[Growster...]

Although we don't have any rhubarb now, a local chum mentioned a 'trick' he learned a few years ago.

At the end of the season, just dig up the crown, soil and all, and chuck it on the garden somewhere.

'Wait until the frost has got to it, then replant it'! (He's a man of few words, so bear with me)!

The result, after replanting the crown, is astonishing apparently, and well worth some consideration as proved by the fact that my rhubarb failed miserably on 'The Patch', even though I did all I could to make it flourish!

Anyone here know about this?

[Pescador]

Heard it many times. Also heard "Don't pick anything in the first year after planting"
Which one should you follow.
I had 2 tremendous patches of rhubarb at my allotment in The Midlands and the only treatment they had was an good dose of manure every winter. Apart from that they were left alone and every year they were extremely prolific.

[DHM]

Thats what I did with mine, I dug it up last October to make way for something else, split it then replanted in Jan or Feb, spending winter above ground open to the elements. It's grown back, but tge leaves are quite small, stalks thin and they all lie flat to the ground. Still have last years in the freezer so will probably not pull any this year.

Basically, I dont see any merit in it.

[snowdrops]

That’s the standard procedure for the forced rhubarb in the rhubarb triangle of Yorkshire. Well at Oldroyds anyway. It then gets taken into the forcing sheds & gets discarded after forcing.

[DHM]

That’s the standard procedure for the forced rhubarb in the rhubarb triangle of Yorkshire. Well at Oldroyds anyway. It then gets taken into the forcing sheds & gets discarded after forcing.

I'm from Wakefield originally and for a while lived in Thornes, not far from some forcing sheds. Always fancied a look round but never saw anyone going through the gates... personally I don't see the point of forcing unless yoy want REALLY fresh rhubarb as the stems are present a lot of the year and it freezes well too.

[New shoot]

... personally I don't see the point of forcing unless yoy want REALLY fresh rhubarb as the stems are present a lot of the year and it freezes well too.

Forced rhubarb is different.  It is pale, sweeter and very tender.  It used to be a gourmet treat and you still see packs of it sold for amazing amounts of money in some of the supermarkets each spring. 

It does knacker the crowns a bit.  If they are in the ground, you have to leave them a year to recover, so a lot of people just let their rhubarb be as it is and pick as needed through the spring and summer 

[Growster...]

Rhubarb is an oddity, and a delicacy - the former because it is one of the earliest new crops around, and the latter because I've never known anyone who doesn't like it!

My old Patch neighbour would seal a crown inside a forty-gallon drum, and the result was yard-long stems, as sweet as a nut!

The crown our own Digger Dave gave me worked extremely well, (were they Champagne, DD?) especially when forced, but the crowns we bought a few years later were pathetic!

Frosting certain veg/fruit is a long-lost technique methinks, and while we always think of waiting for brussels to get done, that's about it!

[Growster...]

That’s the standard procedure for the forced rhubarb in the rhubarb triangle of Yorkshire. Well at Oldroyds anyway. It then gets taken into the forcing sheds & gets discarded after forcing.

Snows, that came up in our chat over the garden wall too!

They seem to lob the stuff everywhere then start again the following year - I'd love to listen to the 'crackling' sound the stems make!

[Growster...]

Well, it had to be on Youtube didn't it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2NMffyX2yw

[snowdrops]

That’s the standard procedure for the forced rhubarb in the rhubarb triangle of Yorkshire. Well at Oldroyds anyway. It then gets taken into the forcing sheds & gets discarded after forcing.

Snows, that came up in our chat over the garden wall too!

They seem to lob the stuff everywhere then start again the following year - I'd love to listen to the 'crackling' sound the stems make!

I’ve been on a tour Growster & it was eerie, very interesting, we then went on to somewhere else (Mexborough I think ) & had a rhubarb themed 3 course lunch then a talk by an old man who used to work where they grew  & made liquorice , only place in England because they’d got deep top soil (15ft I think it was), it was of course Pontefract. Funny really as I was born & brought up in Doncaster & knew none of this in those days.