Rhubarb is a plant native to Asia that is said to have been present on earth since more than 5,000 years old.
We know rhubarb with its long stem and huge leaves.
It stays in the ground in winter and comes out around April.
At home, we eat it mainly in a pie or compote, mixed with strawberries or apples.
I love this dessert, it's so good!
But aside from dessert, I wondered what else you could do with rhubarb.
Here are 6 uses of rhubarb that no one knows about. Watch:
As it grows very quickly, you can cut it. Then, put the leaves in your compost. They break down very quickly. Even though rhubarb leaves are toxic, it's not a problem for the compost.
Rhubarb root and leaves can be used to color hair. If you have fair hair, you can use rhubarb to naturally give it a golden glow.
Boil 30 g of crushed rhubarb root in 1/2 liter of cider vinegar for 10 min. Add 20 g of chamomile, 20 g of marigold flowers and simmer for 5 minutes, then leave to cool.
Add the juice of 2 lemons, 50 g of acacia honey and 50 ml of alcohol at 90°. Finally, pour enough volumizing conditioner into this mixture to achieve a creamy consistency.
Test on a few strands of your hair to determine the effect. Put the mixture on your hair like a mask (or wick to wick), cover your head with a towel.
Rinse with cold water. If you let your hair dry naturally in the sun, the effects will be multiplied.
There is also a rhubarb-based rinse to give dark highlights to dark hair.
Simmer 3 tbsp powdered rhubarb roots in 500ml water until half of the water has evaporated. Add enough white clay to make a paste.
Wash your hair and divide it into strands. Apply the paste to the strands like a classic color.
Leave on for 15 minutes and check the color by rinsing and drying a strand. Leave for another 15 minutes, regularly checking the result by scraping the paste a little. Do not leave for more than an hour.
To make the hair even darker, repeat the operation 2 days later.
If you want to clean a pan that has burned or give more shine to your stainless steel pans, use rhubarb leaves. The high oxalic acid content in the leaves gives rhubarb pot-cleaning power.
To clean the burnt pan, cut some rhubarb into small pieces and boil them for 10 minutes in the pan in question until it becomes a kind of compote. Stripper assured :-)
Rhubarb leaf is quite poisonous. Even the insects turn away from it! Here are 2 recipes to avoid pests in your vegetable patch and garden:
Recipe 1: boil 2 kilos of rhubarb leaves in enough water for about 15 min, then leave to cool. Put the liquid in a suitable container.
Add a little soap flakes and spray on plants attacked by aphids. This mixture is particularly effective against moth or leek worm, peach leaf curl, cherry or rose diseases.
Recipe 2: cut 2 kg of rhubarb leaves and boil them in 4 liters of water for 30 min. Leave to cool then strain the mixture to keep only the liquid.
Use utensils that you no longer use, as rhubarb can stain equipment. In a small saucepan, bring 3 liters of water to a boil and mix 150 g of old softened soap bits (use the pieces of soap left in the shower for example).
Leave to cool, stirring regularly. Add the leaf infusion, stir vigorously and spray directly on the infested leaves. Unused mixture can be stored for a few days, but keep children and animals away from it, as it is harmful.
Cut 500 g of rhubarb stalks into small dice. Put them in a container and sprinkle everything with 250 g of powdered sugar. Cover the container with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 4-5 days, stirring every 12 hours.
Collect the liquid produced through a strainer. Mix the rhubarb syrup with 250 ml of cider vinegar then pour into a lidded jar and put back in the fridge.
You can use this drink immediately, but after a week of storage, the flavors are clearer and more harmonious. Add this mixture to cocktails or sparkling water.
Do you have trouble going to the toilet? It can happen when you're stressed or on vacation. No worries, rhubarb is here to help! Here is the effective grandmother's recipe:
- 3 teaspoons of psyllium seed
- 3 teaspoons of licorice root
- 2 teaspoons of rhubarb root
- 2 teaspoons of senna
- 2 teaspoons of angelica root
Infuse all these ingredients and strain the mixture. Drink it as a herbal tea in the evening. You can find all these ingredients in a herbalist.
