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Growing Rhubarb
 There are three
common varieties of
rhubarb—one field variety and two kinds of hot-house rhubarb
that follow in the footsteps of Henry Knoblauch and old
Farmer Dodson.
The first variety is Victoria,
which is very delicate and milder, a crimson satin variety.
It grows in hot houses and is no good in fields. These
would go in the middle of December. Hazel Knoblauch Freehe
explained that some farmers put it in too early, thinking
they would beat the market, but it didn’t work because they
were putting it in before the root went into complete
dormancy. If forced too fast, farms lose the color.
To get new plants, farmers cut
up roots, always making sure there is an eye on each piece. The plants are grown outdoors
for three years to establish the new roots. Then, the
leaves and stalks get mowed off, and the farmer digs up the
crowns (roots), which usually weigh 70-100 lbs each.
The roots, or crowns, are in big hunks of earth. Farmers
put them in the hot-house beds, washed them down, and turned
the heat on. Originally, hot-houses were heated by
pot-bellied stoves full of wood, but farmers had to get up
throughout the night to replenish the stoves. Now,
hot-houses use furnaces. The lights are shielded to keep the hot house
as dark as possible. This helps the plants put their energy
into the stalks instead of wasting it in leaves. In fact,
hot-house rhubarb have small, yellowish leaves and bright
red stalks in contrast to field rhubarb that features broad,
green leaves.
Farmers start pulling stalks
from Victoria plants in the 1st or 2nd
week of January. They keep pulling new stalks until the
plants are done. Then, they clean houses and replace with
the next variety.
Next comes the German Wine
variety, called “refills” because they refill the hot houses
around the middle of February through March. This variety takes more sugar
in baking: it’s grainier and more tart. Farmers can pull
this variety into early June. When grown outside, this
variety is more green but it grows red when in a hot house.
The third crop is the field crop
called Crimson. This variety tends to rot if forced in hot
houses. In the field, the farmer doesn’t have to force
Crimson to get color and could pull stalks for years and
years if the plants are fertilized well. Pulling stalks
weakens the plant, so farmers need to fertilize to build
that strength back up. If farmers pulled stalks too late in
the season, it takes too much out of the plant, and the
plant comes on later the next season. Most don’t pull into
August.
There was another variety called
"strawberry rhubarb," but it never became too popular. Also, Newt Johnson propagated a
new variety called Johnson Red. In nearby Firwood, an
inspector told Johnson about this new variety at the
experimental station. Johnson went and bought them, cut
them up and replanted them over and over until he had enough
to sell. He lived north of town and went to school in
Sumner.
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IN SUMNER
GROWING
RHUBARB
PROCESSING
PHOTO GALLERIES
CRATE ART |
