Despite the dry April the rhubarb patch seems to have done ok. And overnight it actually rained. The smell of damp air and wet greenery was really quite unexpected after a month without any April showers. The stalks are reaching a decent length i.e. about ten to twelve inches so I cut a few to stew later.

 The leaves are considered to be poisonous as they contain higher concentrations of oxalic acid than the stalks where it is also present. There seems to be some debate whether the toxicity might in fact be due to other chemical compounds in the leaves. 

 It's not uncommon to eat one part of a plant and avoid another. Case in point tomatoes are an edible fruit but the rest of the plant has toxic properties. Then again all parts of beetroot are edible but the leaves and stems are often discarded.

 The big, crinkly foliage of rhubarb is nonetheless very useful for mulching the plant it came from...