Day 1: Rub my rhubarb!

So what do we have here?  One of the dreaded rhubarb plants.  Actually, I love it.  A plant that comes up every year, is edible early in the season and has leaves bigger than my head.

 But what to do with it.  Other than strawberry-rhubarb pie, of course.  Well, if you're me, you make paper.  I read somewhere that rhubarb is remarkably similar to papyrus so you can use ancient techniques to make a modern version.  How cool.

The plan I used comes from http://www.boiseartmuseum.org/education/egyptian/FauxPapyrusPaperShawnPhelps.pdf

Step 1:

 Step 2:

 Step 3:

 Step 4: Rhubarb sandwich

I guess we'll see how it dries over the next few days.  I tried this last year but I let it dry in the sun after a couple of days and it was too curly to use.

It does use up rhubarb at a furious rate.  I used 5 or 6 stalks just for this one little bit of paper.  And I ruined a bit by hammering too hard - a large rubber mallet would have been much better.

I guess this officially starts my 365 project.