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.
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.
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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.
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 Rhubarb | winter to early spring |
| Field Grown Rhubarb | early to mid spring to early summer |
| Frozen Rhubarb | available year round, only choice from mid summer to late winter |
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.
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.
jackie edwards
when can you get rhubarb off a plant when first planted.
Eric Samuelson
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.
Linda Venskus-Mattson
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??
Mary Timm
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.
Eric Samuelson
I hear ya. You need to source rhubarb directly from the farmer to get the best taste.