At the end of May 2010, a group of us from Ontario spent a wonderful week at a friend’s house in Cupids. We thought this would be a good time of year to see some of Newfoundland’s famous icebergs.

While driving around, we kept seeing wonderful patches of rhubarb in people’s gardens. This inspired my sister-in-law Irene Carroll to think about making her delicious rhubarb custard pie. But unfortunately none of the stores seemed to sell rhubarb. The produce clerk at one grocery store in St John’s tried to direct us to a farmers market. But alas, we had no luck in finding it. Finally Irene decided that she would just stop at someone’s house and ask if she could buy some. Well, the rest of us were not so sure about this plan but Irene was determined. We spotted a nice patch of rhubarb growing in someone’s front yard just south of Cupids and stopped the car. Irene boldly walked up to the door and was immediately invited in. Within a minute or two out she came with a big knife and a plastic bag. The owner of the house was more than happy to let her have as much rhubarb as she wanted, and would not accept a penny. I can’t really say I was surprised, for the friendly hospitality of Newfoundlanders is well known. While Irene cut the rhubarb in the cold wind and rain, I took photos from the warm dry car! This is only one of the many fond memories we have of our spring trip to the Rock, despite the fact that there was not an iceberg to be seen.
  Submitted By: Michael Bennett