Radish harvest

Yum!  One of the first harvests from seed planted this spring - radishes!  Love having loads of veggies that kids can just nibble fresh right out of the garden, with dirt still clinging onto them. 

By the way, did you know dirt makes you smarter? Here are some articles that describe why we should be not only eating a little more dirt clinging to our veggies, but also spending time outside with our hands in the soil breathing in fresh air (and soil bacteria).  Dirt makes us smarter, happier, healthier...research shows there is beneficial bacteria in the soil that lowers depression, diversifies our gut bacteria to make us healthier and happier.

From This Book Was A Tree, why dirt makes you smarter...
Can dirt make us smarter?
And another article here on why dirt makes us smarter...

Early June garden blossoms!

It seems like blossoms are ahead this year - it has been so hot and dry, and everything has leaped ahead with some plants already bolting (like spinach).  I am loving the blossoms everywhere, and although our early lilac, forsythia, apple, mulberry, cherry and currant blossoms are already done, there are still plenty more!  I spent a morning searching out all the other blossoms in the garden.  Here are a few of the early June blossoms I spotted - blossoms are so hopeful, in that they show us the potential for providing us with veggies, berries, fruit, herbs and medicine in the coming weeks and months...(thank you pollinators). 

Spring on the homestead

There are signs of spring everywhere we look!  We've been out hunting for greens, buds and shoots - in the garden and around town.  We see:

~ wild edibles: like dandelion, nettles, and ramps starting to peek out tiny green tips from the undergrowth;
~ in the garden: shoots of garlic, green walking onions, sorrel, and herbs like mint, lemonbalm, motherwort;
~ on the trees: buds of service berries are gorgeously pink against the dark branches;
~ in the cold frame: our spring crop of micro kale, chard, spinach, mizuna, arugula and lettuce leaves.

What is greening up in your yard?  What are you harvesting?  What are you planting?

June 1st garden! Glorious greens

Here's what is coming up in the garden on the first of June this year - after weeks of hot dry spring weather that became near drought (apparently the least rainfall we've had for this time of year since the 1920's), then a downpour the other day/night with flooded streets, and last night a near frost where we had to bring our basil into the greenhouse!  What a strange spring we've been having, and yet there is so much life coming up in the garden.

We are loving:
- the wild greens: nettles (leaf), dandelions (root, leaf and flower), lambs quarters
- the garden greens: arugula, Asian greens, lettuces, mizuna
- the spring sours: sorrel and rhubarb
- asparagus, asparagus, asparagus
- all manner of spring onions: green onions, walking onions, chives, garlic greens
- the darker greens: kale, chard, spinach, red orach, and mustard braising greens
- violets, marigolds and other edible flowers
- the fresh salad herbs: dill, thyme, and parsley in everything
- the fresh tea herbs: mint, lemon balm, bergamot, catnip, fennel
- watching the berries form: currants, raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries
- wild grape tendrils and leaves

In the garden today

What's coming up in your garden?  Here are a few snapshots of the greens I've seen around here, just starting to peek out of the soil - chives, garlic greens, onions, nettle, dandelion, kale, sorrel, rhubarb, budding currents and gooseberries, herbs like bergamot, lemonbalm, catnip and peppermint for tea making, and of course the forsythias, lilacs and willows nearly in bloom...

In the greenhouse today

Things are buzzing around here.  There are seedlings everywhere, the greenhouse is filling up with transplants as they move into larger containers, and we are gearing up for the annual Organic & Heirloom Seedling Sale coming up May 23 from 9-12.  After this sale, we will continue to have heirloom organic seedlings (tomatoes, basil, herbs, lettuces, kale, and more) available here for the Saturdays in June as well.

Here is a glimpse of what we have going on in our greenhouse one month away from the sale.  We're enjoying spinach, lettuce, mustards, mesclun, chives and bunching onions from the greenhouse raised bed, fresh chocolate & ginger mint leaves in our tea, and thai basil in our meals from seedlings that are now big enough to harvest.