According to legend, this rhubarb plant, which was given to my by my mother, is part of a plant which was given to her by my father’s mother, who also received it from someone else in the family. I guess this plant goes way back. I’m not sure if if qualifies as “heirloom”, but it’s certainly an elder.
At the time, I stuck it in a pot, because I hadn’t installed a garden for it. Still, it seems very happy, so Liz decided to experiment with a rhubarb crisp recipe. I find the phrase “You can’t have your cake and eat it too” to apply to my garden. I watched as she chopped away and reduced the plant to a few stubs. Sigh.
No matter. It’s already growing new leaves. As for the crisp, the conclusion was that it was good but a little too sweet. I expect there will be future recipe refinements as the plant grows back. Even so, it was so good that I failed to get a photo of the final dish before it was gone.
How long will a rhubarb plant live? Aren’t we just essentially cloning it? It has to be at least a century old. I wonder.
–Simon