Rhubarb - Page 2

 

Thanks for your ideas (PC: I like the way you think!). There are no "snail
trails" or grub droppings anywhere near the plants, so I tended to look
elsewhere. The whole leaf (but not the stem) seems to go basically
overnight - to my way of thinking, too fast for either snails or grubs.
Has anybody ever heard of possums with a liking for this type of thing?  I'm
thinking of making a couple of birdwire frames to put over a couple of
plants and comparing them with uncovered plants after a few weeks.

 

On 26/06/2010 3:31 PM, Davo wrote:

You could be right This is what I found for you...
Pests are rarely a problem. Slugs and snails can wreak a bit of havoc
with the leaves, but this is mostly an issue of cosmetics. Flavour is
unaffected. In my garden possums are the main threat to our enjoyment of
rhubarb and apple for dessert. Believe it or not, they manage to eat the
leaves without being poisoned, and in the space of a week, entire plants
can be chomped almost to ground level.

One final word of warning: rhubarb leaves are high in oxalic acid. In
other words they’re poisonous, and if you manage to chew through around
five kilograms of the things, they’ll probably kill you. Seriously
though, it’s best to leave them to the possums, and make full use of the
stems. Rhubarb and apple – I can taste it now!

 


That's interesting about the possums. They eat eucalyptus tips, so their
system must be almost as robust as a koala's.


I recall hearing that, way back in time, in England (or was it Europe?),
rhubarb leaves were commonly cooked as a green vegetable, esp. during
winter when there was a general shortage of fresh vegetables.  I guess
it does lose some of the oxalic acid to the cooking water.   Evidently,
most people could tolerate the rhubarb leaves cooked and eaten in that
way, but there were a few who couldn't tolerate this and suffered kidney
damage (due to the high oxalic content) and some of these inevitably died.
It seemed to be accepted that a few would sicken and die, while the
majority benefitted from eating their winter green supplement.

You will see it recommended that people with any kidney disease not
consume French sorrel because of its oxalic acid.
--
John Savage                (my news address is not valid for email)