Grow, Cook, Dye, Wear by Bella Gonshorovitz

Author:Bella Gonshorovitz
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780744068962
Publisher: DK Publishing

Ged allows the droplets to fall like raindrops while the arrow-shaped curly leaves, purposely designed by nature, keep the water dripping at just the right rate.

g Rhubarb g CONTENTS

Force Rhubarb

Several gardening jobs are truly magical: earthing potatoes, which feels like finding treasure; noticing the first tomato fruits forming in mid-summer after you’ve nurtured the plant from seed for nearly half the year. None come close to the spellbinding experience of forcing rhubarb. It was discovered by accident in the 19th century, when one of the plants in a London botanical garden was inadvertently buried under the soil. Once excavated, the gardeners were amazed to find fresh growth of mesmerizing bright pink stems, which tasted far sweeter than the rhubarb grown outdoors...

By straining every sinew of its being to find the light, glucose, usually distributed between the rhubarb’s large leaves and the stalks, remains in the stem. Forcing also allows for a much earlier harvest, remarkable for a crop ordinarily ready to harvest by the early spring months. During the Second World War, forced rhubarb became a national institution in the UK, its price regulated when fruit was scarce and rationed. The cultivation method is still prevalent in the “rhubarb triangle” of West Yorkshire. For centuries, the plants have been grown in large, dark forcing sheds, harvested, compellingly, in candlelight.

I, sadly, don’t force my rhubarb in such a beguiling fashion. Still, the poignant tenderness of its bright stems never fails to move me, even in the dull February daylight. I cover my rhubarb as soon as I spot its buds emerging with their hopeful promise of spring. As a native to Serbia, rhubarb needs a short, sharp cold spell to awaken from dormancy, usually by the end of December or January. This is the best point to start eliminating light by covering it. I love the traditional terracotta forcers. They are beautiful and come with a little cap that allows for rot-deterring night ventilation, but can be pricey. As with anything else, I would encourage you to keep your eye out for a pre-loved one rather than rushing to the garden centre – eBay is a reliable source, but you occasionally see them at antique markets and car boot sales (which are my go-to for old, steady, and often beautifully crafted gardening tools).

If you are not sure you would like to make that investment quite yet, a large dustbin (weighted down with bricks to prevent it from blowing away in the wind) will do the trick. Create a hole for ventilation, and pile manure heavy and thick around your forcer to release necessary warmth as it decomposes.

Allow the rhubarb to grow in the dark for 4–6 weeks before you try and harvest, aiming for long and slender bright pink stalks and acid yellow cabbage-like leaves. This early yield is only possible once you allow the plant to establish for at least three years before forcing, as any earlier than that, the extreme effort of trying to reach the light is likely to exhaust it.

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