• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Eat Like No One Else logo

  • 🏠 Home
  • ℹ️ About
    • How to Eat Like No One Else
  • 🎄 Christmas
    • Christmas Breakfast
    • Christmas Cookies
    • Shopping for Christmas Dinner
  • 🎁 Shop for Gifts
  • ✍️ Sign Up for Virtual Events
  • 🚫 Reduce Food Waste
  • 🔨 Work With Us
  • 📝 Privacy Policy
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
menu icon
go to homepage
  • ℹ️ About Us
  • 🎙️ Podcast
  • 🚫 Reduce Food Waste
  • 🧂 Upgrade Your Salt
  • 🍎 Apples Reviews
  • 🔨 Work With Us
  • 📝 Privacy Policy
    • Instagram
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • ℹ️ About Us
    • 🎙️ Podcast
    • 🚫 Reduce Food Waste
    • 🧂 Upgrade Your Salt
    • 🍎 Apples Reviews
    • 🔨 Work With Us
    • 📝 Privacy Policy
    • Instagram
  • ×

    Home » When are Fruits & Vegetables in Season? » When Is Rhubarb in Season?

    When Is Rhubarb in Season?

    Published: Apr 16, 2016 · Modified: Mar 27, 2025 by Eric Samuelson

    Find out when the best time of year is to pick up some rhubarb for your favorite pie.

    📋 What's New In This Post (3/27/25) - Added new info on pairing different fruits with rhubarb.

    Rhubarb on the counter with the words "When is Rhubarb in Season?" overlayed

    The Vegetable We Use Like a Fruit!

    Rheum rhabarbarum. What we call rhubarb.

    It is the thing of which pie makers dream. They love pairing this tart vegetable — although, for legal purposes, it is considered a fruit — with berries, especially those with the name 'straw' in them.

    According to Specialty Produce, in 1947, rhubarb was legally classified as a fruit instead of a vegetable. The argument was that it was mainly used as a fruit. The reason this even mattered was that it was more cost-effective, as a smaller duty had to be paid on it.

    I have never used rhubarb like a vegetable, although I have heard of people making soup with it and even eating it like celery with peanut butter — no thanks from me on that.

    If nearly all of us use rhubarb as a fruit, we’re going to want to pair it with the best in-season fruits. Let me teach you when rhubarb is in season and share some other fruits besides strawberries that I’ve paired it with.

    This post includes affiliate links. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. These are products and services I recommend because I use or trust them. Cookies will be used to track the affiliate links you click.

    Jump to:
    • The Vegetable We Use Like a Fruit!
    • Difference Between Hothouse and Field Grown
    • What Time of Year Can You Find Rhubarb?
    • Can You Freeze It For Later?
    • Should I Grow My Own?
    Bundles of rhubarb on a table at a farmer's market.

    Difference Between Hothouse and Field Grown

    Let’s start by discussing the two ways rhubarb is grown: in greenhouses or in the field.

    Greenhouse or hothouse-grown rhubarb appears earlier in the year, naturally (or perhaps not so naturally if it's grown indoors?). I usually see it in early spring, or even as early as late winter.

    Hothouse rhubarb is usually more uniformly red in color. Some say it's sweet and more tender too. But I have not had them side by side to say whether or not that is true.

    What Time of Year Can You Find Rhubarb?

    Most of the field-grown rhubarb sold in the U.S. comes from the Northern U.S., particularly Oregon and Washington, as these states are well-suited to rhubarb production.

    In my travels across the country, it’s been the northern states where I’ve found the best rhubarb — Michigan, Minnesota, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. If you've moved south from one of these states, you may be disappointed in the quality or availability, which may be limited to frozen rhubarb.

    The first field-grown rhubarb typically shows up in late March to early April. When I worked in produce at two different grocery stores, this was about when I would first see it. Around this time, hothouse-grown rhubarb is usually done, so their seasons may just barely overlap.

    Since rhubarb sales go up quite a deal in the presence of strawberries, when strawberries prices dip as they tend to do in March, you will naturally find more hothouse rhubarb available. A strawberry rhubarb pie isn't a bad idea for an Easter brunch. Or you could try my Strawberry-Rhubarb Sour Cream Crumble Muffins.

    Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins with a pint of strawberries and more muffins in the background

    I find that the season continues to go strong for rhubarb when fresh strawberry season in my home state of Michigan, so that's when I usually bake my rhubarb and strawberry desserts.

    The domestic blueberry season begins in late March and really ramps up with Georgia blueberries come into season in early May. Blueberries make a great pairing with rhubarb as well. Try your recipes with them instead of strawberries to change things up.

    The season tends to slow down in the summer time, as the heat turns up. Rhubarb doesn't grow as well in the heat. But before the season goes I like to pair them up with the super sweet pluot, which is a cross between an apricot and a plum. I did that in late June 2024, when I made a Pluot-Rhubarb cobbler in my air fryer.

