Transcript The Spring Harvest

The Early Spring Harvest
Rhubarb
Asparagus
Rhubarb – Why You Should Grow It
• Very tough plant – easy to grow and
will tolerate neglect
• No real insect or disease problems in
home gardens
• Attractive foliage and stems
• Rich in fiber, calcium, vitamin C and K
• Long lived – 5 – 8 years or more of
productivity
• One of the earliest of home grown
vegetables to mature – April
• Easy to process
Rhubarb – How to Grow
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Propagate from divisions, root stock or crowns
(rhizomes)
The best time to plant rhubarb is in early
spring.
Prepare large hole and add manure, peat
moss or compost
Put crown bud 2 inch below soil
Likes well drained soil so slightly elevated bed
is best
Full sun until mid June then benefits from
shade from afternoon sun
Do not harvest the year of planting and only
lightly the following year until well established
Add composted manure or compost at the
start of each year and at midsummer
Divide every 5-6 years for best growth
Harvesting Rhubarb
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Harvest in spring and early summer
Pull stems by grabbing them near the base and
yanking them
Discard leaves
Clip off bottom thickness
Can peel thin skin off – it can become tough as stem
ages
Simplest pleasure is to wash and dip in sugar and bite
Can be chopped and stewed
Either fresh or stewed rhubarb may be frozen for
later use
Leave plant to grow and renew over the summer
Rhubarb Varieties
• Green stem
Victoria –
An edible rhubarb that is pretty enough
to use as an ornamental! 'Victoria'
sports huge leaves and thick, green
stalks that are reddish towards the base.
• Red or pink stem
Chipman's Canada Red Rhubarb –
Naturally Sweet, Dependably Cold Hardy
Colour doesn’t fade during cooking Each
crown produce 4-12 lb
Rhubarb Ornamental Varieties
Rheum palmatum – Zone 3-9
Cousins to regular old garden rhubarb, the ornamental
forms are wonderful for their bold, architectural effect
in the border. This form has large pointy-edged leaves
tinged with bronzy-red in spring, later becoming green.
Bizarre spikes of flowers tower overhead in summer, in
shades of soft pink to red, and these are interesting as
cut flowers. Roots have been used medicinally in
China, but the stems are not edible.
Rheum nobile – Hardy to -17
Native to the Himalaya growing at over 4000 metres
above sea level, this unusual member of the rhubarb
family grows strange white leaves that create a
greenhouse effect to protect it’s flowers from the
cold elements. Marveled for it’s medicinal
properties, the local people enjoy it’s stalk for it’s
sour flavor. 1-2 meters tall
Uses of Rhubarb
Recipes – Rhubarb
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Rhubarb or Gooseberry Nut Loaf
from A Village Cookbook
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· 2 c flour
· 1 c sugar
· 1 ½ tsp baking powder
· ½ tsp soda
· 1 tsp salt
· ¼ cut of shortening
· 3/4cup orange juice
· 1 egg
· 1 Tbls orange rind
· ½ cup chopped walnuts
· 1 c fresh rhubarb chopped, or gooseberries halved
Preheat oven 350°F
Sift flour (or not), sugar, baking powder, soda and salt
together into a mixing bowl. Add shortening and cut in
finely.
Beat orange juice and egg together with a fork and
add to first mixture. Fold in ring, nuts and rhubarb or
gooseberries. Put into greased loaf pan, bake in
preheated over for about one hour. Test.
Delicious with tea or coffee and freezes well.
Rhubarb Beef Stew—tasteofhome.com
2
to 2-1/2 pounds beef stew meat,
cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons butter
2 large onions, chopped
1 teaspoon saffron
1 can (10-1/2 ounces) beef broth
1 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1-1/2 teaspoons dried mint
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 to 3 cups sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb
In a Dutch oven, brown beef in butter. Remove meat
from pan drain all but 2 tablespoons drippings. Saute
onions until lightly browned. Return meat to pan. Add
saffron, broth, water, lemon juice, parsley, mint, salt and
pepper; cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 2
hours. Add additional water as needed. Add rhubarb
during the last 15 minutes of cooking. Serve over
rice.Yield:6 servings.
