Early signs of spring - Rhubarb!

Some people praise snowdrops for being the first sign of spring... personally, I think they come out while we are still definitely and clearly in "winter".

Then there are Peony buds: but no, they come out way too early.

This photo - left - was taken in December, just before Christmas in fact: and that is most definitely still in winter.

Others sigh happily at the sight of a daffodil: ok, I'm prepared to admit that the emergence of the daffs does usually coincide with a move towards milder weather.

Although they usually don't achieve full beauty until April.... which is what I would call mid-spring. 

Whereas I am looking for the early signs of spring - you know, when it really isn't spring yet, but you get that feeling that it isn't far away...

And then today I saw a sight to lift the heart:

Rhubarb!

Yes, the Rhubarb is starting to swell, and honestly, this photo does not do them justice, they were like shiny, glowing, ruby-red buds, just the thing, on an otherwise rather grey and gloomy day, to lift the heart.

And mine was, indeed lifted!

I'm not a huge fan of rhubarb as a foodstuff, personally: I inherited a large patch when I took over my allotment, and I did rather resent the amount of space it took up, bearing in mind that you can't eat the stuff unless you add a lot of sugar to it when cooking, and I would rather grow apples, or plums, or pears, none of which require cooking, and none of which require added sugar.

Which does rather make you wonder about who first noticed that rhubarb became palatable when sweetened... and also, how long did it take these gastromically adventurous ancestors of ours, to work out that although the stems were edible - subject to the addition of sweetening - the leaves are actually poisonous...

Oh, didn't you know that? Yes, Rhubarb leaves are quite poisonous, although it's ok to put them on the compost heap, because the oxalic acid they contain will quickly dissipate, during the decomposition process.

And, if truth were known, they are not that poisonous: for a start, oxalic acid is "toxic" rather than "poisonous", which means that it won't kill you in itself: instead, it harms us by binding to calcium, which in smaller amounts leads to kidney stones, and in larger amounts, eventually leads to death. 

Secondly, you'd have to eat an awful lot of it to become ill: Chard and spinach contain more oxalic acid than rhubarb leaves do - they contain 700 and 600 mg/100g respectively, whereas rhubarb leaves contain 500mg/100g. 

Apparently, this reputation for being a killer goes back to the first World War, when it was being recommended as an alternative (and prolifically available) foodstuff, and at least one person died from eating it. Which doesn't seem like much of a basis for such a reputation, does it?

But to get back to the plot: regardless of the taste, and the alleged lethal capabilities, it's still a job to see those fat, red buds starting to show, on a dull March morning!

 

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