Save a rich rhubarb harvest for the entire year

Has this non-traditional vegetable spread around your garden so shamelessly that you just have too much of it? Well, don’t worry, be happy. If rhubarb is somehow flourishing in your garden you might as well make use of it. Store it properly so you have enough supply for the entire year.

The correct name is curly rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum). You can harvest it continuously but do not go past 24 June because after that, rhubarb collects too much oxalic acid. It also needs some time to regenerate before it goes into hibernation and if you keep harvesting, you will force it to reproduce. If you harvest one year for too long, the next year the harvest will not be as good as the previous one.

Rhubarb will not last in refrigerator for a long

If you do not want to process rhubarb immediately, store stems in your refrigerator, but you need to wrap them in a damp cloth. Nevertheless, rhubarb will not last more than two weeks. After that the stems becomes dry or may start rotting.

You can also preserve rhubarb in the form of canning and you should do so preferably together with strawberries, cherries or pineapple. Rhubarb is great in jams or compotes.

Photo: Pixabay

But if you do not want to do that you can freeze rhubarb instead. Peel the stems and cut them into smaller pieces, put them in freezer bags and then in your freezer. If you do not want to turn this tasty vegetable into one large ice ball, you should freeze individual pieces first, for example on a tray or sheet, and then put them into a suitable container or bag and then into your freezer. You will have easier time to separate individual pieces later.

Use blanching to save time

If you are willing to spend a little extra time at this stage, you will save time later during preparation or cooking. The simple trick is called blanching. You will need a pot with boiling water and a bowl with ice cubes. Put chopped rhubarb into a pot with hot water and cook for 1-2 minutes – depending on the size of the pieces – and then you cool it quickly by putting it in the ice bowl. This will preserve the beautiful and fresh colour of rhubarb as well as vitamins and it will shorten the preparation time later. Now you can dry the vegetable well and freeze it – follow the method described above.

Preview photo: Pixabay