Rhubarb

[P. Doff]

To all rhubarb lovers - don't believe everything you've read or heard about not being able to grow rhubarb in southern Spain! We live close to La Barrosa beach in Chiclana de la Frontera. Early last year we bought some Ruibarbo (the Spanish name for rhubarb), variety "Victoria", sowed the seeds in a heated propagator in spring, potted the little plants on into larger pots as they grew, and waited. Although we were tempted, we didn't harvest any stems last year. The plants survived the summer heat and were left outside as they were, unprotected and uncut, during the winter months. This spring we transplanted them into larger pots, using a mix of general purpose compost and horse manure - and the attached photo is proof that you CAN grow rhubarb in this part of Spain (and our plants are only in largish - not enormous - pots!). We have already enjoyed several harvests this year, and it is absolutely DELICIOUS. So, if you enjoy and miss your rhubarb, and have the patience to wait, growing it this way is definitely successful - probably even more so if you have a large parcela with good soil.  We only have a tiny parcela with terrible soil, hence the pots !

[yvonne]

Thanks for that, I love rhubarb so I'm definitely going to give that a try. They look really good too. Did you get the seeds locally?

[P. Doff]

Hi Yvonne - Yes, we did get the seeds locally. Can't remember for certain, but we both think it was Avila's in the centre of Chiclana (the original Avila's, not the one by the blue bridge) so that's probably the place to look. We have seen the seeds in other places as well. Good luck!

[loobyloo]

(put in wrong section)