Asparagus producer Cobrey Farms has produced its first-ever crop of forced rhubarb in Herefordshire this year.
The trial was carried out on one hectare at the business’s site in Ross-on-Wye.
John Chinn, partner of the business, told FPJ that the company was surprised by the trial’s substantial yield. He said: “It has come at just the right time as the Delia effect has taken hold of the public and interest in rhubarb is high. There has been a lot of publicity surrounding rhubarb production in the rhubarb triangle, but the Hereford microclimate is just as good. We have the right soils and produce a good-quality product. Our rhubarb is tender and sweet, and a totally different product to open-field rhubarb.”
Packed on site, the rhubarb, which is being sold under the new Wye Valley Rhubarb brand, has been forced by using black polythene tunnels.
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