| Welcome you to EWWW Quick Tips – that’s Earthen Wurmin’s Worm’s World to the unknowing – it’s a term l hear a lot from people when they first meet the worms and the compost and the compost worms “Ewww!” So l figured, well, why not capitalise on that! The quick tips series covers composting, gardening, hacks and other bits and bots too! Earthen Wurmin and The Autistic Composter |
| Ewww Quick Tips Episode 12# |
| Ewww Quick Tips Directory |
| Quick Hacks |
| Going Wild With Rhubarb! Aside from the obvious, this vegetable has additional benefits: eating the stalks or making them into a dessert, jams or a pie. Please don’t eat the leaves or the roots as they are poisonous. You can use the leaves as a mulching agent – they grow to a considerable size. They do a relatively good job of weed blocking, and when they eventually die off and need replacing, the old leaves can be composted. You can compost them – the poison in the leaves is not transferrable to other compost content, so it’ll not affect the microbial activity. The leaves can be used to make a valuable and viable organic pesticide that can be used to combat leaf-eating pests – it works by causing the heart to stop and or suffocating them when sprayed upon them. You might even consider planting rhubarb as a companion to some of your other vegetables like strawberries, onions, garlic and beans as examples as the leaves act as a repellant to so many harmful insects and pests. The leaves of rhubarb are so prominent that they can be used as a shade to other plants sensitive to the sun. Making the pesticide from rhubarb is an easy task. Collect up the leaves you wish to use Boil the leaves you wish to use – 3 parts more water than leaves – for around 25 – 35 minutes and allow time for the liquid to cool. Strain away the water from the leaves once cooled. Add a tiny amount of organic as you can washing liquid [this works as adhesive] Pour liquid content into a spray bottle. Apply sprayed content onto plants. The content produced will remain at full strength for 24 – 48 hours max, and it is advisable not to spray the pesticide onto food crops but best with ornamentals and non-edible crops. |
| Earthly Comfort Designs available on my Redbubble Store. Collections – Earthen Wurmin, Inspired By Nature and The Autistic Composter Please Pop Along and Check Them Out. |
Earthly Comforts 
I did not know rhubarb was a vegetable! I always thought it was fruit as we had it for dessert!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Most people treat it the same way Di 🙂
It is reflective upon who you speak to regarding whether it is a fruit or a vegetable.
RHS [Royal Horticultural Society] sees it as a vegetable and equally sees it as a fruit, and many others are the same, some don’t class it as either fruit or vegetable and award no decription aside for simply Rhubarb.
Even though it is a vegetable, culinary wise it is treated as a fruit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I must say that your article on going wild with rhubarb was quite informative and interesting to read. I had no idea that rhubarb leaves were poisonous, but it’s great to know that they can still be useful in other ways, such as mulching and making organic pesticides.
Your step-by-step guide to making the pesticide from rhubarb leaves was particularly helpful, and I appreciated the cautionary note about not spraying it on food crops. I will definitely consider planting rhubarb as a companion to my other vegetables, especially since the leaves can act as a natural repellant to harmful insects and pests.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise on rhubarb. It’s inspiring to see how we can use every part of a plant to our advantage, and I look forward to experimenting with rhubarb in my own garden.
👍👏👌😊
LikeLike
You are most welcome, many thanks for your comment 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great tip Rory.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Sadje 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great tips, Rory! My mom use to bake rhubarb pies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I used to love rhubarb pie but it always made me high, l discovered in my forties that l was actually allergic to rhubarb and my digestion turned it almost into cocaine, which is why lit made me high as a kite.
It explained a lot to me because also when l was a teenager l used to eat raw rhubarb stalks and it made me lightheaded and goiddy [not that l knew that then] my father always accused me of being on drugs.
It was the fructose levels in the stalks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, that’s concerning, Rory! At least now you know.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes very much so Eugenia, who would of thought you could be allergic to rhubarb
LikeLiked by 1 person