benningtonnhRhubarbblog

Thanksgiving with Rhubarb

November 9th, 2026

Thanksgiving is a time for traditions. For this most New-Englandy holiday, we should emphasize local, American foods and ingredients. Rhubarb fills the bill! There might be snow on the ground, but with Rhubarb in the freezer and in the pantry, you can still add a memory of Springtime to your Thanksgiving menu.

Make life easy at dinner the night before: serve Baked Beans with Rhubarb as your main course, served with some all-American hot dogs and a salad or coleslaw. Patriotic.

For Thanksgiving Day Breakfast, why not Rhubarb-Walnut Muffins, hot from the oven! Serve with sausage, bacon, or ham, some local brown eggs, yogurt and fruit. Perfect.

At Thanksgiving Dinner, a Rhubarb Relish will add tang to the turkey. Yum. And Rhubarb Wine would be a suitable beverage to surprise your guests. Delightful.

For Thanksgiving Dessert, a Shaker Rhubarb Pie. Prepare and bake it up to two days in advance. Or maybe you prepared the crust, filled it, and popped it in the freezer last summer! Now all you have to do is to thaw it and bake it. Simple.

For breakfast the day after Thanksgiving, act like a real Yankee and eat pie for breakfast — Rhubarb Pie, that is [if there is any left!], with some sausages on the side. Easy.

And there you are — Rhubarb has gotten you through the holiday.

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted on December 15, 2026. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.
Dividing Rhubarb Clumps

October 13th, 2026

Rhubarb clumps/crowns expand by adding on to the roots at the edges. You plant one single root [crown], and in a few years there are more stalks coming up at the sides. Eventually the initial root is at the center of a huge clump, and the roots at the center are feeling crowded.

Crowded Rhubarbs produce flowers [they have to be cut off before they bloom, remember?], which is an energy drain for them. The thing to do when they get crowded is to divide the clump. You could do it when you see the flower stalks rising up out of the patch, but the better time for dividing is early in the season, before the leaves and petioles/stalks become too large.

Here is the Rhubarb patch in April.

How can you tell which clumps to divide? IN SPRING: Look among the young leaves for giant buds. They start off encased in reddish membrane, then turn into swollen buds. When you identify those huge buds — even when the stalks have barely grown — you have found parts of the clump that need to be cut out. These might be in the middle of the clump or even around the edges.

IN FALL: You will have forgotten which clumps bloomed last May, but the stalks where you cut off the flowers remain. They are hollow and easy to spot. Dig there to divide. If there are leaf stalks [called petioles] still growing from the root, harvest them now so the plant can save energy. Use those late-season stalks for pies or cut them, put in zipper bags, and freeze.

The hollow stalks are easy to spot.

Dig holes ready to receive the new roots, and have a bucket of water handy. With a stout shovel or spade, slice into the root ball between leaf clusters. Make thrusts on three sides [four if you can] around the root that you want to raise, then gently pry it up. This may take some practice, but do what works for you.

Pour water into the hole that is ready to receive the roots, and let it sink into the soil. Position the freshly-dug root in the hole. Add some well-rotted manure to fill the hole half-way. Top with soil until the root is buried up to its neck. Tamp down the soil with your boot, add more soil if needed, building up the soil so the crown is in a bit of a well. Pour water over the soil to help it settle. Heap more manure around the future clump.

If you don’t have room in your garden to plant the crowns you dug, share them with a friend. Remember that one of Rhubarb’s nicknames is “The Neighbor Plant”.

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted in November, 2026. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.

Spelt Galettes with Rhubarb Compote

September 14th, 2026

Rhubarb is an ancient plant [although eating rhubarb is a more modern idea] and spelt is an ancient grain. Here the two are united for a thoroughly up-to-date and delicious breakfast. Note: the word ‘galette’ denotes the whole-grain version of the more commonly-known ‘crepe’. In Brittany, France, where such foods were developed, they make that distinction. Their go-to grain is buckwheat, since it grows well in their unique climate, but we will use spelt flour. In France, there are specialty tools for preparing crepes/galettes, but I find that a small, heavy, well-seasoned cast iron pan works just fine. Cooking with whole grains, not to mention ‘ancient grains’, is very popular these days — for the novelty and the nutrition. Get with the program, and treat yourself to a special meal. NB: if you end up with un-used galettes, freeze them in a zipper bag, with a piece of parchment between every two galettes.

Served with a slice of pan-fried ham, this is a splendid breakfast!

Spelt Galettes with Rhubarb: Here, in a recipe by Joe Woodhouse at goodfood, it co-stars with rhubarb for a splendid Springtime breakfast.

