I love rhubarb! and it just so happens that I have a lovely healthy ruby red rhubarb plant growing right outside my door. That means rhubarb and custard this weekend! 

Here are the ins and out of growing this magnificent yet strangely silverbeet-like vegetable…

• For starters, its easy!  Plant rhubarb in a sunny spot, in rich fertile soil - either from seed in spring, plants from the garden centre, or a division from someone in autumn. It will tolerate a bit of shade too.
• Poo. That’s what rhubarb really likes. Chicken, cow, horse, sheep or pig, doesn’t matter – just make sure you dig in heaps of rotted manure and your rhubarb will thank you for it.  Feed rhubarb in spring and summer, preferably with more poo, and compost.
• Rhubarb likes good drainage and space – allow half a metre per plant.
• Divide large clumps of rhubarb every 3-4 year.  Now is the time to do it – look for baby plants that are growing next to the main crowns, and separate them. If you live in a frost-free area where the leaves don’t die back in winter,  twist off the big stalks and leave the baby leaves intact. 
• Don’t harvest from your new rhubarb plants for at least 6 months- 1 year, to give them a chance to get established.
• Rhubarb grows well in a large tub or pot – feed it well in early spring, and refresh the soil from time to time.
• Harvesting the stalks? Don’t cut them, just slide your thumb down, and gently twist and pull the stalk out.
• We all want red rhubarb!  Good red ones include the classic ‘Victoria’ and ‘Moulin Rouge’…also ‘Glaskins Perpetual’. ‘Cherry Red’ from Kings Seeds is a good one but there are lots to choose from.
• POISON ALERT – rhubarb leaves are toxic to people and animals…but they are useful as an insecticide.  Carefully shred the leaves, boil and steep them then add a squirt of detergent to the diluted liquid to kill aphids and whitefly. Just google the recipe.