- from Iran
Asparagus
Asparagus – Why Grow It
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Perennial
Long lived – up to 40 years in home garden
Relatively few problems in home garden
Lacy attractive foliage
Flowers are worked by bees
Versatile vegetable - asparagus spears can be
enjoyed raw, steamed, sautéed, stir-fried
Fresh asparagus spears are a good source of
anti-oxidants such as lutein, zea-xanthin,
carotenes, and crypto-xanthins, rich in folates,
and B-complex group
Asparagus – Planting the Bed
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Prepare spot by deep digging and adding compost or manure
2-3 established plants for a family of 4
Plant at edge of vegetable patch or towards the back
of perennial border – up to 150 cm in height
well-drained soils or raised beds
full sun or light shade
Can be grown from seeds – takes up to 4 years until ready to
harvest
Most commonly established by planting one-year-old
asparagus plants or crowns
Before you start planting asparagus place the crowns
in a bucket of water to rehydrate.
crowns should be planted in shallow trenches or furrows.
plant 6 to 8 inches deep in light, sandy soils, but only 4 inches
deep in heavier soils
Spread the roots out in the trench with the buds pointing
upward.
After planting, completely fill in the trench with soil
Water well
Asparagus – How to Grow
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Control weeds in a home asparagus planting by
hand weeding. In spring avoid damage to
emerging spears
Can mulch with 8-10 centimetres of compost or
rotted manure for weed control
Fertilize with slow release organic before
harvest in spring, midsummer and early fall if
not using manure and compost
Although drought-tolerant, is more productive
when kept moist
Do not cut back the asparagus foliage while it is
still green. The dead (brown) tops can be cut
back in late fall. However, it's generally
recommended that the dead top growth be
allowed to stand over winter. The dead growth
will catch and hold snow. The snow insulates the
asparagus crowns and also provides moisture.
If no snow cover with light airy mulch such as
straw
Asparagus features
Male and female plants
Females – have flowers and berries
Male plants better for food garden as they live longer
and produce more spears.
Some hybrid varieties produce only male
Asparagus – Harvesting and Storage
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No spears should be harvested during the first growing season;
harvested over a three to four week period during its second
growing season. In following years, asparagus plantings can be
harvested until early to mid-June.
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Harvest asparagus by cutting or snapping the spears when they
reach a height of 6 to 8 inches.
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harvested in the morning hours when air temperatures are cool
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immerse them in ice-cold water to remove the heat; then drain
the water and place the spears in plastic bags and store in the
refrigerator
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Using a sharp knife with a serrated edge (you can buy special
asparagus knives) cut the asparagus cleanly 2- 10cm (1"-4")
below the ground. Take care not to cut the crown of the plant
buried beneath the spear. Do not leave the spears to grow any
bigger before cutting or they will have a tougher skin which will
need peeling before eating.
Asparagus - Uses
Recipes - Asparagus
Roasted Asparagus -
Asparagus on Toast -
notimetocook.com
From A Village Cookbook
A bunch of asparagus—stocks about a finger in
thickness. Break or cut off bottom inch or two.
Spread on foil lined baking tray. Season with salt
and pepper. Drizzle lightly with small amount of
olive oil. Grate zest of orange. Rumple asparagus
to spread seasoning and oil evenly. Respread
asparagus on tray.
Cook in preheated ove 400°F for 12-15 minutes.
Remove from oven and move off tray to prevent
further cooking.
1 lb of asparagus tips
1/4 c butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp chopped pecans
Salt and pepper to taste
Toast
Cook asparagus, drain well and cut to size of toast.
Cutting toast in rounds gives a more elegant look.
Melt the butter with the lemon juice.
Add pecans and seasonings to your taste.
Arrange the asparagus on the toast and pour over
the butter-pecan sauce over them.
Other Early Vegetables Harvests
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Fiddleheads are the curled, edible
shoots of the ostrich fern
(Matteuccia struthiopteris).
Good source of Vitamin A and C,
rich in iron, and other minerals
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Lettuce and Greens
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Radishes