Preserving Rhubarb from the Garden

I'm sure you've heard of strawberry-rhubarb pie, and putting up strawberry-rhubarb jam, but in this house, it won't work.

Hubby is really the only one of us that likes rhubarb. I'd offer some to my mother-in-law, but she is the one who gave us the plant because hers spread so much. Our little plant that gave us about 4 little stalks last year is huge this Spring, with about 20-25 stalks ready for stripping.

On Thursday, when the weather is cooler, I'll cut about half of them off. I'll bring them in, wash them, cut into 1-inch pieces, and place them on the dehydrator sheets. They will dry until as crunchy as possible.

They can be stored two ways:

1. Place the 1-inch dried pieces of rhubarb in a mason jar, add an oxygen absorber if necessary, and screw lid on tightly. I have my VHTS decorate a dark piece of construction paper with a picture of rhubarb on it, mark on the date, and cover well. Store in a cool dark place, like the basement or root cellar. Use when making a winter's strawberry-rhubarb pie.


2. Pulverize the dried rhubarb until it's a fine powder. Store as above, but noting on the label (construction paper) that it's the powder. Add to strawberry jam on biscuits, or when you want to kick-up the taste of an apple pie. Yum!

Rhubarb is a really healthy plant, providing lots of vitamins and minerals. You shouldn't count it out just because you don't like it. So... don't let rhubarb scare you. If you don't like the taste, then drying and powdering is the way to go. You could even add it to dough when mixing bread. Enjoy!