Rhubarb – easy to grow, delicious to eat

Rhubarb is an easy plant to grow and if you get the conditions right at the start will grow relatively trouble-free for many years. Rhubarb plants prefer a sunny site with well drained fertile soil but will grow in many places in the garden A couple of weeks before planting, it is wise to mix some organic compost or well-rotted manure into the spot where you are going to plant your rhubarb to get it off to a good start as rhubarb plants need plenty of nutrients.

Rhubarb crowns are established plants that have already been grown for around a year and these will produce a crop in the first harvest following planting. They can be grown from seed, but this will take a year longer.

Rhubarb is usually planted in spring or autumn depending upon the variety. Simply place the crowns around two centimetres below the soil surface in the prepared area, so that the tip sits just above the soil surface. If you intend growing more than one plant, leave at least seventy-five centimetres between plants as once established they need quite a bit of space.

Rhubarb is a delicious, low maintenance vegetable to grow, needing only a little attention every now and then and so is good for children to grow in their own area of the garden.