Rhubarb is another easy vegetable to grow, needing little attention, and left alone by most pests. Most often the rhubarb sold by supermarkets is wrapped in plastic film which you cannot recycle, so growing my own is another way to cut back on landfill.

Sold as small plants called “crowns”, the best time to plant one is Autumn. Within 2 to 3 years they spread to about a meter or so across, and the large leaves will shade out other nearby plants,    so allow for that when choosing a spot to grow it in.

The variety I have is  called Fultons Strawberry Surprise. I chose this one because it was voted the best flavoured rhubarb in RHS Wisley trials, and also holds an RHS AGM

I didnt get much off it in the first and second years after planting as I left it to establish itself.

This year though I am going in! I pulled my first stalk today and plan to make some crumble, which we will have later with some vanilla ice cream (cardboard wrapped from Sainsburys)