- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
- S.African woman turns 118, among the oldest in the world
- UK clears $4 bn AI partnership between Amazon, Anthropic
- Barca fans barred from Champions League away game over racist banner
- Chinese stocks extend surge, Europe higher on Beijing stimulus
- Pope says Church must 'seek forgiveness' for child sexual abuse
- China caps week of 'bazooka' stimulus for ailing economy with rate cut
- Cuts, cash, credit: China bids to jumpstart flagging economy
- France's debt weighs heavier ahead of budget debate
- Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
- Return to sender: waste stranded at sea stirs toxic dispute
- 'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future
- On remote Greek island, migratory birds offer climate clues
- Taken from mother by nuns, victim seeks answers as pope visits Belgium
- China cuts amount banks hold in reserve to boost lending
- Hong Kong, Shanghai extend surge as China optimism boosts markets
- Vietnam president reiterates support for Cuba during official visit
- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
- Poverty rises to over 52 percent in Milei's Argentina
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala Harris
- Champagne houses abuzz over English sparkling wine
- Macron, Trudeau pledge to work for 'decarbonized' economies
- Hurricanes, storms, typhoons... Is September wetter than usual?
- China stimulus, tech optimism boost stock markets
- 'Unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene races towards Florida
- Macron meets Trudeau in Canada as both face political setbacks
- South Korea surges in UN innovation index
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala
- Floods threaten Niger's historic 'gateway to the desert'
- China economy hopes boost global equities
- Ubisoft shares sink after 'Assassin's Creed' delay
- German economy to shrink again in 2024: think tanks
- Hong Kong's New World Development replaces CEO Adrian Cheng
- Swiss central bank cuts rate again amid strong franc worries
- Germany's BASF to focus on 'core units' in major overhaul
- China admits economy facing new 'problems', vows to fix property sector
- Stock markets boosted by China hopes, tech rally
In UK 'rhubarb triangle', spring arrives in January
Robert Tomlinson picks rhubarb stalks by candlelight in the dark, carrying on a century-old family tradition that survives today despite the challenges posed to his business by Brexit and climate change.
For four generations, Tomlinson's family have been cultivating "forced rhubarb" in the winter months at their farm in Pudsey, northern England, and are profiting from a resurgence in the plant's popularity.
Hundreds of bright pink stems of the "Harbinger" variety reach for the ceiling after they were brought into sheds from fields to be finished off indoors.
The temperature is kept heated to around 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit), and it is almost completely dark.
With this mildness in the air, "we are tricking them into thinking it is spring", Tomlinson, 41, said as he walked around his plants, which benefit from a government-protected designation of origin.
In the absence of stronger light, the plants cannot produce chlorophyll and sugar grows in the stalk rather than the leaf, "so you get a far more tender, sweeter stick than you do in summer with outdoor rhubarb".
The stems can therefore be harvested in winter, when few fresh fruit and vegetables are produced in Britain, and command a higher price than free-range rhubarb, which is typically picked from May.
"You can hear them growing, it makes just like a pop," says Tomlinson, whose farm lies in a part of Yorkshire known as Britain's "rhubarb triangle" because of its concentration of growers.
His great-grandfather started growing the plant, which originated in Asia and Russia, in the late 1880s. Until the 1960s, its tangy taste was popular in Britain.
- Duck a la rhubarb -
But rhubarb then fell out of fashion and many growers gave up. Today there are only 10 left in Yorkshire, according to Tomlinson, down from a peak of more than 200.
In recent years, however, chefs have embraced rhubarb with relish.
They include Tom Cenci of the 26 Grains group, which manages two high-end restaurants in London which use mostly British produce.
"The recipes are endless," he said, before sauteing a few pieces of forced rhubarb in orange juice, adding sugar and a little ginger.
Forced rhubarb grown indoors "has a slightly sweeter taste", and outdoor rhubarb can be more "stringy". Cenci recommends pairing it with fish or duck.
Forced rhubarb is also used in drinks, from flavoured soda to gin, sparkling wine and syrups.
Tomlinson says the wide array of uses has helped him weather the closure of UK restaurants during successive pandemic lockdowns.
Foreign demand has also helped, from restaurants and hotels in Paris, Berlin, Zurich and even New York, he said.
- ' Rising costs' -
But owing to new customs checks since Britain left the EU's single market, "it is far more expensive to send it to Europe now".
And like other British farmers, the rhubarb grower is struggling with labour shortages.
"Costs have gone up. There are so many jobs out there that pay a lot more money," Tomlinson said.
His wife Paula assists, as do his children aged 13 and 14 on weekends.
Milder weather brought about by climate change is another headwind.
The plants need a period of cold in the autumn "to re-energise before we fetch them in the sheds" for indoor harvesting.
"The way in which we are growing is almost identical as it was back then because there is no other way to do it.
"So, I will go on picking by candlelight, by hand," the farmer said. "There are no machines to do it."
D.Avraham--CPN