10 Fun Facts About Rhubarb
1. The word rhubarb comes from the Latin word “rhababarum” which means “root of the barbarians.” The Romans labelled anyone who ate rhubarb “barbarians.” I guess that makes me a barbarian!
2. Color matters! The color of the stalk determines the taste. The darker the red stalk, the sweeter the rhubarb!
3. Rhubarb itself doesn’t have a day but TWO kinds of rhubarb pie do. January 23rd is National Rhubarb Pie Day and June 9th is National Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Day.
4. Rhubarb is normally considered a vegetable {it’s a member of the buckwheat family } but a New York court ruling in 1947 made it an official fruit in the United States.
5. Rhubarb was grown in China and traded for medicinal purposes as early as the 16th century. People also use it to dye eggs, hair or even use the fibers to knit sweaters.
More Facts About Rhubarb
6. Beware!! The leaves attached to a Rhubarb stalk are poisonous, full of more oxalic acid than humans and animals can safely eat!
7. The word “rhubarb” may also refer to a loud dispute; in the 1940’s, it was commonly used as a descriptor of the on- and off-field shenanigans of fans and players at raucous baseball games. In 1930’s theater, the repetition of the word “rhubarb” by stage actors was used to simulate background conversation.
8. Rhubarb is crazy tough and cold-hardy, so you usually have to do something really, really drastic to kill it once it becomes established. Think setting it on fire or rolling over it with your lawnmower repeatedly {although it has been known to survive both!}.
9. Rhubarb can reach 6 to 10 feet in height but your typical garden varieties are usually smaller.
10. Rhubarb can be grown in a greenhouse {I had no idea!} which produces not only a deeper red stalk but a sweeter one too.
So there you have it. 10 fun facts about rhubarb!
Had you heard any of those fun facts before? Do you have any of your own to add? Is there a particular produce item you want to know more about? I take requests!
Grow on,
~ Mavis
For more fun facts about other vegetables and HERE.
Here are a few of my favorite rhubarb recipes:
- Rhubarb Walnut Muffins
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Pie
- Vegetarian Indian-Spiced Lentils with Spinach and Rhubarb
- Rhubarb Cinnamon Jam
- Old Fashioned Rhubarb Custard Pie
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
- Vanilla Rhubarb Jam
Katie says
I wish I could find it fresh down here! I’ve only been able to get it from the frozen section. My husband made a strawberry rhubarb pie for the first time last Christmas and it was so good!
Ramona says
A friend shared this with me and I looked it up. If you have a hard frost that wilts or turn the leaves brownish in the spring don’t eat the rhubarb, The oxalic acid may move down from the leaves to the stalk.
I always look forward to making your two recipes, Rhubarb Vanilla Jam and the Rhubarb muffins,they are the best.
Linda says
I have a green variety of rhubarb, and it tastes just fine!
Jacqui Gauld says
I’m in Scotland and one of the most popular jams here is rhubarb and ginger. Rhubarb crumble, covered with custard is a big favourite as well. When I was wee, bairns would often be given raw rhubarb stalks to eat, and if they were a bit too soor (sour), then you just dipped them in sugar. Happy days indeed! But helps to explain why Scotland has such a high level of tooth decay amongst my generation (I’m 64).
I’ve been reading your blog for a few months now, really enjoy it and totally envy your lifestyle.
Tammy says
Loved your story of eating stalks of rhubarb dipped in sugar! As a child we spent many an afternoon on my grandmothers back porch snacking on the same! Brings back happy memories! Thank you
LORIE UNDERWOOD says
Did you know you can hear rhubarb popping as it grows? It is sometimes grown in a shed, in the dark and there are recordings of it popping and growing. Almost like popcorn in the microwave. True fact!
Listen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2NMffyX2yw
Christa H. says
I love eating it raw dipped in sugar. Have tried growing a few times but it never survived. I’ll try again at the new farm.
Barbara says
Have you heard rhubarb crack when you peel it
Terry H Goodall says
I have always planted the red variety of rhubarb, but it always comes up green. There may be a little red at the base but that’s it. What am I doing wrong?
Dawn says
Did you also know if cut down after spring it will come back for another cutting towards fall.
Also someone told me to break off the seed pods that develop as it does harm to the plant. I do and we have a hardy crop near our garden shed.
