Fresh from the Garden

I love summer. I love gardening and green growing things (well maybe not the poison ivy.... I think I could live without it lol). The garden is growing strong. Flowers are blooming everywhere. It's just simply beautiful.

It never ceases to amaze me that you can take a single tiny seed, nurture it, let nature take it's course, have faith and hopefully with a little luck, rain, and blessings from above watch it grow into something beautiful that will either nourish the soul, the body, or both. *smile*

I never thought I could have such strong feelings about something so simple as a salad. Just knowing exactly where each and every leaf in your salad came from, that you planted, nurtured, and watched those little leaves grow, that you picked them with your own two hands and that just minutes ago it was growing in the ground and is now on your plate. It is just simply amazing to me still (and not to mention tasty too). ;)

Here are some of the goodies from the garden we enjoyed this week. :)

tuna, purslane, and chive salad on a fresh bed of buttercrunch

lettuce, topped with tomatoes, asiago cheese, raw sunflower seeds,
raw peas, nasturtium leaves, and green goddess dressing

an assortment of fresh baby salad greens, buttercrunch lettuce leaves,
and baby rainbow chard leaves, topped with roasted pecans, a blend
of mozzarella and asiago cheese, sweet dried cranberries,
juicy ripe freshly picked black raspberries, and green goddess dressing

lightly toasted french bread with a spread of whipped cream cheese
and topped with a mixture of diced fresh basil, oregano,
and chives tossed in olive oil

and on the drying rack: sage, thyme, lemon balm, mint, lavender, and stevia

Photo highlights from the past week

We've had a busy but wonderful week. We had new baby chicks hatch, my Dad and I have been busy putting up a new cedar playhouse for the girls, the garden is growing strong, we went to the drive in movies for the first time ever (what fun!), my little Ella got new glasses, and Gwen with a bouquet of flowers and a thank you card in hand said a joyful yet sad goodbye to her favorite teacher and hello to summer break.

Yay for eggs!

They may be a little bit smaller than your average store bought eggs but they don't get any fresher than this! I still hold onto my dream that one day I will live in the country again maybe and collect a big basket of fresh eggs from all my hens, but for now I will thoroughly enjoy what I have been blessed with in this life and appreciate the daily miracles in my day to day life such as a freshly laid egg from a sweet little urban backyard hen. *smile*

Strawberries, Chickens, and Moonflowers....oh my!

Let me just say my Dad is the greatest. I feel so blessed to have such a great Dad. :) Last week he took us strawberry picking. We had such a good time and picked a bucket full of sweet, juicy berries (and a cool-whip container full of strawberries that were devoured by little mouths on the ride home). We enjoyed fresh yummy strawberries and whipped cream and even made a delicious strawberry pie. Mmmmmmm. I so love strawberry season.






Then today my Dad called and surprised us. He had found us three bantam hens at the Amish auction he went to this afternoon. So now we have 3 new little hens! Yay for little fresh eggs again! My poor little chicken coop has been empty all winter and spring long...but no more! :)

Ella LOVES the new chickens, she cried when it started to rain and we had to go inside the house. I think she could sit there for hours poking little dandelions and blades of sweet grass into the coop and watching little beaks gobble them up.

This one the girls dubbed "Chocolate Chip" lol

This tiny little hen (who laid and egg already today...wohoo) Gwen named Daisy

and last but not least, meet Lady Daffodil *smile*

And to top off my evening when I looked out my window I noticed my German Moonflowers blooming for the first time this year.

Please excuse the crappy photo but there was not much light (obviously since they bloom at night lol)...but I just had to share it with you. :) Hope you have a lovely evening.