Bounty from our backyard

I love that we grow and raise some of our own food. Although, at times, I wish we lived in a spot that we were allowed to do more (namely raise a cow or goat), our little space in the world is pretty close to perfect. I couldn’t ask for a prettier plot of land, with space and a creek for the boys to run and play in and lots of sunshine in a fairly tree-filled community. We are also not far from grocery stores, schools, etc. Really, we have the best of both worlds. Maybe someday, when the timing is right, I will approach the covenant committee about allowing me to have a goat, but that is down the road, although now is the best time with little ones….I have a goat bug! Only if Tyler liked goat milk I would be more inclined to take it on…

Now on to our bounty. The garden is thriving. We have had some beautiful days that have given the garden its needed sun exposure. Mid-70s mid-day, cool 40s at night. Chase and I took a wonderful walk this morning and had to bundle up as we walked out the door at 7 AM…it was quiet and refreshing.

Garden update:

This garden is overflowing with lettuce (salad mix and Romaine). We harvest a little bit everyday. The two zucchini (which look small now) need 9 squares for when they get bigger.

Here is a collapsible basket full of lettuce, chard and chives – there is more than appears in the picture…yummy! I will make some Ranch dressing and miso dressing tonight to enjoy on these greens.

To the right are the raspberry bushes. Two of them look fantastic, but two are a little scrawny. It is these scrawny ones with some dead leaves that we had some raspberries grow. We all enjoyed a few teeny tinny samples this morning. They were actually tasty. Anyway, my assumption is that these scrawny ones needed more pruning before they were even planted. It is my understanding with raspberry bushes that after they produce, those branches need to be lopped off for the next season. So I am guessing these two were not pruned well or just were older and started to produce raspberries on old branches. Anyway, I think they will survive (and they better after all the work we..I mean Tyler..went through to make their special bed).

In this next box we have chives over in the far right corner of the picture, they just keep popping up. To the left are carrot tops and a little calendula, which should produce pretty yellow flowers in a bit. To the right are some green bean bushes, which I think are about to bud and then a yellow summer squash plant (I think).

Below is the trellising box. To the lower left are the few small lemon cucumber transplants that survived. I don’t have much hope for seeing any fruit, but we still have a good month of growth so we will see. To the upper left and the middle we have tomato plants – bush and trellising. Not sure about those either. Top middle is another zucchini and to the right is some chard, which is doing quite nicely.

After our walk, I made myself some eggs and I started thinking, most of this meal came straight from my backyard! My own eggs, my garden chives…the parmesan cheese was bought, as was the coconut oil I used to fry them and the salt, but I think that is pretty cool!