Rhubarb

Today seemed like a good day to get started in the vegetable garden -- a cool 50 degrees with no wind.  

One of our first crops to emerge in the spring is rhubarb.  I've had the same plant for about 20 years and it produces an abundance of stalks each year. This year, however, I've decided to change things around in the vegetable garden and the rhubard was in a bad location. I dug up the clump and divided it into three parts.

Clump of rhubarb

Rhubarb is a herbaceous perennial that grows from rhizomes.  It has edible stalks, but the leaves are poisonous and contain oxalic acid.

I dug 3 large holes and filled them with compost and topsoil and a handful of slow-release fertilizer.  After mixing the ingredients, I added one clump of rhubarb to each prepared hole.

Hole enriched with compost and fertilizer

Replanted section of rhubarb

Since it's very early in the season, they should take hold quickly and provide a nice crop this year to use for sauce and pies.

Maple syrup update:  Saturday we removed the spiles (taps) from our maple trees. The trees are beginning to bud, so that's a sign that the tapping season has ended.  I boiled the last of the sap and the final tally was 1 gallon plus 3/4 cup of syrup total for the season.