Rhubarb must often feel like the underdog of the gardening world. While everyone lusts after things like the first greens, peas and asparagus, rhubarb tends to fall into more of a love-hate relationship with folks: Either you crave it and know exactly how to transform it from pie plant to something amazing, or you had it once and swore off it forever. But rhubarb takes on a deeper meaning for me each spring, as it pops up ruby red and ready in my Wisconsin garden on our farm . Call rhubarb my Yoda in the garden: if I take the time to be mindful, rhubarb reminds me of all those big picture life values I always need a gentle nudge on, especially during the busy spring gardening time. Here are some wise nuggets from rhubarb

(followed by my favorite rhubarb recipe: Rhubarb Custard Bars): 1. Perennials Rock (and Simplify Life) Every spring, without any shout out from me, the rhubarb reliably pops up in the garden. Now I realize this observation isn’t anything new, but that concept of “perennial” was something totally novel to my husband, John , and I when we moved to our farm over a decade ago, leaving the Chicago urban scene behind . We grew up in the land of the suburbs where everyone planted the flats of petunias and other annuals every spring, so the idea that something regularly appears with no effort on our part ranked utterly amazing. Read more of this story »

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Sage Spring Advice: Three Reasons Why Rhubarb Reminds Us of All Things Important