Under the mulch
Huge pink buds under the
leaf
mulch give way to
pale yellow leaves --- the rhubarb is ready to grow. I rake
autumn leaves off the rhubarbs, strawberries, and asparagus to give my
early risers an opportunity to bask in the early spring sun.
Within minutes, I count two salamanders, half a dozen spiders, and
innumerable worms. It may just be my imagination, but the soil
seems more alive than in mulchless Marches. Once my plants spread
out a bit, I'll push the dead leaves back underneath as mulch, but for
now I don't want my perennials to fade away from lack of sunlight.
Meanwhile, with our
freezer nearly empty, I'm eying those rhubarb buds with
uncharacteristic glee. I'm ashamed to say that even though I've
had a very healthy patch for years, I don't think I've eaten a
stalk. What's your favorite rhubarb recipe? (Not
strawberry-rhubarb pie --- I consider any cooked form of strawberries a
waste of their vibrant goodness.)
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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For "fancy," my favorite is rhubarb-custard pie: rhubarb plus egg custard in a pie crust is absolute bliss! (Plus, I can just call it a meal if I want - fruit, protein and grain sounds like a meal to me! Anyway, that was always my mum's excuse when she fed us pumpkin pie for breakfast!)
For "everyday," I'd go with rhubarb sauce: it's very simple - just cook rhubarb and sugar in water, just as if you were making applesauce (although you may need a bit more sugar). I eat it alone, mix it with cereal or yogurt, and serve it alongside roast poultry or pork - very tasty!
I agree with the comment above on making an apple-sauce-type stewed rhubarb. It's great on muesli, but it can also be put on a pie base, topped with crumble, and baked for a brilliant dessert.
Another cool trick is to drop slices of rhubarb on top of a vanilla cake before baking. They'll sink down into it during cooking and taste delicious. A bit like putting blueberries on top.