A Year of Gratitude – March 28, 2024

Today’s gratitude was easy to find. I didn’t have to look very hard or think long to decide to be filled with gratitude for something I saw early this morning.

Do you know what this is? It’s rhubarb emerging from a winter’s nap. It’s a sign of delicious things to come. It means that a rhubarb raspberry pie is growing in the garden.

Rhubarb isn’t a vegetable I grew up eating. I had eaten a strawberry rhubarb pie, but I knew nothing of how rhubarb grew or what to do with it. Not long after moving into the farmhouse, I got very well acquainted with it.

Rhubarb was one of the first things we planted in the ground I turned over by hand to become our garden. A friend shared rhubarb from her garden. I wasn’t sure what to do with it or where to plant it. I researched it and chose the best spot I could find. I honestly thought it might not grow at all.

There’s nothing wrong with beginner’s luck because that first planting of rhubarb didn’t just grow. It thrived. It also created new plants so that we have an entire row of rhubarb that grows each year. I have grown to absolutely love it both in the garden as a beautiful plant and in the kitchen where I love the flavor it adds to summery desserts.

Rhubarb is usually among the first signs of spring in our garden. It’s early this year. We’ve never seen it emerge from the ground this early in the season. It’s a sign that our seasons are changing, that the temperatures now are much different than they were when we moved in nearly 20 years ago.

These tender leaves and the crown tell me that it’s time to get ready for the gardening season. That fills my heart with joy and starts my head thinking about all of the delicious things I hope will result from the work needed to tend to our garden.

Of course, it also has me thinking about rhubarb raspberry pie, rhubarb crostata, and rhubarb raspberry curd. I can’t wait until I can harvest those ruby red stalks and make something delicious with them!

Is your garden starting to sprout signs of spring?

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.