We hope everyone will join us this Thursday,
April 7, from 1 to 5 p.m. for our next delicious Pathfinder Produce market.
Mother Nature played her slightly delayed April Fools' joke on us this weekend,
which may have prevented our friends and neighbors from shopping in larger
towns – isn't it good to have a convenient, friendly store available locally to
help answer your produce needs?
Also, Splash Path is quickly approaching!
This affordable and fun paint run/ walk will be held on Saturday, May 21
at Pathfinder, and supports community health initiatives. The early registration deadline is May 1! Learn more at pathfindervillage.org/get-involved/splash-path/ or register online at splashpath.racewire.com
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With snow still coming to our area, it's not quite time yet
to get the outdoor garden beds ready, but there are some perennial crops that
already may be stirring beneath the ground. As I recall my Grandma's gardens,
she had a few beds that would come back year-after-year, and typically had to
be contained by some kind of low fencing to keep the plants from taking over
too large a space.
One of these plants was rhubarb, which grows well in our climate
and is a favorite of many friends and family members. I didn't really know this
before, but rhubarb is classified as a vegetable … I guess I always thought it
was a fruit because it is so often served as fruits are, stewed with sugar, in
jams, and baked into yummy pies or cobblers. The stalks can be eaten raw if
washed and trimmed, but they are very sour, so you may want to have a bit of
sweetener around if you try it uncooked.
According to the website Treehugger,
rhubarb is best planted in early spring from a bit of another plant (usually
obtained from someone whose bed is a bit out of control). According to Off the Grid News, it
needs full sun, deep well-draining soil, and lots of room to spread out. (It
also likes a bit of manure, peat moss, and pine needles if your soil is on the
alkaline side). The plants should grow unharvested for a year or so, so they
become well established. Then, the sky is the limit!
Once you have an established crop, pick the reddest stalks,
as they are the sweetest. One caution though - only the stalks are edible, and
the plant leaves are toxic as they contain large amounts of oxalic acid (the
rust removing ingredient from my favorite tub cleanser, Barkeeper's Friend).
According to several websites, rhubarb is rich in fiber, key
antioxidants like lycopene and anthocyanins, may lower cholesterol, and is
packed with vitamins C, B, and K, calcium, potassium, magnesium and other
minerals. Womanitely.com has an
extensive list of benefits … rhubarb has a lot going for it.
Of course, rhubarb has some fun cultural associations too.
According to Daily Writing Tips,
rhubarb may mean a “murmurous background noise” -- apparently movie actors used
to repeat the word to create indistinct background noise during crowd scenes.
It also means “nonsense,” or more famously, is slang for heated arguments on
the field between a baseball coach or player and the ump. Legendary sports
commentator Red Barber made the phrase famous while broadcasting games for the
Cincinnati Reds, Dodgers, and Yankees, from 1934 to 1966.
And of course, anyone who has ever listened to the fictional
ads on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion on NPR
(40+ years and going strong!) knows that nothing takes the taste of shame and
humiliation out of one's mouth like a big ole' slice of Bebop-A-Reebop Rhubarb Pie. (“Serve it up, nice and hot,
maybe things aren't as bad as you thought. Mama's little baby loves rhubarb,
rhubarb, rhubarb. Bebop-A-Reebop Rhubarb
Pie!”).
Until next time, be well!
Lori
