Too late for rhubarb?

I never pick after about mid July to allow the plant to build up reserves in the crown ready for the following year.

To be honest my rhubarb is now looking rather sad and bedraggled so I really wouldn't want to be eating it anyway.

Make an apple crumble instead!

Well, in terms of plant strength I'd have to say mine look bigger and stronger now than they ever did in mid summer when it was a bit on the hot side for rhubarb. They've put off plenty of growth and the bigger stalks are tending to drop back and die off, so if I don't pick them they're likely to just rot anyway. I'm not talking about taking a lot, just half a dozen stalks between two plants, so I doubt that would affect the strength of the plants. I'm really more concerned about whether it would affect the taste.

I picked some about a couple of weeks ago for a crumble as it had regrown well after some heavy rain. No problem with stringyness, but it was a little more acidic than earlier in the year. I'll probably pick some more this week for chutney. At this time of year the plants have already stored the energy from the summer sun and there isn't much left for the leaves to do apart from die, so you may as well give it a go.