Farmers Market.

Since we are driving everyday to get the children to swim lessons, I was also able to hit the farmers market last week. That just makes for a good day. :)



Yesterday I was able to cut enough cilantro to take to the Farmers Market! And then there is still more. Thankfully I have some friends who also enjoy cooking with it. Today I am planning to make some pesto with all my basil.

I was talking to a friend on Saturday and she has made some Queen Annes lace jam. I can't wait to try making some myself, our land is brimming over with it right now.

A bit of a update (at least some photos.)

This is the right time of year to be walking through the garden. The flowers are beginning to bloom, the squash and watermelon is spreading to cover weeds and fill up all the empty space and there are tomatoes and peppers on the plants. And then the smells are amazing, right now as I type, the aroma of cilantro is in the air.

The roses are still producing blooms, not as many as a month ago, but still lovely.


And my newly added yarrow is growing out by the lilies, cosmos and potatoes. Not much to look at right now, but I am hoping by next summer that the brilliant yellow is easy to spot from the house.


And my hollyhocks continue to grow. I am guessing that one of the plants is at least six feet tall right now.


Our original hens are finally catching up in size to Compassion and Padmae, in September they will be close to 20 weeks old and should begin to lay eggs. Compassion and Padmae having have each been laying on most days. It is so cool to actually fill up egg cartons with your own eggs. While trying to get a photo of how the girls size are about the same, out of the corner of my eye I spotted Mac noticing also. I wonder what he was hoping to accomplish? :)



On to other topics-one of my favorites-knitting. This is my knitting bag, it has two projects inside, along with more granny squares to be weaved together. All good projects, one is a cowel and one is a baby hat for a friends niece. However, I begin Elizabeth Zimmerman's February baby sweater in February, and this is as far as I got. I think I became a bit intimidated while working with the pattern... any way, I have picked it back up again...



However, today, I need to get an apron made. I have the fabric and have finally decided on the pattern I amy going to use. Hopefully it will be a quick and fun project to complete this weekend. I emphasize quick, I am a rather slow sewer and cutter, so seldom do my "quick" projects end up being quick.

Blueberry picking.

We visited The Berry Patch yesterday. So far I have 12 cups frozen in the freezer and about 12 more cups to make blueberry waffles, a blueberry cobbler and a blueberry cake...maybe not all today, but it is tempting.



If you enjoy reading about our hens and backyard gardening adventures, you can read more about ours at Backyard Adventures.

A peek of some of my flea market finds...



A recent crochet project. Anne, pattern by MK Carroll. The yarn is from Suzanne, who found it at The Plucky Knitter.

A great week.

This week the kids spent a couple nights with Grandpa and Grandma. I was able to do spend some good time with friends and my sweet husband. Aubin and I hung out and went to a flea market and found some great bargains, Suzanne and I watched some Martha (I haven't seen Martha in years-it was so great) and made facial lotion. I also helped catch a bull calf to band-castrate him. (I may have wrote that incorrectly, I don' quite have the whole bull/calf/castration/steer lingo mastered yet.) And Matheau and I ate at Chipotle, had some Ben & Jerry's and started watching season 6 of 24.



But as always, I love my kids. So when they arrived home we have had fun picking black raspberries, going swimming, working in the garden, and today, Allison volunteered and helped me clean out the hen house.

Fruit.

We have wild black raspberries that are getting ready to pick. Last year I did a horrible job of keeping the area around them cleaned up enough to pick them. This year, since my Dad, brother and Matheau have mowed twice, I have been able to keep an eye on them. They should be ready to start picking this next week.





I ordered some tomato seed from Seed Savers-late-but I could resist. A couple of days ago, I noticed one of the containers I had planted them in was missing some leaves. I didn't really think much about it until a little later, I noticed that a lot of leaves were gone! After a bit of inspection, I found the culprit. I nice fat caterpillar.

A quick stop by the farmers market this week.

Lizzie and I found some fresh chai basil (quite yummy in pesto), yellow squash, mixed lettuce and spinach, a dozen sweet potato starts and a couple of homemade peanut butter cookies for the ride.