Around the homestead in mid-June

Infused water - easiest herbal summer drink!

Our new favourite drink, infused water!  So simple, so beautiful, so refreshing.  Perfect for summer drinks, to share at your next potluck dinner or outdoor summer feast.

Simple fill a clear bottle or mason jar with fresh cool filtered water.  Add some sliced fruit, a few fresh berries, or sliced cucumbers, top with a few sprigs of herbs and/or edible flowers.  Shake very gently.  Let infuse for at least 30 min.  Then enjoy.  Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Combinations we love (use what berries & herbs are in season in your garden):

• grapefruit-mint
• orange-cucumber-mint
• basil-strawberry
• lime-rosemary
• raspberry-rose petal
• blackberry-fennel
• lemon-blueberry
• strawberry-mint 
• peach-lavender

After the rain...

The rain barrels and pond are full again!  The garden looks so lush after the rain...with gorgeous perfect droplets left on leaves, flowers and stems.  Here is what our garden looked like yesterday.  Yes, that's the black swallowtail caterpillar too (discovered just after the rain on our dill patch).

Holiday preparations

We are getting ready to celebrate the longest night of the year - solstice.  We've made some favourite foods (cookies of course, but also these hearty wintery crackers cut into stars, acorns and hearts), dipped lots of candles to light up the house, and in time for Dec 22 are attempting to create our first ever chocolate yule log (Buche de Noel) with this delicious flourless recipe!  

Instead of a tree we've brought in pine and cedar branches, rosehip branches, yellow and red osier dogwood branches, and pinecones - all from the yard - to decorate the doors and tables.  The wild rosehips have started to sprout leaves after about a week in a jar of water, which is a lovely reminder of the spring to come. We also have our gratitude tree, a large collection of yellow dogwood branches in a vase where we've hung felted acorns and bird oranments.  We added our thoughts of gratitude written on slips of leaf-shaped paper, remembering all we are thankful for at this time of year and hopes we have for the new year ahead.   Wishing you all well for the holidays and new year!

Hearty Wintery Crackers
2 cups flour (organic whole spelt)
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds, ground finely
1/4 cup each hemp seeds, sesame seeds
1-2 Tbsp millet
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water

Mix ingredients well, and form into a ball.  Roll out dough on lightly floured surface.  Cut into shapes.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes on ungreased baking sheets, in 350 F oven.  Serve with cheese, apple butter, jams, or soups!  Or package into containers to give as holiday gifts.

Fresh peas, and garden butterflies

It's nearing the summer solstice and we've had our first harvest of snow peas!  The plants are so pretty with their delicate blossoms and twirling vines climbing the fence.  Lots of butterflies have been around the property this week, including monarchs and a swallowtail.  Beautiful - resting on the flowering oregano, milkweed, and other native plants in our front yard.

Summer solstice garden

Happy summer solstice! Today is the longest day of the year, and we've been enjoying it outdoors from sunrise this morning all the way through until sunset. Here are some photos of our garden, which is finally coming alive with the warm, humid weather and extra rain we've had this week. We had a little set back (especially the basil, zucchini, eggplant and peppers) in the first week of June with unexpected late frost, but now it looks like everything has revived and is picking up growing speed. Snow peas are almost ready to harvest, fava beans are forming, tomatillos are flowering, and lettuce round 3 is almost ready to harvest with four more trays of new seedlings all sprouting and soon ready to transplanting out!