Free guides from Extension: Growing rhubarb, fighting prickly lettuce in wheat

Rhubarb plant
A rhubarb crown spreads across eight feet. Photo by Linda Chalker-Scott.

Each month, WSU Extension educators publish new or revised guides helping Northwest residents and farmers. The latest free publications from Extension help home gardeners grow thriving rhubarb plants, and support wheat farmers in their efforts to stop a troublesome, and increasingly spray-resistant weed.

Growing Rhubarb in Home Gardens (Home Garden Series) (FS360E)
This publication describes the best methods for growing and sustaining healthy rhubarb plants — a vegetable that is usually treated like a fruit in the kitchen. Grown for its stalk, rhubarb is a vigorous crop that, once established, can live for years. The guide is written by Linda Chalker-Scott, Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Horticulture.

Prickly lettuce sap
Prickly lettuce contains a milky sap, seen when the plant is damaged.

Revised: Integrated Management of Prickly Lettuce in Wheat Production Systems (PNW688)
Prickly lettuce is a common weed in wheat production systems throughout the Pacific Northwest, but it’s difficult to manage. Herbicides can control prickly lettuce in wheat, but many biotypes have developed resistance.
Newly revised, this guide examines identification, biology, and management of the pesky weed. Authors include Drew Lyon, WSU Endowed Chair for Small Grains Extension and Research, and WSU Research Weed Scientist Ian Burke.

Find more guides at the WSU Extension Publications website.