I make Rhubarb coffee cake with ours, so good with cool whip or ice cream as a dessert.
Marilyn says
Twist and pull, don’t cut rhubarb. Always leave stalks growing too, don’t pull it all at once. Dig up at end of season, then replant next spring. Divide when you feel it’s getting too big and either plant separately or give it as a lovely gift x
Angela Hoy says
Dont’t dig it up! Let it die down naturally and it will regrow in early Spring! Cover with a dustbin or compost bin for an extra early harvest of soft pink stems, delicious!
Gary says
“Color Matters” is an old gardening myth. Flavor and sweetness is more linked to variety than color. The sweetest, tastiest, most robust rhubarb I’ve ever grown is the green variety I got from my in-laws many years ago, and has become very popular in south central PA.
Robin says
I remember helping my grandma pick rhubarb when I was little and she would make the best rhubarb pies so now that I’m older I would love to plant some so when do you plant rhubarb I live in Tennessee
Sherry says
I don’t that it matters, I split my last summer the lady that I gave the plant to she planted it right away and hasn’t had any issues.
Tammy says
I recently made rhubarb salsa and what a treat that was in the blistering heat wave we’re having right now! I was amazingly good!
Sharron says
I have read that a cup of rhubarb has as much calcium as a cup of milk ..
Chris Bona says
I live in the South and would love to grow it but don’t know how to go about it. I had a wonderful patch when I Lived in N. Y.
Tammy says
I just planted 4 roots purchased at tractor supply in NC. My soul is clay, so needs a lot of added amendments. It loves manure and should be planted in an area that has a good winter freeze. YouTube it! It’s amazing what you can find there! Good luck!
Judy says
Needs a lot of fertilizer. Dry Manure is best. Or fresh if you don’t mind the fragrance. Be generous and deep. It takes at least 2 years to start in Northern areas, don’t know about other ones.
TerriLyn says
My favorite fruit pie is rhubarb-blackberry.
Linda Practical Parsimony says
It’s too hot here in Alabama to grow rhubarb. Otherwise, I would grow it. I have to depend on Publix and exorbitant prices. My favorite rhubarb pie is one I sort of made up when I was 22 and knew nothing.
I used a crust that was pressed into the pie pan. Then, I crumbled the same crust over the top. I made the pie filling with little sugar and nothing else. The pie was sort of like eating chunky lemonade because it was sweet and tart like lemonade.
When my son finished his pie, he asked if he could have more of the cookie, referring to the bottom crust. It was like a sugar cookie. With the rhubarb soaked into the crust, it was delicious.
I love rhubarb!!!
JoAnn says
Just bought two rhubarb roots and had to plant them in a bucket because there is a mama groundhog and babies living under the shed where I intend to plant it and mama came out screaming so I left. They are coming nicely in the bucket but for the $25 they cost I hate to lose them to a transplant . Should I leave or transfer in the fall when mama wanders off-I hope! If anyone knows please respond-thanks
Su Carter says
Grown my rhubarb in big cut off plastic 50gallon tub with holes drilled into base. Very happy in it. Roots have grown through holes into grown below. I cover crowns with upturned large in early spring to encourage fresh red stalks as they do in Yorkshire.
Richelle says
Living in Canada, rhubarb is the first edible (besides in the wild) to come out of the ground in the spring. You can force it to grow early every second year (not recommended every year), by covering it with an upside down bucket. The dark forces it to grow faster looking for light, and it’s redder and sweeter.
Carmen says
I worm compost my garbage in a unit called Worm Factory. When it is hot I can have a problem with fruit flies. I learned that fruit flies hate rhubarb leaves, so I cover my garbage with the leaves instantly no fruit flies.
Kestrele says
Making a tea with the leaves is the best and most toxic bug killer
Anne says
I have a rhubarb plant that is over 25 years old. Leaves can get as big as elephant ears. My usual harvest is about 10 pulls a season. Some of my stalks can get to be 3″ in width.
Pam Osborn says
I really would like to know…are some varieties of rhubarb always green? I have 3 plants in northern Indiana and one has tiny stalks that are red but the other 2 never turn red. They stay green.
Anita W says
Yes,some are green
Even many ‘red’ varieties are green about halfway up the stalk,or the center of stalk is light green and only the skin is red