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Not too long ago, rhubarb and custard was considered too inferior a dessert to place on a restaurant's menu. These days, rhubarb is the in' ingredient for celebrity chefs and home cooks alike.

Could this be because rhubarb is high in antioxidants, speeds up metabolism, helps weight loss and is low in carbohydrates? Or is it simply that it tastes delicious, plus the fact that it's easy to grow?

An extremely hardy perennial, rhubarb will tolerate both drought and cold. Once it's died back to a dormant crown in winter and you've eventually decided that it's lost and gone forever, the crinkly leaves will start to reappear in spring and you'll have another constant crop of tender red stalks until autumn.

Rhubarb likes to be left undisturbed once planted, but it will produce a harvest for up to 10 years in the same place without cultivation. Don't even dig the soil around the plant. The only tasks necessary to ensure that rhubarb remains healthy and vigorous are:

1. providing an annual mulch of homemade compost, and
2. dividing the crown every four or five years.

What you need to consider seriously is where to site your rhubarb. After all, it's going to be with you for a long time. Although it doesn't respond well to high temperatures, it does need lots of sun for at least part of the day, so avoid shady areas.

You can plant rhubarb from a divided crown or from seed. In fact, rhubarb plants are so commonly available now that it's easiest, and quickest, to forgo the seed and go straight for the plant.

If you do use seed, place each one in a 7.5cm pot and cover it with 6mm of moist seed compost in early spring. Germination will take between three to five weeks if the seeds are kept in a lightly moistened state at a constant temperature of 20 to 25C. When the seedlings appear, move them into a cold frame so that they adjust to a lower temperature, then plant in their final position in late spring.

When using bought plants, allow 90cm between them for fairly rapid growth. They are best planted in November or December, but any time of year is fine. Dig the hole slightly bigger than the plant. Place the crown deep enough that the little buds are about 2.5cm below the surface. Firm the earth around the crown but leave the soil on top of the crown loose so that air can get to the buds.

Surround the crown with some well-rotted compost and water the plant well. Thereafter, just mulch with homemade compost on a yearly basis and weed as necessary.

It's best not to harvest any stems for the first year so that the plants can build a healthy root system. From the second year on, you'll be able to enjoy your rhubarb from early April until August.

Learn more about this author, Lesley Allen.
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