is a lot of plants I am sure I can come up with something to do with all that rhubarb. 

I love perennial plants that I can propagate myself to plant in the garden without the added expense of buying new plants as they are expensive right now. Perennials like this are great to fill in the holes in a garden. 

With rain, frost and snow in the forecast for the rest of the week I am glad to have got this done. For the remainder of the week I have some canning projects to tackle. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

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Rhubarb and Asparagus

 

Rhubarb and asparagus that is what I am picking in my garden right now. The rhubarb got hit in the recent hail storm and the leaves are a bit beat up but they go into the compost anyway. Rhubarb struggles a bit here compared to my Missouri farm. It appreciates a little afternoon shade and lots of compost because of the sandy soil but other than that is a trooper. I freeze it right now because I have more freezer space than canning lids. These are the times and praying this too shall pass. It is a great perennial plant that is easy to propagate and suffers from few diseases or pests and is useful for many different things. It can be cooked down for drinks or made into pies, cakes or crumbles. It makes a great wine too. Every couple years I separate the crowns and divide.  So for the work I have to put into this plant it produces dependably every year and is hardy and healthy. A great plant for the garden. 

The other thing I am picking and freezing right now is asparagus. Another great perennial investment. I have 2 large beds of asparagus. The crowns are inexpensive as a rule and while a little effort upfront is required to get them started once started they produce for decades. They are cold hardy and mine suffer from few diseases or pests. I do have more of a problem on this farm with asparagus beetles and have to spray them with Neem or pyrethrin a time or two a year.  They require more feeding here because of the sandy soil though. 

For the little effort I put into these plants I get dependable harvests ever year. For us that is a plus always. So for those of you just starting out I highly recommend these two plants. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter