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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Robyn Vinter North of England correspondent

Tickled pink: rhubarb growers see explosion in demand for Yorkshire crop

Robert Tomlinson in a large dark shed holding rhubarb and surrounded by hundreds of rhubarb plants
Robert Tomlinson comes from a long line of rhubarb growers, with his plants featured on the menus of international chefs. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

It takes a while for the eyes to adjust to the darkness inside the shed. Slowly, the shapes of hundreds of pale stalks emerge from the gloom like an alien species, visible only by the glow cast by a handful of candles.

This candlelit ritual is the harvest of Yorkshire forced rhubarb, being carried out by growers Robert and Paula Tomlinson.

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