3rd week of May 2010

Strawberries We only have a tiny patch of strawberry plants tucked into the edible landscaping in front of our house. It is in a protected spot on the south side so things come a bit early. The kids have been monitoring the daily progress on the biggest strawberry and were excited to pick the first one on May 18. It will be carefully divided so we can all savor that first sweet taste. This patch will only provide some nibbling and I think we'll need to keep it a secret from the toddler so that the bounty is shared. Several years back I decided that it was easier for me to grow salad than strawberries so some of my salad earnings go toward purchasing berries for fresh eating and freezing from an Amish family. We are also enjoying the other first fruits from the garden, rhubarb (pictured along with the purple asparagus) from the plants I moved in the fall. The cherry, apricot and peach trees are looking nice and were are very thankful there were no late frosts to nip them.

Rhubarb & Asparagus This week I'll be planting out my main crop of tomatoes, peppers and basil. I think we'll be safe from frost plus I'm tired of keeping everything watered in the greenhouse. I've sold a number of heirloom tomato plants and need to make sure I'm saving enough for ourselves. The two varieties I plan to save seed from this year are Stupice and Cherokee Purple so I will put four plants of each in an area off to the side of the garden so they don't cross pollinate with the others. I also need to isolate some Laotian chili peppers to renew my seed stock of that variety. Genovese, lemon, purple and cinnamon basil will be mixed in with the tomatoes. It is reported to deter tomato hornworms plus the two crops also taste great together.

Pictured are the favors I made for one of the activities at the Local Roots Grand Opening last weekend. The homemade seed paper was actually a batch of Mother's Day cards that fell while drying. Card Favors It was crinkled and unsuitable for cards but was great for cutting into the smaller hearts. The Grand Opening day was a wonderful day of tasting samples of everything from baked goods and mint teas to smoked turkey and artisan cheese. Our kids enjoyed the children's activities of painting rocks and balloon art. Whenever they got hungry, they just found some more samples to enjoy. The market was a very lively and festive place that day and had the flavor of a bustling open air market in another country. Speaking of Local Roots, Jennifer McMullen and I will be doing a grain grinding demo at Lehmans in Kidron using Local Roots ingredients this week. The class is at 6:30pm on Thursday, May 20 and is free, no registration required. Jennifer is creating basil scones with fresh ground flour and I will be rolling oats for rhubarb crunch. Come join us for some yummy samples!