On Harvesting Rhubarb

Manitoba Fruit Share wrote a wonderful little post about how best to pick rhubarb, and here is an excerpt:

• pick from the outside in
• slide your hand to the base of the stalk and pull gently
• if pulling does not work, carefully cut the stalks as close to the ground as possible
• leave 1/3 of the stalks on the plant so it can continue to grow and thrive during the summer – NEVER pick all of the stalks from a rhubarb plant
• if you cut the leaves off the stalks at the picking location, ask the homeowner permission to put the leaves in their compost pile or take the leaves with you to compost at home or at another compost pile
• it is safe to compost rhubarb leaves, but never eat them

If you take care to harvest rhubarb properly, you will be rewarded with good plant growth and another harvest in a few weeks time!