14 six” spelt galettes	Non-stick pan or 6” cast iron
2 two-oz eggs—10g olive or sunflower oil—350ml water—-175g spelt flour [NOT whole spelt berries]	Tip ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth OR whisk briskly.Set aside to rest. THIS IS THE GALETTE BATTER
400g rhubarb, cut 2cm — 40g honey—-½ orange= ¾ tsp juice—-¾ tsp orange zest	Put these in a medium saucepan over a medium. cook, stirring at whiles, 8-12 mins until rhubarb collapses. If lots of liquid remains, strain and cook down liquids until more syrupy. THIS IS THE COMPOTE
1 Tbsp Butter—¼ cup batter to form each galette	Melt butter in pan over medium, wipe out with paper towel. Keep towel. Pour in batter, swirling to coat pan. Cook ~1 min until underside is golden.
	Flip. Heat 30-60 secs until cooked through.
	Remove. Keep warm. Repeat, wiping pan with buttered towel between galettes.
2 galettes per serving—2 T Rhubarb compote per galette	Spoon 1 Tbsp compote into center of each galette, dividing equally. Fold galette in ½ in half, top with 1 Tbsp compote.
½-1 oz ham, pan-fried per serving	Serve with the ham and your beverage of choice.

In case you are interested, here is the nutritional value of the meal: 225 calories… 4.6 g fat… 6 g fiber… 8.5 g protein… 37 g carbs… 128 mg Calcium… NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage. Plant Based.

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted in October, 2026. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.

Shaker Rhubarb Pie

August 11th, 2026

Since the opening of the film The Testament of Ann Lee, there has been renewed curiosity about the utopian religion called the Shakers. Once established in the United States, the group was very successful during the 19th century. They planted and they reaped. They ate what foods they produced through communal labor. Shakers loved good food, and many of their recipes have been handed down to us. This one came via Saveur.com.

One 8-9” pie, Serves 6-8
1.75 cups flour—1 tsp. Salt—10 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces—2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening	Sift together into a bowl. Use 2 knives to work butter and shortening into flour until it resembles coarse meal.
up to 5 Tbsp. ice water	Sprinkle in, stirring dough with a fork until it just begins to hold together. Press into a rough ball.
	Divide dough into 2 balls, wrap both in plastic wrap, refrigerate 1 hour.
1 lb. rhubarb stalks, cut into 1″ pieces—1.25 cups sugar—4 Tbsp. Flour — 1⁄4 tsp. salt	Put these into a medium mixing bowl, then use your hands to toss together, and set aside – but not longer than 30 minutes.
	Preheat oven to 450°F.
	Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into two 12″ rounds.
	Fit one round into a 9″ pie plate, trim off excess. Add rhubarb mixture.
	Cover pie with other round. Fold edges of dough under, crimp edges. Make 3–4 slits in top crust.
	Bake 15 mins.
	Lower heat to 350°F, bake until crust is golden, 25–30 mins.
	Set aside to let cool 30+ mins before serving.

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted in September, 2026. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

January 14th, 2026

Do you still have some cut-up rhubarb in a zipper-bag in the freezer? Now is as good a time as any to use it to make a simple Rhubarb Coffee Cake — a nice hint of Spring in the dead of Winter. If you want a more fiber-rich cake without it tasting like sawdust, instead of 2 cups all-purpose flour, use 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 1 cup white whole wheat flour [King Arthur Flour’s “Golden Flour”].

This recipe is from neewengland.com and here is what they say about it: “This easy rhubarb coffee cake recipe works equally well when served for breakfast, a snack, or dessert (or all three in one day). Rhubarb provides a subtle tartness, while the topping provides a great sweetness and crunchiness.”

Sv 12	Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9×13” pan.
2 cups all-purpose flour—1 tsp baking soda—½ tsp salt	In a medium-size bowl, whisk these together. Divide into 3 portions, and set aside.
½ c. unsalted butter, at room temperature—-1½ c. unpacked light-brown sugar	In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy, 4-6 minutes.
1 large egg [US Large = 2 ounces]	Beat in egg.
1/3 of flour mixture——————-½ cup plain yogurt	Add a third of flour mixture and stir gently. Add sour cream and stir.
1/3 of flour mixture—-½ cup light sour cream—- 1/3 of flour mixture	Repeat with flour mixture, remaining sour cream, and remaining flour mixture.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract—-2½ cups fresh rhubarb, cut into ½” chunks	Stir in vanilla and rhubarb and spread batter into prepared pan.
½ cup granulated sugar—½ cup/ 1.6 oz chopped walnuts or pecans—-1 tsp ground cinnamon–1 T butter, melted	In a small bowl, combine these and sprinkle evenly over the top of the cake.
	Bake 40-50 mins. Cool and cut in squares.

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted on February 10, 2026. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.

