Products
Available During The Harvest
High Altitude Rhubarb grows organic rhubarb and organic horseradish. Our nursery also produces organic rhubarb and horseradish plants. Additionally, on harvest weekend we normally sell unfiltered Colorado honey, rhubarb cookbooks and, sometimes, processed products made from our rhubarb by commercial food processors (james, jellies, spreads, etc). The processed products are sold at wholesale prices…we don’t mark them up. Rhubarb and horseradish plants may be picked up during harvest but are normally all sold and prepaid well in advance of the harvest via the plant sale announcement list.
Satisfaction is unconditionally guaranteed for all of our products or your money back. We hold back a few new plants each year to be available as replacements for any disappointing results with plants from the previous year, should people prefer another plant to money.
Rhubarb, fresh
About 20 varieties of rhubarb are grown on the farm. All mature plants are included in the public harvest. However, the primary crop consists of Victoria, Aussie Red, Canada Red, Turkish and Colorado Red rhubarb. (See Rhubarb Varieties for information about each variety.)
The Victoria plants all derive from plants given us by a dear friend. We can trace them back over 50 years. The Canada Red was generously gifted us by the heirs of Colorado homesteaders who brought the plant with them in their covered wagon, literally. How cool is that! Colorado Red is a proprietary variety. The original Colorado Red plant was found growing in the forest in 1991. The rhubarb can be picked during the public harvest, which is announced to their harvest interest list once Mother Nature sets the date. It is normally the first weekend in June but join the list to keep informed. Sometimes Mother Nature changes her mind with little notice…
Horseradish
The farm sells horseradish plants, not fresh horseradish. Culinary horseradish is the root of the plant. Our nursery produces potted horseradish plants as opposed to processed horseradish roots. Our horseradish is an heirloom variety, brought here originally in the same covered wagon as our Canada Red rhubarb. Horseradish is very easy to grow, very hard to discourage from growing/spreading. See horseradish for more information.
Plants, rhubarb & horseradish
Both rhubarb and horseradish plants are grown and sold. Plants are from seed or root-stock grown at High Altitude Rhubarb, with one exception. Some of the Colorado Red plants are clones, grown under contract with us. Colorado Red plants are also sold under contract with us by Gurneys and Gardens Alive. They both call them “Hardy Tarty Rhubarb” and will ship them. Here are the links: Gurneys and Gardens Alive
The varieties of plants available differ annually. Each year the actual offerings will be announced to the plant interest list for that year. Although some plants may remain for purchase during the Harvest Festival, most plants are sold to the plant interest list well in advance of the harvest. Many people pick up their plants at the festival though they have reserved/paid in advance. Join their plant interest list to maximize your options.
The rhubarb plants for sale usually included Victoria and Turkish. Victoria accounts for the majority of sales by a large margin. It is extremely hardy and productive and is well suited to the Colorado climate. The parent Victoria plants each produced 90 pounds of rhubarb annually. Mature stalks of Victoria varieties are mostly green. Starting in 2019 they expect to offer Colorado Red plants for sale at the farm. (Starting in 2020 Colorado Red will be available through various seed catalogues for anyone who cannot visit the farm. More details when available.)
Cookbooks
We sell Rhubarb – 50 Tried & True Recipes, by Corrine Kozlak. It is a great source of recipes for the popular uses of rhubarb in desserts. It also has many recipes for breakfast and savory dishes often unknown to rhubarb enthusiasts. Rhubarb is a nutritious vegetable and a tasty addition to many meals. See Table of Contents for more details.
Honey
We host various local beekeepers during harvest. They sell their honey products at a modest discount to our harvest customers. We don’t keep our own hives.