When i lived with my parents back at the house or when they first moved into it (I was one at the time) the ones before us had this big patch of rhubarb growing down the yard. Sooo naturally we were thrilled and took advantage of it growing there. Was about oh 10 to 20 plants growing there. So Mom would make rhubarb strawberry pies with them. I would use it to make rhubarb stew with and also add strawberries to it. Remember going out there to the patch cutting a big stalk of it cut off the leaves and the other end of it and bring it in wash it and then in a small custard dish pour out some granulated white sugar and dip the end of it into the sugar and eat it that way. Was so num nums. Anyway when my parents passed away and I ended up selling the house to a real estate fellah whom knew the area our house was in and it was to be sold to this developer and I moved to the seniors building in king city I wondered if it was possible that I could go back to the house and pick the rhubarb that was growing there. Had no interest in going in the house or the garage just the rhubarb.

To make sure I had permission to do so I phoned the real estate place and got the secretary. Hah threw her a real curve with my query was gone for a few minutes and then returned saying that yes had permission to do so!!!! So took the one bus to catch the other one that went by our stop and got off at the stop next to our house. Went to the back and would bring two plastic shopping bags full of it then cross street to take it back to the apartments. I would then cut the leaves off it and the other end and count how many stalks there were of it. Would save a lot for me to do a rhubarb strawberry pie with or a crumble or a stew. Then divide it up and ask some of the ones in my building if they wanted any rhubarb and if they did would give them 5 or so stalks of it. Would thank me for it. I found sometimes I had to go back there twice due to there being so much of it.

I continued to do so and sometimes I would find that somebody besides me had been there. I mean I don't know who but there would hardly be any there for me to pick. Also too I went with trowel and plastic shopping bag and decided too to dig up some of the plants and bring them back to the apartment with me and plant them in the garden out the back. Soooo dug up 3 of them. Had to get them from the far end as one would need a shovel to dig up the ones at the front of the row!! Came home with them and planted two of them in the big garden. Had to wait 3 years for them to get established and the one was huge!!! Sooo did my pie and other stuff with it. Well then these gardeners that the region hired went out the back and did a number on them. The fellah whose window looked out onto the garden saw them doing so roared out there and gave them a blast about what they had done to the rhubarb. The ding ding girl asked him what was rhubarb??? At any rate we amazingly found the root of the big one after digging aways and the root end of it was stuck up with the leaf end pointed down sooo we replanted it and babied it. He added some fertilizer to it. The 2nd one was growing under the bushes so it escaped their whatever they used in that garden. The 3rd one even though it was in his garden we never did find it. After the 4th year the big one grew like a thing possessed. Was thrilled to bits with it. But then this new resident moved into our building and took over the gardens at the back.

First off she said that the rhubarb that was growing there in that part of the garden didn;t belong in there as it was flowers only. Since I had lost the 3rd one I had bought a 3rd one from Terra as I could no longer pick the rhubarb back at the house or get any more plants. Sooooo Gary also had this garden him and I shared that he dug to plant our veggies in in Zucchini, tomato plants and some chives. That was it. When he got on in years he could no longer do the upkeep on it. I couldn't do so either with tendonitis in one shoulder and bursitis in the other as well as pulled muscles and getting bad colds. Sooooo When this lady came she had taken it over and we could plant anything in it. Was a fiasco as I never got any cucumbers or zucchini or radishes growing in it. Only thing that did was the rhubarb but it was in the flower garden and the tomatoes plus the chives.

Soooo she said she was doing in differently this year that she would make it bigger and buy all the vegetables herself. and herbs to plant in it. Right. Next stunt she pulled she dug up my 4 rhubarb plants and puts them in that same garden. But what she hadn't counted on was actually how big it was I mean she knew nada about how much space one had to allow for it to grow right for one plant and never mind putting in 4 of them. Well then there were 3 of them forever pestering me when was I going to pick any of it. Stalks on it were too thin and also too one couldn't pick any of it if it had just been transplanted in May and to try and pick it in June!! Have to wait 3-4 years for it to get established I even tried to tell her that several times when she wanted to move it to the other garden. But she is this type that thinks she knows it all when the truth be known she don know nada about it!!! Anyway couldn't waste my breath in trying to explain to them why I couldn't pick any of it. Then the payoff was she ended up removing some of the leaves from them as in her words that it was taking over the garden. The silly goose if she had read online beforehand she would have known darn well that there wasn't enough room in there for 4 plants. Soooo when Darlene helped me make this garden up below my bedroom window and planted a rhubarb plant she had got given to her for me from the one's farm whom I would go and pick berries at we planted it in there. I then jumped at the idea and went over to that vegatable garden and dug up the big rhubarb plant that was now being crowded out by the Zucchini getting so big. And transplanted it into the garden below my window. Soooo she is going to do a double take when she goes out to that garden and finds that the big rhubarb is no longer there in it. I left the 2nd one in from the house but it is not as big. Soooooo how long do I have to wait before i can get maybe one or 2 stalks from it. Won\t be able to get any from any of them this year unfortunately. Will get a picture of it tomorrow and post it here. Sorry for the long post. Soooo should be interesting to see what she is going to do for next year in it. I don't want any part of it as two thirds of the stuff she planted in it I don't have no use for.