Meet the neighbours · fruit
Rhubarb
The old neighbour in the back corner who was here before you and will outlast you.
Plant rhubarb once, in a corner you don't need for anything else, and it will hand you an armload every May for twenty years.
How to grow it
- Give it a permanent spot with rich soil — it resents being shuffled around.
- Harvest nothing the first year, lightly the second.
- Pull stalks with a twist rather than cutting; snap off and compost the leaves.
- Cut flower stalks the moment they appear to keep energy in the crown.
How to use & eat it
- Only the stalks are food. The leaves are not.
- Chop and freeze raw on a tray — it keeps a year with no blanching.
- Pairs with anything sweet, and surprisingly well with onions and vinegar.
Makes friends with
Companion planting is just good neighbouring — these do better beside Rhubarb.
StrawberryGarlicCalendula
Cook with it
- Rhubarb KetchupA tangy, tomato-rhubarb ketchup with a hint of spice — great on burgers, meatloaf, or anywhere you'd use regular ketchup.
- Rhubarb ChutneyA sweet-spicy rhubarb chutney with warm Indian spices — delicious over pork, beef, or chicken, and it fills the house with an amazing smell while it cooks.
- Rhubarb Spring SalsaA bright, tangy salsa made from the very first thing ready in the spring garden — rhubarb.
- Fresh Rhubarb Summer SalsaA crisp, colourful summer salsa that uses raw rhubarb the way you'd use a tangy vegetable — excellent on burgers, tacos, or straight up with chips.
Other neighbours
- Calendula (Pot Marigold)Hardy, self-seeding, vibrant flowers with edible, lightly peppery petals — great in salads and as a soothing tea.
- Black CurrantSmall, dark berries on a compact, easy-care shrub — one of the most overlooked superfoods on the block.
- Haskap (Honeyberry)The tough northern neighbour — blue-purple berries on a shrub that laughs at Zone 2 winters.
- High Bush Cranberry (Pembina Berry)Not a true cranberry — a tall native shrub whose red clusters hang on right through winter.