Growing rhubarb is fairly easy as long as Mother Nature keeps temperatures above freezing once the leaves have emerged. Rhubarb should not be harvested when the leaves are wilted and limp after a hard freeze.

The part that we consume is the petiole or the leaf stalk. Rhubarb leaves should never be eaten since they contain a toxic substance called oxalic acid.  Under normal harvest the leafstalk is cut at the base and the leaf blades are trimmed off. After a hard frost oxalic acid may move from the leaves into the leafstalk. When consumed the oxalic acid can crystallize in the kidneys and cause permanent damage to the organs.

In addition to the potential toxicity, the rhubarb leaf stalks will be of poor texture and flavour.

All rhubarb leaf stalks/petioles that have been exposed to freezing temperatures should be removed and discarded. The re-growth is safe to eat.  As normal harvest begins, always leave at least one-third of the petioles un-harvested to insure the plant will return next season.

This article was originally published on May 1, 2014. Click here to read the original article on the University of Illinois website.

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The conversion produces significantly more energy than it requires and results in transportation fuels — diesel, for example — that can be blended with existing ultra-low-sulphur diesels and biodiesels. Other products, such as natural gas, naphtha (a solvent), gasoline, waxes and lubricating oils such as engine oil and hydraulic oil also can be obtained from shopping bags.

A report of the new study appears in the journal Fuel Processing Technology.

Americans throw away about 100 billion plastic shopping bags each year, according to the Worldwatch Institute. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that only about 13 per cent are recycled. The rest of the bags end up in landfills or escape to the wild, blowing across the landscape and entering waterways.

From the Grainews website: Understanding biofuels

Plastic bags make up a sizable portion of the plastic debris in giant ocean garbage patches that are killing wildlife and littering beaches. Plastic bags “have been detected as far north and south as the poles,” the researchers wrote.

“Over a period of time, this material starts breaking into tiny pieces, and is ingested along with plankton by aquatic animals,” Sharma said. Fish, birds, ocean mammals and other creatures have been found with a lot of plastic particles in their guts.

Whole shopping bags also threaten wildlife, Sharma said.

“Turtles, for example, think that the plastic grocery bags are jellyfish and they try to eat them,” he said. Other creatures become entangled in the bags.

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