Rhubarb Trivia, part 2

December 16th, 2025

Some families like to play games together during the holidays. But Monopoly takes forever and Scrabble is not for everybody. How about introducing Rhubarb Trivia to the fun? Print up this fact sheet and distribute it so people can study. Then hold a contest. Winner gets an extra helping of Rhubarb Pie or Rhubarb Pudding or Rhubarb Crumble Bars. At last year’s Rhubarb Festival, there was a Trivia Contest — get ready for Festival 2026!

What did the ancient Greeks call rhubarb?	The Barbarian Plant
Who thought he brought rhubarb back from the new World? Columbus or Da Gama or Cabot	Columbus
When did rhubarb roots and seeds arrive in Western Europe?	1600s/17^th century
Which country was the first to use rhubarb for food?	England
Where in England is The Rhubarb Triangle? *	West Yorkshire
When was rhubarb introduced to North America?	1770
By whom?	Benjamin Franklin sent rhubarb from Europe to John Bartram in Philadelphia
Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?	A vegetable
Which state has rhubarb as their official State Fruit?	New York State
Half of all commercial rhubarb in the US is from which * state?	Washington State
When is National Rhubarb Pie Day?	January 23^rd
When is National Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Day?	June 9^th
What is a common nickname for Rhubarb?	Pie plant
What is another common nickname for Rhubarb?	Neighbor plant
How long ago were the Chinese using rhubarb medicinally*	5000 years
What part of rhubarb is medicinal?	The root
What were rhubarb roots used for in medicine?	As a laxative

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, which was started in 2013 to benefit the library Building Fund. If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH, 03442, USA.

The next installment of this blog will be posted on January 13, 2025. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.

Giving Thanks for Rhubarb

November 18th, 2025

At Thanksgiving, I think it is nice to serve foods that were produced locally, that reflect New England traditions, and that preferably originate in our household. In Sarah Josepha Hale‘s novel Northwood, a chapter is given up to describing the family’s Thanksgiving feast. The matriarch takes pride and pleasure in pointing out which foods on the table were made at home.

Rhubarb is one of the most local foods you can serve, especially if you have it in your own garden. Of course by Thanksgiving it will not still be producing stalks, but many rhubarb products can still be on your table.

1] At breakfast, serve a traditional cornbread slathered with Rhubarb Jam. How about a Rhubarb Coffee Cake or Quick Bread?

2] At the dinner table, serve a Rhubarb-Onion Relish along side the usual cranberry sauce.

3] Surprise your guests with a Rhubarb Wine as a dinner beverage. If you didn’t make your own, you might find some producers on line who ship to New Hampshire. Make sure that you get a drier wine for dinner, since sweeter wines are better suited for dessert.

4] Serve Rhubarb Baked Beans as a side dish at dinner or for an easy-to-prepare meal the night before.

5] For dessert — what else?! — Rhubarb pie, made from frozen Rhubarb or a pie put into the freezer assembled but unbaked last Summer.

6] The next day, Rhubarb Pie for breakfast, and a Rhubarb relish on your turkey sandwich.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your’s!

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted on December 16, 2025. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.
Planting Rhubarb

October 7th, 2025

Fall is a good time to plant rhubarb. The feed store won’t be selling roots at this time of year, but if a friendly neighbor wants to share, say “Yes, please!” You’ll want to plant it in a spot that gets lots of sun and where the soil is sandy, so it will be well-drained. You could even plant rhubarb in the flower bed, if that’s the best spot you have. Treat it like an ‘ornamental’.

How large the hole needs to be depends on the length of the root stock that you get. If the root is very large and has several clusters of stalks, then cut it up into smaller pieces before you plant. Cut into the root clump from top to bottom, being sure to include a cluster of stalks in each piece you remove. The roots could be from 5 inches to 12 inches long. so make sure that your holes are deeper than the root is long. If planting more than one root clump, then you need a hole for each one. Locate the holes 3 [three] feet [1 meter] apart — rhubarb leaves have quite a spread!

Put some manure in each hole, followed by a pint or two of water. Then position the root clump in the hole so that the top of it is a little lower than ground level. Fill the hole with soil, and tamp it down with your foot. This will make a ‘well’ around the plant which you will now fill with water. Then surround the new planting with more manure or at least good compost. Put some sort of marker to remind you what you have planted there — you don’t want to mow the new plants over next Spring.

If your area is having a drought, water the newly-planted rhubarb every other day, but not too much lest you rot them. If you are getting regular rain, you will not have to water. The plants will look peaked, and the leaves will be limp, but that is as much end-of-season die-back as it is transplantation shock. After the killing frost, top-dress with manure again, and leave them until Spring. There is no need to cut back the stalks at the end of summer, nor to remove them. Their decay will add nutrients to the soil.

The next Summer, let them grow undisturbed. Do not harvest any stalks. This will help the roots to build up lots of energy for growing. The second summer, harvest one or two stalks from each new plant. At the third summer, the plant will be well-established and you may harvest at will, being sure to leave at least two stalks on each root crown.

