After waiting so long for spring and watching the rhubarb coming up so slowly, they are ready! Summer is here and we are up to our elbows in Rhubarb. This past week we received about 150 kg - we picked some and some were dropped off by homeowners. Wow!!! It has taken most of 2 days just to wash it, chop it, juice it and tuck it away.

So what will be coming out of the kitchen? Firstly we made lots of Strawberry Rhubarb Jam followed by Hot Pepper Rhubarb Spread. This will satisfy both the sweet and savoury side of the market table. Then Spiced Rhubarb Jam and Blueberry Rhubarb Jam is next on the list, to soon be followed by Mango Orange Rhubarb Jam. The raspberries will be coming next and we will be happy to start producing Raspberry Rhubarb Jam and Raspberry Pear Rhubarb Jam. Wow the kitchen smells like summer.

Rhubarb Juice

These wonderful jars are filled with rhubarb juice. It is so ruby red in the spring that it almost looks like it should be strawberry juice. We use this to make Lemon Pepper and Gin condiment and Sweet Chili Tri Sauce so these sauces are soon going to be pouring out and ready for the market tables.

Finally comes the ketchup. We had just about used up all our reserves, but rest assured, we now have lots of raw material to keep our ketchup fans well supplied.

Keep the rhubarb coming - I don't think we can have too much. And if we do have more than we can use, we will find people who want to use it. It will not go to waste.

The siren call of spring brings the rhubarb popping up out of the ground as the (almost) first food of spring! Christina and her crew of volunteer pickers have been out harvesting already and in just under 3 weeks they have brought in over 100 Kg. That has disappeared into the cooking pots and then into jam jars ready for the market. Here is a list of the wonderful things we have already made with rhubarb (and there are a few more in the test stages).

JAMS:

** Apple, Plum, Rhubarb with plums and apples saved since last summer's bounty ** Blackberry Rhubarba wonderful dark jam full of summer warmth ** Blueberry Rhubarb is a lovely dark colour and the rhubarb adds zest to this wonderful fruit ** Grapefruit Rhubarb is a wonderful combination of these 2 tart fruits that give a marmalade flavoured jam with a soft texture ** Mango Orange Rhubarb has the mellow mango fullness balanced with the zip of rhubarb and orange ** Pineapple Rhubarb is an old fashioned jam that used to be made by many grandmothers ** Raspberry Rhubarb and ** Raspberry Pear Rhubarb. Last year we had taste tests to see which was the favourite and since it was almost a tie, we have again made both jams with raspberries donated to us this past winter ** Sassy Barb with Orange uses local saskatoons and rhubarb and unites them with a hint of orange ** Spiced Rhubarb fills your mouth with a burst of fragrant spices ** Strawberry Rhubarb the perennial favourite and it's adult cousin ** Strawberry Rhubarb with Sambucaliqueur($1 more) adds a hint of black licorice to the strawberries ** Vanilla Rhubarb ($1 more) is made with whole vanilla beans so it is a delicate flavourful jam perfect for an afternoon tea with scones and crumpets.

CONDIMENTS:

** Chipotle Rhubarb Ketchup is our best seller and we have made lots for the Bar B Q season ** Citrus Ginger Sauce is a lighter sauce without tomato that goes well with pork, chicken and fish ** Hot Pepper Rhubarb Condiment is like hot pepper jellies but since we use full fruit it spreads easily and does not melt and slide off your finished food. It is growing to be one of our top 10 sellers! ** Lemon, Pepper and Gin Condiment ($1 more) is made of rhubarb juice with fresh lemon and freshly ground black pepper finished with Gin. ** Rhubarb Chutneyis full of spice, vinegar and chunks of fruit. ** Rosemary Jelly is a clear jelly that fits well in the sweet side to use on toast but also accompanies lamb and chicken ** Sweet Chili Tri Sauce is our newest product. It is similar to Thai sauce but we believe it has a stronger opening flavour that ends with the satisfying warmth of it's 3 types of chili peppers.

So this is why we call it Rhubarb Rhapsody - so many flavours and combinations and all from the humble rhubarb plant.

We can also ship to customers in Canada so give us a call at 780-244-0129 to find out more.

Markets:

Come out to the local Farmer's Markets listed below and see what we are sampling each week. As we have such a large selection of product, different items are featured each week, so over the summer you will be able to taste everything. By coming out to the markets, you can also purchase items that we are putting out for a test or items that come in limited supply. For your information we work hard to be environmentally responsible and our tasting spoons are made of potato starch (non GMO) and thus are compostable. In the kitchen we recycle what we can and compost all of our kitchen scraps before using the garbage bin.

Wednesday 4:30 – 7:30 pm: South West Edmonton Farmers Market at Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre - 2051 Leger Road.

Thursday 4:00 - 8:00 pm: 124 Grand Market on 108 Avenue and 124 Street

Saturday: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm: 104 Street Downtown Farmer’s Market

Saturday: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm: St Albert Farmer’s Market - at St. Anne and St. Thomas Streets in St. Albert

Sunday: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm Callingwood Farmer’s Market at 69 Ave and 178 Street.

Sunday: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm Petroleum Club Market at 11110 - 108 Street.