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| Overview of High Altitude Rhubarb 2010 Harvest Ended July 11
We're closed for the year. Please send email to be added to the notification list for the 2011 harvest, exected to begin the end of May or early June 2011.
Again, our heartfelt thanks to all who helped pick us to a banner harvest and to all our friends who helped with the heavy lifting. We hope you all enjoyed the experience and are enjoying your rhubarb. We hope to see you again next year. Happy, healthy eating!
WELCOME Welcome to our website. We are a small-scale, family-owned, part-time organic farm in Black Forest, Colorado, near Colorado Springs and  Denver. We sell fresh, organic rhubarb in a pick-your-own manner. We also offer unfiltered Colorado honey(1), rhubarb roots, and seeds. Beginning in 2011 we plan to host a full-fledged farmer's market concurrent with the start of harvest weekend. We plan a focus on healthy food, fresh and processed, from local suppliers and producers. More on that as the date approaches. Our crop is predominantly heirloom(2) plants, though we also grow a variety of plants of unknown pedigree. We ship fresh rhubarb, roots and seeds to any destination in the continental U.S. and, though exporters, all over the world. Seeds are available any time. Roots are available only at the start of each year's harvest. Fresh rhubarb is available during the harvest...for 1-2 months. Though the majority of our sales are on-site at the farm to pick-your-own rhubarb enthusiasts we've also shipped to a wide variety of destinations. For mail orders please send email. You may pay via check or PayPal. We must charge an additional $0.50/lb for picking/packing/shipping rhubarb for mail orders plus actual shipping charges. Fresh rhubarb has gone to Florida, Utah, Texas, New Mexico, California and, through exporters, to restaurants in the Caribbean and around the world. 2010 Roots went to Delaware, Alaska and Michigan. Seeds have gone to Australia, Romania, and all over the U.S.. We guarantee satisfaction or your money back...or a replacement product, depending on the circumstances. We recently contributed one of our rhubarb varieties to the USDA Seed Bank, where heirloom(2) seeds and plants are preserved for possible future needs. We're in Black Forest, Colorado, one hour drive south of Denver and 30 minutes north by northeast of downtown Colorado Springs. A map and directions can be found at map. Otherwise, here's my attempt at directions: From either Denver or Colorado Springs take I-25 to the Interquest exit (North from Colorado Springs, south from Denver). Take the exit and head east (away from the mountains) straight through the first lights and you'll be on Hwy 83. Hwy 83 twists from easterly to northerly as it takes you through several more lights. Then turn right (east) on Shoup. About 5 miles on Shoup to Black Forest Rd.. Turn left (north) on Black Forest Rd. After about one mile turn right on Wildridge Rd. (when you turn Wolford Elementary will be on your left.) One mile on Wildridge Rd. will take you to 7225, on your right. Parking is available up the driveway and by the house and barn. Handicapped parking is available up the driveway, left along the fenceline to the rhubarb area. Parking is also available along the road...best to park beyond the driveway as there is a relatively blind curve just before it.
Our Products We currently grow and sell seven varieties of organic rhubarb, both Red and Victoria (green). We also offer roots, plants and seeds. (Most customers pick their own rhubarb, either at our scheduled harvest weekends or by appointment. If necessary and at your request we will gladly pick it for you, no charge.) Additionaly, we offer Colorado unfiltered honey from Busy Bee Farms in Larkspur, Colorado, and "The Joy of Rhubarb" cookbooks, all at discount prices. In addition to these products we hope to host a general farmer's market for our 2011 opening harvest weekend. It is our intent to limit participation to actual farmers and producers of food and the makers of processed foods...such as rhubarb jam, goat's cheese, and other foods so long as they are healthy and, hopefully, organic. We'll announce the details as the harvest approaches in 2011. Production for 2009 was 4000 pounds of high quality, organic rhubarb, both red and green varieties. Our product and farm is 100% organic, exempt, in full compliance with USDA guidelines for organic farm products. New varieties will include several red varieties and green varieties of rhubarb. The Victoria-like plants are extremely hardy and large and well suited to our Colorado mountain climate. These plants each produced 90 pounds of rhubarb for the first harvest in 2009, of which we harvested at most 45 pounds to ensure continued plant vigor. Mature stalks of Victoria varieties are green on the inside but they vary in outside coloration. The outside of some Victoria varieties transition from red at the base to green at the leaf while others are pure green inside and out. Red varieties can be either green or red inside but all Red varieties are only red on the outside. (Some categorizations define Red varieties to include only those with pure red inside and out. Those varieties are unusual. However, we offer those as well as the larger and more common green-inside varieties of Red. All green-inside varieties are classified as Victoria by this alternate classification method. Under that method the Victoria varieties are by far the most common varieties of rhubarb in the United States.) The pure Red variety is smaller, later to harvest, slightly tarter and less hardy than the Victoria strains. Nutritionally they are believed to be the same. Some recipes offer better presentation when made with Red instead of pure green varieties. Red plants which are red outside and green inside are closer to the Victoria varieties in size than they are to the pure Red. Some Victoria varieties are mild and s mooth outside. They are the premium varieties for cooking. They don't generally require removal of the outer skin. Other Victoria varieties are course on the outside and should be skinned before cooking. Our nursery is still growing. In addition to potted rhubarb plants of 1-3 years old we also sometimes offer other potted plants, such as sweet basil, snap peas, and morning glories, in small quantities and at low prices. We sometimes attend June or July farmer's markets in nearby Colorado Springs. Please contact us if you'd like our schedule.
Overview of the Website This page describes our products and business. The content of the other pages are outlined as follows: Recipes defines some unique and tasty uses of rhubarb that we're confident you'll enjoy. It also provides important information about cooking rhubarb. Rhubarb's main contributions to your nutrition (vitamin C, calcium, dietary  fiber) are detailed in Nutrition. If you're in the Denver/Colorado Springs area and would like to stock up on fresh, organic rhubarb then check out our Pick-Your-Own program and come visit food in the making! You may be surprised to learn that rhubarb was primarily a medicine throughout virtually all of the 5000 years of documented use. Prepare for your next rhubarb debate and impress your friends with the information to be found at the History of Rhubarb. Details and photos of our unique approach to organic growing are to be found at Organic Technology. You'll also find details and photos for planting, growing and harvesting your own rhubarb at Growing Rhubarb. Freezing & Storage explains various ways of preserving rhubarb beyond its normal shelf life, including drying and freezing. Lastly, you'll find information about participation in our seed experiments and how to contact us at Seeds and Contact Us, respectively. We'd love to hear from you!
What is Rhubarb? Only the stalks are consumed for food. Rhubarb is classified horticulturally as a vegetable and culinarily as a fruit. It is very high in nutritional value and played an important role in the development of our country. It is often the first vegetable to ripen in the spring. Even more important today is its unusually high concentrations of calcium, vitamin C and dietary fiber. Its spring appearance was anxiously awaited in days of old and today it is an ingredient in many delicious recipes. It can be frozen and kept for years without lengthy preparation and thereby provides healthy eating throughout the year.
 The Quest For Seeds We propagate our plants primarily by splitting the plants. However, we experiment with propagation through seeds. Seed propagation is generally unpredictable...they do not tend to grow true to form with the parents, which is true of many plants. We hope to develop a variety of seeds with predictable reliability. For more information see Seeds
1) Our honey is provided by Busy Bee Farm with hives in the wildflower fields around Larkspur, Colorado, about 20 miles north of our farm. 2) "heirloom" refers to plant varieties at least 50 years old. To contact the webmaster left-click the following: Web Master 9 | |
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