Chasing the Elusive California Rhubarb

Rhubarb plant with flowerhead forming.
Image via Wikipedia

Last month I noticed on Facebook that a friend, who had recently moved to California, was looking for Rhubarb plants. I promptly dug up a box full and sent them off, never thinking to check if they would actually grow there. 

Remembering that I had just read a delightful gardening exploits article by new writer, Denise Durrett, from California, I asked her if she would consider writing as a guest on Jetta Broom, about growing rhubarb, being from California and all. She joyfully took on the project and sent me the following article. I know you will enjoy this piece as much as I did....

Chasing the Elusive California Rhubarb

Guest Blogger: Denise Durrett

South Pasadena, California

A few weeks ago I got an email from Marlene. She had read an article I wrote for South Pasadena Patch entitled, “Drinking With Slugs: How One Woman Lost Her Sanity and Gained a Garden”. In her email she asked if I would be willing to do a story about growing rhubarb in California. I said I would be very happy to, but there was one tiny problem. I’ve never grown rhubarb! I decided not to let this stop me and turned to my trusty gardening sources- my mom and mom-in-law, who between the two of them have more California gardening experience than anyone I know.

Little Known Household Tips to Brighten Your Day

Muddy Puppy Feet
Copyright (c) Marlene Hobart - All Rights Reserved

Mud season has arrived at Dragn' Rock Farm. Snow is almost done melting, ice domes from the frozen earth are spewing out water and liquid clay, and the floors in our house need sweeping and mopping several times a day. We try very hard to walk around the water and mud, but at times, there is no way around it. Dogs and kitty paws, and big mud sloggin' boots bring in a lot of clay in liquid form to decorate the tiles in the entry and the kitchen. However, after a very harrowing weekend of heavy rain and dangerous storms, worrying about the floors seams trivial.

Wisconsin's First Spring Storms Bring Lots of Destruction

Winter has been a bit late in leaving Wisconsin this year. Usually the grass is starting to green up and the lilac buds are getting fat. Because of the heavy snow pack and the low temps, the snow in most of the state still had a huge grip on the land. Our snow mountain was still five to six feet tall and the width of a continent. Water was draining from under it - like a glacier in the arctic - but the flow was still manageable. This weekend though was a game-changer. Friday the temps were in the high 60's mid-state, Saturday in the mid-70's.

Spring, the Color Blue, and my Kitchen Window

Snowmelt Icicles on the Barn
Copyright (c) Marlene Hobart 2010

Around February of every year, I start to have cabin fever. The walls of the house seem to close in, the drapes are too dark, the windows need to have more 'green' coming through and icicles are long on the edges of the barn roof. By March, that cabin fever has become full-blown Spring Fever.  It doesn't help that the weather gets warm, the snow begins to melt, and then we are hit again by snow and sub-zero temps. I just finished working on a video from this year's Junction City Ice Cutting Event in February and had spent a lot of time thinking about the event, the pond, the ice, and how that ice would be used in the hottest of days this summer. Along with that, seed catalogs lay in piles with sticky notes on them, new packets of seeds next to garden plans and bags of potting soil sat frozen on the front porch. It's hard not to get a bit depressed about winter and the cold.