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted on November 18, 2025. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.

Rhubarb Quick-Bread

September 9th, 2025

Rhubarb is not only for pie! We frequently enjoy rhubarb as an ingredient on the breakfast menu. In addition to muffins and fritters, as seen in previous posts, here we have a quick-bread with Rhubarb. [A quick-bread is made without yeast, leavened with baking powder and baking soda]

Here’s a tip: Mix the batter the night before, put it in the prepared pan, and bake it first thing in the morning for a head-start on your day. Old-style cooks will tell you that you can’t do that, because the batter won’t rise. They are thinking of the old ‘single-acting’ baking powder that had to be baked right away. Because this recipe is made with modern double-acting baking powder plus baking soda [due to the acidity of the rhubarb], it will begin to rise a little when mixed with the wet ingredients, then do its major rising in the oven.

Served with pan-cooked ham and yogurt with diced watermelon, the Rhubarb Quick-Bread is a star at the summer breakfast table.

one 8½x4½” loaf/ 3 small loaves: original	one 8½x4½” loaf/ 3 small loaves: adapted	Heat oven 350F. Butter then flour pan
8 Tbsp/113 g unsalted butter—-1 cup/200 g sugar—- 1 Tbsp fresh-grated orange zest—-⅓ cup whole-milk yogurt	7 Tbsp/100 g unsalted butter—-¾ cup/150 g sugar —-1 Tbsp fresh-grated orange zest—-⅓ cup plain, low-fat yogurt	Melt butter. Whisk these ingredients together until well combined.
2 large eggs	2 two-oz eggs = 3.6 oz without shells	Whisk in eggs.
1¾ cup/223 g all-purpose flour—-1 tsp baking powder—-½ tsp baking soda—-½ tsp kosher salt	1 cup/223 g King Arthur Golden Flour—- ½ c white flour—1¼ tsp baking powder—½ tsp baking soda–½ tsp kosher salt	In a separate bowl, whisk these together.
1½ cups rhubarb, cut ¼” dice–flour mixture	1½ cups rhubarb, cut ¼” dice–flour mixture	Add these to butter mixture and fold until combined.
¼ cup rhubarb, cut in ¼” pieces—-2 T sugar	¼ cup rhubarb, cut in ¼” pieces—-1 T sugar	Put batter in prepared pan and smooth top. Stir these together and sprinkle on top of batter.
		Bake until golden brown and set, 55-60 mins. [skewer in center comes out with moist crumbs attached]
Icing/10X sugar	icing/10x sugar	Let cool in pan 5 mins, then tip out of pan. Turn right side up, dust with powdered sugar.
1 of 8 slices: 343 calories… 13 g fat… 1 g fiber… 5 g protein… 52 g carb.., 56 mg Calcium… 268 mg Sodium…	1 of 8 slices: 274 calories… 11.5 g fat… 2 g fiber… 5 g protein… 56 g carb.., 56 mg Calcium… 210 mg Sodium…

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted in October, 2025. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.

Rhubarb Fritters

August 12th, 2025

Fritters were a staple of the New England cuisine in the old days. They could be mixed together quickly to serve at breakfast with maple syrup. When served as the first course at dinner (also with maple syrup), they were a good way for the clever cook to kill the appetites of children before the meat course arrived. Rather than adding more water to the stew to make it go further, she would add another fritter to the plate of a hungry adolescent or husband.

Corn fritters are good, as are apple fritters. Here the ingredient to add is Rhubarb, the random bits adding a delicious pop of flavor. The recipe is from Nancy Adams, writing in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript.

3 dozen small ones — Original Recipe	20 with 1.5 T scoop — Adapted Recipe	Cast iron skillet
1 c flour+++1 c sugar	½ c King Arthur Golden Flour +++1/3 c sugar	Whisk together in a bowl.
1 egg yolk from a US Large ++++++++ ¼ c whole milk++ 1½ tsp butter, melted	1 egg yolk++++++++ + ¼ c skimmed milk++ 1½ tsp butter, melted	In another bowl, whisk these together. Add gradually to dry ingredients, stirring until smooth.
2 c finely chopped rhubarb++++++++ 2 Tbsp sugar	1 c finely chopped rhubarb++++++++ 1 Tbsp sugar	Stir together to coat, stir gently into batter. Done night before
2 egg whites	1 egg white	Whip until stiff, fold into batter.
1 c Canola/ corn oil, 1” deep	Canola/corn oil/PAM — just a little	Heat oil in skillet. Scoop in batter.
		Cook on both sides. Drain on paper towels.
Maple syrup or 10X sugar	Maple syrup or 10X sugar	Serve hot.

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted on 9 September,2025. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.