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It’s Throwback Thursday and I’ve got nothing. Except this old timey strawberry rhubarb pie I made: My neighbor gave me some rhubarb that her mother grows here. Mom and step-dad are in their 80’s and departed for their home in St. George at the beginning of the Wuhan Cooties and haven’t returned since leaving stand after stand of beautiful crimson stalks untouched. And when I  say “crimson stalks” I mean red, through and through: It might be one of the old heirloom varieties of red rhubarb that, if grown correctly – proper soil pH, regularly divided, full sun – produces...

LONDON (AFP) – A variety of rhubarb grown in darkness and harvested by candlelight has joined French champagne and Italian Parma ham in having its name protected by the EU, officials have said. Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb has been awarded Protected Designation of Origin status by a European Union programme which aims to protect regional and traditional foods throughout Europe. It means the name can be used by only the 12 remaining growers of the foodstuff in the protected area, the so-called "rhubarb triangle" in Yorkshire. ... The rhubarb is grown in darkness and then picked by candlelight using traditional methods...

Rhubarb Crumble – The New Cancer-Busting Superfood Rhubarb crumble can help fight cancer, claim scientists. By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent Researchers have found that the traditional favourite, like many red vegetables, contains cancer killing chemicals. And baking the plant for 20 minutes – like in a crumble or pie – dramatically increases their concentration. Now it is hoped that extracting the substances from the plant could come up with new drug treatments for cancers such as leukaemia. The findings showed the chemicals, called polyphenols, could kill or prevent the growth of cancer cells and could be used to develop new,...

The plant that can water itself Matt Walker Editor, Earth News In the deserts of Israel, there is a plant that waters itself. The plant, a type of rhubarb, has specially designed leaves that channel rain water to its roots. It is the only known plant in the world able to self-irrigate. The adaptation allows the rhubarb to flourish in extreme arid conditions by collecting up to 16 times more water than other plants in the region, say the scientists who published details of the discovery in Naturwissenschaften. Simcha Lev-Yadun, Gadi Katzir and Gidi Ne'eman of the University of Haifa,...

A farmer’s daughter pleaded guilty to assault for attacking her brother with a stick of rhubarb. Margaret Porter, 50, dashed the missile at her brother William, 72, after he laughed at her. Northallerton magistrates heard that his sister responded by hurling the rhubarb back, striking him in the face.