Wednesday, May 31, 2006


Rhubarb Harvest

Memorial Day weekend is typically when we begin rhubarb harvest at the farm. Rhubarb, called pie plant in other parts of the United States, is a great plant with many uses. It is also an unusual plant to be harvesting in an area where harvest usually involves wheat, corn, or soybeans. Many people do not understand the amount of time and labor involved in the harvest of 500 rhubarb plants. This year we will remove about 2,000 pounds of rhubarb from our patch in the first harvest. The product goes to Burlington, North Dakota to the Pointe of View Winery for making rhubarb wine.

During harvest we cut (not pull) whole plants then we remove the leaves, wash it, chop it with a chopping machine rented from the winery, bag it, and then ship it off to a local freezer until the winery is ready for delivery. We'll put in about 200 man hours to complete the task.

This last weekend we had some fine workers helping us, however we still have three double rows left to harvest. We hope to complete the harvest this upcoming weekend and we are hoping some of the great young people who helped last weekend will return to finish the project. Feel free to stop by and see this interesting process. We also sell rhubarb direct to consumers so if you are looking for a few stalks to make pie, cake, or sauce - come on out. Currently rhubarb goes for $1.50 per pound.

See you there,
Barry and Holly

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