in the garden: rhubarb

The rhubarb in the back yard is just beginning to sprout. It’s not any sort of fancy variety - in fact, it came with the house. But it’s vigorous and tasty, and we’re really looking forward to our first rhubarb pie.

The early stalks have a certain alien quality to them, like a gunnera or a tree fern. Who first thought that it might be edible?