Stewed Rhubarb

This beautiful leafy garden plant has an edible stalk that is similar in appearance to celery, but unrelated. Rhubarb is a vegetable too, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. Being very tart, it really isn’t something you might want to eat raw. Although cooked and mixed with sugar, it’s a different story. The stalks are actually loaded with vitamins and minerals, being high in vitamin C, vitamin K, iron and manganese.

Leave the leaf

The stalk alone is edible. When harvesting rhubarb immediately remove the large leaf and discard. The leaf contains oxalic acid and other poisonous substances which can be toxic. Those leaves can be composted safely though. The amount of oxalic acid in the stalks is substantially lower but does elevate later in the growing season. It is a good idea to do your final harvest by the end of June.

Mom always had a rhubarb patch in the garden and I’ve eaten it since I was a kid. She would stew it and mix it with loads of sugar, sometimes adding strawberries. I don’t use as much sugar as she did, Mom was always heavy handed with the sugar spoon. She also made and amazing rhubarb pie. Having a little dish of stewed rhubarb with our toast in the morning was a frequent thing. These days I add it to my yogurt, Yum. My gardening skills enabled me to save my Mom’s rhubarb plants and they thrive still today.

The Process

• 3¾ – 4 Cups of rhubarb chopped into ¾-1 inch pieces
• 4 tbsps sugar
• 3 tbsp water

Thoroughly wash the rhubarb before chopping. Put it in a medium saucepan, add the sugar and water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer stirring occasionally. Cook until the pieces have broken down and is a jam-like consistency. Put into appropriate containers and allow to cool. Refrigerate. It will keep for approx. two weeks in the fridge, or indefinitely in the freezer.

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