Topic: Forcing Rhubarb??????

[redcow]

This may be a silly question but when do you stop forcing rhubarb & why do you force rhubarb????

I did see on country file a few weeks ago where one farmer grew forced rhubarb & it never saw daylight till the day it left the sheds to go to the supermarket. They even fed it & collected it by candle light.
I have been forcing mine & it seems just fine. Could I eat it un-forced???

Many thanks
RC

[Curryandchips]

Forcing is used to create early season rhubarb by preventing it seeing light, so the stems grow longer in search ... whilst this does create some early stems, it does stress the plant, and it is recommended that forced rhubarb is not cropped again that year. After March, there seems no reason to force, as the amount of natural growth is enough to harvest normal crops. I do not force, and enjoy copious amounts all through the late spring and early summer.

[jennym]

...one farmer grew forced rhubarb & it never saw daylight till the day it left the sheds to go to the supermarket. They even fed it & collected it by candle light....

I force some rhubarb plants to get tender sweet stems, which I like to eat uncooked, but most of the crop is not forced and is fine to eat. The commercial forcing houses only use the plants for one season and then throw them out, as they are exhausted through the contant forcing.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I don't touch mine till it's full grown, in late April or early May, then we stuff ourselves till it runs out. You need to add plenty of sugar.

[redcow]

Thanks

I will take the lid off & see how it goes. It does make lovely crumble though.....

RC