From: "William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Off Topic: Rhubarb
Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2007 10:45:10 -0500
Folks - I have heard that one ought not harvest rhubarb for consumption after
Memorial Day. Anybody know anything about this? Does it become toxic?
I think it's just to let the plant recover, especially since the hot
part of the summer probably stresses it enough. I know it doesn't become
toxic, because I've picked enough of it past then. And I know people who
just keep picking it all summer, apparently with no ill effects.
My rhubarb patch, which was old when I bought the place twenty years
ago, wilts a bit in our hot summers. Depending on how much rain we get,
I pick it through May and some in June, then neglect it for the rest of
the year. It certainly seems to thrive on that. But I have to admit that
I really don't know how I'm "supposed" to grow it.
Bill
--
The freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next. - Matthew
Arnold