Rise of rhubarb, the vegetable that acts like a fruit, 'a sure sign' spring in swing

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Rhubarb is erupting across the northern United States right now — offering a perfect opportunity to celebrate one of the year's first and most intriguing harvests. 

"Route 340 here in Lancaster County is a designated scenic byway and one of the great scenes this time of year are all the little farm stands selling rhubarb," Lisa Horn, the "director of fun" at Kitchen Kettle Village in Intercourse, Pennsylvania, told Fox News Digital.

The community in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country has a love affair with rhubarb befitting its status as a rare perennial vegetable worthy of affection. 

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But even more unusual, rhubarb's real signature trait is that it's a vegetable that behaves, and is treated, like a fruit. 

"It's the pie plant!" Horn enthused, adding that its arrival "is a sure sign spring is in swing."

Sliced rhubarb, destined for baked rhubarb French toast, in Washington, D.C. March 25, 2024.  (Rey Lopez for The Washington Post via Getty Images; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The fibrous rhubarb stalk is sour on its own. 

But its dense texture, when mixed with sugar, makes it the perfect vegetable to turn into an array of rich sweet treats. (The leaves are inedible and, Horn notes, even poisonous.)

Kitchen Kettle Village hosts its annual Rhubarb Festival on May 17 and 18. 

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The community "gets a little crazy," Horn said, in its celebration of the veggie.

Beyond the traditional rhubarb pies and jams, visitors will find rhubarb barbecue sauce, the crowing of the rhubarb "king and queen," and a rhubarb pinewood derby. 

Young mechanics add wheels to the hearty rhubarb stalks and race them for pride and prizes.

Christine Burns Rudalevige of Brunswick, Maine cuts strawberry rhubarb dough mixture to make scones.  (Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

Similar festivals are held across the nation in the weeks ahead. 

Among them: Lenox, Massachusetts hosts its 7th annual rhubarb festival on June 1.

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The 14th annual rhubarb festival in Warrensburgh, New York takes place June 7 on the community's scenic Hudson River waterfront. 

And the Kankakee County (Illinois) Museum harvests its 34th annual rhubarb festival on May 19. 

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Rhubarb is growing in popularity, according to several accounts. 

Conditions in the global economy, meanwhile, make it a desirable crop for domestic agriculture, according to one of the nation's first families of rhubarb farming.

Workers harvest rhubarb at EG Richter Family Farm in Puyallup, Washington. (David Ryder/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"There's a lot of offshore competition in [farming] these days," Ronald Knutson, of Knutson Farms in Sumner, Washington, told Fox News Digital.

His three-generation family operation recently turned over more acreage to rhubarb from crops. 

"There's not a lot of offshore rhubarb coming into this country, so we can compete better and have a profitable margin by growing it."

Knutson Farms grows 150 acres of rhubarb, harvesting it from spring through summer and shipping it around the United States.

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Sumner is among the communities around the nation that celebrates its local rhubarb bounty each year. 

Baked French toast with rhubarb in Washington, D.C., March 25, 2024.  (Rey Lopez for The Washington Post via Getty Images; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The annual Sumner Rhubarb Days, presented by Knutson Farms, takes place on June 22 and 23.

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