We have emerged from an especially long and wet winter season into the beginning of spring. The temperature has snuck up into the 60’s and plants are springing up everywhere. We can finally dry our laundry outside! I even snuck in a quick R&R session in our hammock out on the terrace this morning before writing this and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I’m already starting to feel recharged and my energy is rising as I shake off the final doldrums of winter.

Andrew and I love rhubarb and it is a difficult ingredient to find in Portuguese stores. I have heard rumors that a Finnish friend found some at a farmer’s market in the South, but I haven’t ever seen it. My parents have a massive rhubarb plant in Minnesota that is purportedly 100 years old, so growing up I was spoiled with as much rhubarb as I could possibly want. Last summer we ordered some heat resistant rhubarb seeds and planted them since it doesn’t really freeze where we live in Northern Portugal. Unfortunately we started them a bit too late in the season and they were washed out by the aggressive rains. Much to my delight, the little rhubarb plants are already coming back this year and they seem stronger than ever.

We had some mixed success with a small herb garden. We planted basil, parsley, dill, rosemary, and some spicy peppers (I really want to make my own piri piri sauce/oil). The rosemary and spicy peppers were an epic fail, but we’ll give it another shot this year. The basil is already making a comeback, which I am super excited about since you are much more likely to find big bunches of parsley or cilantro in markets, basil is much rarer.

Our house in Urgezes came with grape vines and European lilies. Some of the lilies have already bloomed and wilted, but they are gorgeous and HUGE and they’ll keep coming back for months. The grapes vines are well on their way, and we always vow to keep up with trimming, but they grow like weeds and climb everywhere – neighbors’ terraces, up walls, around air conditioners, anything is fair game. Thank goodness every fall a neighbor comes by to trim our vines and take the excess grapes, there are so darn many. Speaking of grapes, Andrew couldn’t resist purchasing the biggest grapes I have ever laid eyes on in a mini market just down the road from us. I think I’ll freeze some of them for a refreshing sweet treat.

I hope signs of spring are coming alive in your neck of the woods too.