    I have grown my own rhubarb before and I call testify that the plants look pretty pathetic come in August. At that point, I am leaving the plants alone until the next year. The good news is that rhubarb stores well.

    It's not unusual to get 3 weeks out of rhubarb that is kept in the fridge.

    If you are waiting to pair with local peaches or cherries you may still have a chance, even if the sun has beaten down on the local rhubarb plants. During the fall, you will be hard pressed to find it. I can't recall ever seeing it.

    Here is a recap in table form of when to find rhubarb:

    Hot House/Greenhouse Grown Rhubarbwinter to early spring
    Field Grown Rhubarbearly to mid spring to early summer
    Frozen Rhubarbavailable year round, only choice from mid summer to late winter
    A bag of cut frozen Rhubarb is seen in a display of frozen fruits at a Sprouts store.

    Can You Freeze It For Later?

    The three weeks it lasts in the fridge won’t help if you are making a pie for Thanksgiving or Christmas and want to use rhubarb. That’s when it’s time to look in the frozen section of your grocery store.

    If you have the forethought, you can always freeze some extra when it's in season to have for your holiday celebrations. I recommend cutting it into bite-sized pieces, then wrapping the whole thing in foil and placing it into a freezer bag. I find that the foil helps prevent freezer burn. Since you’re using it in a pie, even if the texture isn’t the same as fresh, it won’t make a significant difference.

    Rhubarb leaves growing outside in a garden
    Here is what a rhubarb leave looks like when the plant just sprouts from the ground.

    Should I Grow My Own?

    Absolutely! Rhubarb is easy to grow yourself, depending on where you live. Those in the North can easily grow it. I never paid much attention to my rhubarb plants, and they come back year after year.

    I got my rhubarb plants from a friend who quickly dug a spot when I wasn’t home and planted them there. And they still thrived!

    If you live in the South, it will be more challenging. Your best bet is to plant transplants in the fall and harvest your stalks through the winter months. When the heat sets in, the plants could die off, and you’ll have to plant anew.

    Where do you like to buy rhubarb? Leave a comment below. Share with us where you are from as well.

    « Cocoa Metro Belgian Chocolate Milk Review
    "Ramped-Up" Corn »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. jackie edwards

      May 07, 2018 at 3:59 pm

      when can you get rhubarb off a plant when first planted.

    2. Eric Samuelson

      May 08, 2018 at 10:54 am

      Great questions. Depends on how fast the plant grows. You don't want to harvest too much because the plant needs it's leaves to grow. I would at least wait until you have several healthy looking leaves with stalks that are as big as you normally would buy them at. As the plant ages and gets bigger you can harvest more.

    3. Linda Venskus-Mattson

      October 28, 2019 at 12:04 pm

      Thank you for explaining the time frames of when one should harvest Rhubarb. There are hundreds of Rhubarb plants in the backyard of my late Grandfather's former home. I saw the plants back in the early spring of this year where we reside in Massachusetts. I asked the new home owner if I could dig up a few of the plants however I did not get back there until mid-October of this year. I was so puzzled as to why I wasn't able to find any visible?? In another area of this vast garden were plants that looked similar to Rhubarb but I believe are called Rhubarb Swiss Chard. So ended up digging up a few of them but have them sitting in pots in my garage. Hopefully next Spring I will be have better luck digging up real Rhubarb! I own a dog and wasn't aware that the Rhubarb leaves are toxic. So I have my concerns about whether I should even attempt to grown this plant in my garden?? Is it known to kill off animals??

    4. Mary Timm

      March 14, 2025 at 11:14 am

      I grew up in Minnesota where rhubard is RHUBARD. Here n Calif There is no real flavor. Just doesn’t taste like rhubard should. Miss that.

    5. Eric Samuelson

      March 14, 2025 at 11:25 pm

      I hear ya. You need to source rhubarb directly from the farmer to get the best taste.

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Nice to Meet You,

    Hi! I'm Eric : Father of 4, living just south of Ann Arbor, MI. I'm a reformed picky eater finding a new way to not conform. Eating what's in season is my jam (I also make it!)

    Categories

    Top Posts & Pages

    Cherry Mascarpone Cheese Dessert Quesadillas
    Juicy Grilled Boneless BBQ Pork Chops
    Mixed Berry Layered Jell-O Pretzel Salad
    Grilled Asparagus in Foil Packet

    Recent Posts

    • Cherry Mascarpone Cheese Dessert Quesadillas
    • Juicy Grilled Boneless BBQ Pork Chops
    • Mixed Berry Layered Jell-O Pretzel Salad
    • Grilled Asparagus in Foil Packet
    • Creamy Caesar Pasta Salad with Crunchy Croutons

    Reduce Food Waste in Your House

    Copyright © 2025 Eat Like No One Else on the Foodie Pro Theme