Rare Red Stalk Tops Rhubarb (but is Rhubarb!)

How to Grow Figs. Live online class. June 23, 2025. Find out more.
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Forced rhubarb is a winter specialty that's quite different from rhubarb grown outdoors: It's milder, more tender, and brightly coloured. 

Brian French and his wife Jeannette run Lennox Farm in Dufferin County, in Ontario. Along with field-grown rhubarb, they force rhubarb indoors during the winter. 

Brian French explains how to force rhubarb:

• The difference between forced and field-grown rhubarb
• Conditions needed to force rhubarb over the winter
• Varieties of rhubarb for forcing
• Growing rhubarb roots for forcing
• Digging rhubarb roots for forcing
• Tips for growing rhubarb at home

(Spoiler alert: Brian tells us whether it's really necessary to harvest by candlelight, as it's traditionally done!)

To see photos of the rhubarb-forcing operation at Lennox Farm, see the blog post for this episode at Foodgardenlife.com.

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