A thick mulch helps. This means there will be no berries until next year. For ever-bearing varieties, prune off the first spring flowers, but allow later flowers to mature and bear fruit the first year. It's so easy to grow rhubarb, it's almost pitiful. The root sections sold in nurseries have growth points called eyes.
New growth comes from the eyes.
Once planted, the rhubarb will continue to produce more stalks for at least a decade. The leaves are poisonous. Space root sections four feet apart. Plant the eyes one or two inches deep. Rhubarb should be left to grow the first full year to establish strong roots, so harvest comes in the second year.