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.”

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. 

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.

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.

For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.

SAN FRANCISCO – A 14-year-old in San Francisco was struck by a vehicle Tuesday morning near a middle school, firefighters said.

The San Francisco Fire Department said the teen was struck about 9:30 a.m. near Francisco Middle School on Powell Street and was then taken to the hospital.

Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray threw a heat pack onto the court during Tuesday night’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. In a Pool Report conducted by Vinny Benedetto of Denver Gazette, Crew Chief Marc Davis explained why no disciplinary action was taken at the time. 

The following transcription is per the NBA’s official Pool Report:

QUESTION: The item that was thrown onto the court in the first half, were the officials aware that appeared to come from the Denver sideline? DAVIS: I was the lead official and I didn’t notice it was on the floor or where it came from until [Karl-Anthony] Towns scored.

QUESTION:  If you had been aware of that, what would the punishment have been in that situation? DAVIS:  We weren’t aware it had come from the bench.  If we would have been aware it came from the bench, we could have reviewed it under the hostile act trigger. The penalty would have been a technical foul.

QUESTION: Definitely a technical foul and not an ejection. DAVIS: Yes. For an ejection, you would have to determine it was thrown directly at somebody versus thrown in frustration.

It will now be interesting to see if the NBA issues a fine for Murray’s actions, as that seemingly remains a possibility. For now, this is the extent of what the NBA has shared.

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