Seasonal Spotlight: Forced Yorkshire Rhubarb

One of our favourite seasonal delights of the year, Forced Rhubarb!

Known for its vibrancy and outstanding sweetness, highly specific to the Yorkshire Triangle, a frost pocket of only nine square miles, where the cold temperatures allow this crop to really thrive.

The plants are first grown outside for up to two years to toughen the roots. Once exposed to frost, the Rhubarb is lifted into dark ‘Forcing Sheds’ where they grow quickly in search of light. The Rhubarb is then harvested by candlelight and the resulting fruit is sweeter, more delicate and more vivid in colour than Rhubarb grown conventionally.

Demand for Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb was once high enough to support the livelihoods of over 200 growers. However, by the 1970s supermarket shelves were filled with a range of imported fruit at competitive prices, and demand for this unique crop fell dramatically. There are now just ten growers of traditionally forced rhubarb in the Yorkshire Triangle.

A seasonal delicacy, it’s great in jams, baked goods and goes incredibly well in a winter salad. As the saying goes, you’ve got to eat it to keep it… We’ll be enjoying Rhubarb crumble this weekend!

Darts Farm

Seasonal Spotlight: Forced Yorkshire Rhubarb

Posted in Seasonality on 19 Feb 2025

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