LIFE ON THE LAND

Spring is such an exciting time of year.  Each day brings new delightful discoveries on the land.  I am especially enjoying witnessing the asparagus  I planted last year find their way out again.  Although they are not ready to eat this year, already they are looking like the real thing!  I was also pleasantly surprised to locate fiddleheads unfurling all around our land, poking their heads out of the moss.  The garden is being planted, a little more each week, and I can't wait until the seeds we sowed start to sprout.  I love going out each day and checking in on all the gardens to see what's happening!  Life is good.

Some dandelion leaves I picked from our yard.  I made a lovely Dandelion Vinegar with some of the leaves.  The rest we ate in fresh salads or boiled and then drizzled with lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt and pepper.

Our new little chicks in the tanning room.

The new turkeys are catching some rays too.

Lovely fiddleheads abound.

Garlic is one of my favorite things to grow.

Scott's very organized garden markers.

Our new homemade cold frame.

The rhubarb appears to have survived the winter.

As did the strawberry plants.

My delicate currant bush.

Bergamot.

One of my favorite herbs for tea in the summer - Lemon Balm.

Tarragon.

Prolific oregano.

Healing comfrey.

Cute little parsley.

And my lavender came back!

Sweet blessings from the earth.  Happy Spring!

Harvesting

We moved into our house in January 2009.  One of the first things we did once the weather warmed up was put in a vegetable garden.  Scott and I don't really have much experience growing our own food, so we were delighted when this first attempt produces some lovely vegetables. 

     Our lettuce did very well and we have only now begun to buy lettuce at the market now that that crop is pretty much done.  The radishes grew really well, as did the spinach.  We were a bit too early planting our tomatos outside, but they survived.  The only problem is the lack of sun this summer has left us with many GREEN tomatoes that don't want to ripen.  Luckily though, we are getting some fine grape tomatoes.  The biggest excitement for me though was growing potatoes!  They are so much fun, and EASY!  I want to plant even more of those next year.  I seem to have only planted one zucchini plant, but that one plant has produced just enough zucchini that we aren't getting overloaded and sick of zucchini which I have heard can happen easily.  The garlic were planted in the spring which didn't work out for us, so we will plant some soon for next summer's harvest.  The cucumbers are only now producing, and thus far we've harvested 3 that were crispy delicious.  The pumpkins are just about ready to pick and look as good as the spaghetti squash we ate a couple of weeks ago.

The other vegetables we grew were:

carrots , beets, endive, peas, turnips, cabbage, brocolli, green onions, herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary, calendula, thyme, oregano, marjoram, chives, cilantro, mint, lemon balm)

Looking forward to growing again next year, and maybe even expanding into the backyard with another plot.