North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

Interesting how methods change.  All my life I was taught that you never
pull all the stalks from a rhubarb plant as you can drain the roots too much
and weaken the plants.  Now there is something different.  Not too far from
us is a commercial rhubarb field, and in the last two years they have been
harvesting it by completely stripping the field three times a year.  Not
sure if it's mowed or pulled as I haven't seen the harvesting actually going
on.  When they are done, they apparently fertilize it and give it lots of
water and it comes back out none the worse for the wear.  If anything, the
stalks are cleaner because they are relatively young with each harvest.  It
seems that the roots can support this kind of harvest and the leaves are on
the plant long enough between "pickings" to rejuvenate the plant.
   Oh yes, the variety is Crimson Cherry.
-Lon Rombough