Home-grown Rhubarb - from Root in a pot to Healthy Low-FODMAP Crumble!

Living in a small apartment when you have dreams of growing your own vegetables is tough! Having grown up in the countryside of Ireland, the city-life can easily feel claustrophobic. And without even a balcony to help progress my vegetable-growing wishes, I have resorted to the use of pots and trays, and my living room window.

My gosh did it feel great to have finally found a plant that I can grow in a pot. And it was ready to harvest within weeks! What is this fantastic home-growing vegetable plant you may ask? It is the humble rhubarb!

In this post, I will share my adventures from potting my rhubarb root, to growing rhubarb stalks, to harvesting and finally preparing a delicious low FODMAP rhubarb crumble.

Home-grown Rhubarb – from Potted Root to Healthy Crumble!

From potting my rhubarb root, to growing rhubarb stalks, to harvesting and finally preparing a delicious rhubarb crumble – It has been a fantastic journey!

Buying a rhubarb root

World – meet my little rhubarb root!

Many a joke was made with my housemates about the likeness of my root with a certain Harry Potter plant…

I bought my rhubarb root at a local plant nursery. It had already started growing leaves when I bought it (mid-February).
When choosing a root, look for one that is relatively hard to touch throughout the root. Avoid one with any signs of rotting or moisture.
If you are hoping to grow your root in a pot, also choose one that you feel may fit within the size of pot you have.

Planting your rhubarb root in a pot

I planted my root around mid-february. As expected, if you are working with soil indoors, be prepared to hoover… a lot. If you can, try to do this first step outdoors.

Get as large a pot as you can fit within the space you have.
Fill the bottom of the pot with approx 10cm of nutrient-rich soil.
Fit the root into the soil, with the crown (part with the leaves) sitting upright.
Cover the root with more soil, up to the level of the crown. Just barely cover the top of the crown with soil.
Water the root and soil evenly.

Growing your rhubarb plant

In all fairness, this was the easy step! Rhubarb is honestly one of the most forgiving plants, and despite my irregular watering, it grew fast and furiously.
Rhubarb does not need a lot of light. So its fine to place the pot away from the window.
Water as often as needed to keep the soil moist, but do make sure there is enough drainage to stop the root from rotting.

Harvesting the rhubarb stalks

There is something so satisfying about using the word “harvesting” when referring to a plant you grew yourself – in an apartment!

You can harvest the stalks when they are approximately 10 inches long.
To harvest, hold the ripe stalk near the bottom of the stalk, and twist. The stalk should tear off the plant easily.

Now its time to turn those rhubarb stalks into a tasty treat! This is how I made my Healthy Low FODMAP Rhubarb Crumble.

To learn more about the Low FODMAP diet, and why I follow this diet myself, check out my gut health blogs.

Ingredients:

4-5 rhubarb stalks
70g sugar (or sugar equivalent portion of sweetener)
1/3 cup water
150g porridge oats
30g milled linseeds
100g mixed nuts and/or seeds
1/3 cup of oil (rapeseed or sunflower oil are good to use as they are high in monounsaturated fats and have little taste)

Cooking the rhubarb

Cut off the leaves from your rhubarb stalks. Do not be tempted to eat them – they are poisonous!
Wash the stalks to get rid of any bits of soil.
Cut the stalks into 1 inch sections.
Put the but up rhubarb into a pot and add 1/3 cup of water and 40g of the sugar (or sweetener).
Cook these together at a medium temperature until the stalks are soft.

Preparing the crumble topping

Mix the porridge oats, linseeds, nuts and seeds together.
Add the sugar or sweetener.
Then pour the oil into the mixture and stir well.

Assembling the crumble

Spread out the rhubarb mixture over the base of an oven proof dish.
Then sprinkle the crumble topping over the rhubarb base, trying to evenly cover the rhubarb.
Place the dish into a medium hot oven for approximately 20-30 minutes, or until the top of the crumble is crispy and starting to brown.

Serving the healthy rhubarb crumble

The crumble is best served hot (in my opinion) but is also delicious served cold.

For a healthy and balanced snack, serve the crumble with some fat-free Greek yoghurt! It also tastes great with some whipped cream or ice-cream however.

Didi’s thoughts on cooking and baking

I enjoy cooking. I like the process – and even more so, I enjoy the end-result. Although cooking is often plainly functional for me, especially on a busy day, at times it can become more of a meditation and a hobby.

While I occasionally use recipes from books and blogs, for me, cooking and baking usually happens quite intuitively. Quantities and temperatures don’t follow strict rules for me. And I like the freedom that comes with following my heart when it comes piecing together meals from scratch.

I started cooking at quite an early age, starting off in the kitchen with my mum. I took cook classes in secondary school. And I was lucky to be in a school where culinary classes (within a subject called Home Economics) were offered as part of final exams. With practice, I found that I could estimate and guess what flavours go with which. I use intuition more than scales when it comes to measuring out ingredients. And again this has come with practice. I have found that choosing a temperature at which to cook or bake often is dependant on how much time I have available. While the results have not always worked out exactly as I have hoped, I learn from the mistakes and try to tweak my methods going forward.

So while I may give exact measurements in the above recipe, feel free to experiment. With practice, you will find your very own crumble style, with the exact proportions of nuts, seeds and rhubarb to suit your taste!

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