Everything Grows!

We returned from a week-long family vacation in the north woods filled with water activities, yummy food, and relaxation to find lots of growth in our garden. It is amazing what some warm weather, lots of rain, and a week away will do!




There were a few weeds too, of course, but nothing that 10 minutes of pulling couldn't handle. Actually, I found that they are much easier to pull when they are a bit bigger. We have been enjoying lots of lettuce, and I tried my first recipe with swiss chard: a beef stew with mushrooms, carrots, and swiss chard, served over quinoa from The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. Now I need to figure out what to do with our bush of Italian Parsley.

I was suprised to see a few blossoms on the alpine strawberries that I started from seed. Of the three varieties I started, this one (called Fresca) seems to be the most hardy and is the only variety with blossoms so far. Now we just have to keep an eye out for berries and either fight off the birds or build a cage for over the strawberry bed.

Some of the herbs were getting a little out of control, so I cut some to dry. The line in our hallway where we hang holiday cards is out of a job recently, so I turned it into an herb drying line instead.

While I can recognize the herbs in their natural form, I thought it may become difficult as they dry and shrivel up, so I made some pretty little labels with a leftover piece of a watercolor painting I did last year.

Now I just need to find some cute little spice jars. Maybe we will do a little thrifting/antiquing this weekend?

-Jen