tonight, with the possibility of frost

Tonight, with the possibility of frost hanging in the chilly air, I wrapped up in my gray wool and alpaca cardigan and stepped out into the twilight. I carried a bundle of old linens to my fledgling kitchen garden and tucked my herbs in for the night, the orange and white striped sheets making it look like a middle school campout, and I secretly longed for a campfire and starlight.

As I walked through my small garden, the black-capped chickadees came to visit, gathering seeds one by one in their tiny beaks. I hugged my sweater tighter and took in the work I've done over the past few days. The strawberry plants are blooming in their new spot. The peas are flowering too, and the lettuce seedlings in the raised bed are lined up like a parade, just waiting for a cymbal crash of sunshine to spring into action. The peppermint, lemon balm, and Kentucky Colonel spearmint are growing strong already, lush green growth stark against the cinnamon-colored soil.

I picked a handful of peppermint leaves for a cup of hot tea, crushing them just slightly between my fingers so I could breathe in their fresh scent. I lingered as the darkness began to fall, returning to the house only when the sounds of a neighbor and his dog broke through my garden reverie, scattering my thoughts like seeds for the chickadees.

* * *

I hope your night is warm and filled with simple comforts like fresh tea from the garden and the work of your own two hands.

in bloom

{from top: Angelique tulips, Japanese maple, dogwood, Tom Thumb pea shoot, herbs--yes, two-thirds are lavender, violet cake}

We celebrated all the spring flowers this week with a violet cake, picking the violets before the rainstorms rolled through one morning and letting their petals dry on our kitchen counter. We used the vanilla cake recipe from Apples for Jam, which yielded a simple, buttery cake and a sweet vanilla frosting. Definitely a recipe to pull out again and again, adding in berries, peaches, lemon balm, and mint as the seasons progress.

We filled our raised beds with soil, and now they're just waiting to be planted. I've got beans, cucumbers, carrots, peas, lettuce, chard, and flower seeds ready to go, but I need to figure out what to plant where. I'm thinking Companion Planting for the Kitchen Gardener by Allison Greer might help out (I love Allison's blog, Homesprout, and Liesl recently recommended this book on her new podcast).

* * *

What's growing where you live? Have you been doing anything special to celebrate the seasons? We've been eating outside every chance we get. It gets so hot and humid in Kentucky during the summer, so we're taking advantage of the mild weather right now.

mothering

It feels strange to be back in this space after so much time away. February passed in a fog of cabin fever; we were cooped up on bitterly cold days and were more than ready when the last snow of winter melted.

Now my boy and I are wholeheartedly embracing spring. He begs to eat every meal outside, even when we have to bundle up in coats and hats. We water our pea plants and check to see how much the tulips and daffodils have grown. It's easy to mark their daily progress and see where rabbits have taken a nibble or a bite here and there. I'm trying my hardest not to begrudge those rabbits their first taste of spring.

I planted those bulbs in the aftermath of my miscarriage last fall, orderly rows of tiny white daffodils, tall yellow ones, and tulips in white, yellow, and pink. I needed something to hope for, and so I buried those bulbs like promises to myself that come spring things would be better. All winter long they slumbered in the frozen soil, and I must admit that on more than one occasion I doubted they would sprout.

But they have!

I sometimes feel silly at how much delight I take in our daily ritual of checking on the sprouts, but I do delight in it nonetheless. My son and I share in the joy of these growing things. It's not a new baby, but it's new life, and I'll take hope where I can find it.

marigold harvest

Inspired by Liesl, I decided to harvest my marigolds to try some natural dyeing. The marigolds were ready just before we were to leave town, so I picked them to freeze for dyeing at a later date.

The harvest was a thing of beauty in itself, with those oranges, rusts, and yellows all heaped together. I enlisted the help of my son, who loves to pluck marigolds from their stems and sprinkle petal confetti all over the garden. He was less enthusiastic about harvesting marigolds than I thought he would be, though. Turns out that part of the appeal to him is doing something I tell him not to do. It seems as though I have a little rebel on my hands. He did join in once I'd filled a bowl with marigolds. He just couldn't resist emptying the bowl for me!

We are still enjoying the garden here for a little longer. We planted some sunflowers late and they are just now blooming. Jude has been pestering me about the box of bulbs on our dining room table, so this week we'll plant tulips, daffodils, and irises for spring. I'm excited to have his help, and I think these bulbs will be just the right size for his toddler hands to hold. Let's hope he agrees to help!

 * * *

What have you been doing outside these days? Planting, harvesting, hiking? 

I'm hoping to have a few fires in our fire pit soon. The smell of woodsmoke and wet leaves is one of my favorite parts of fall.

summering

the last string of days has felt like a summer daydream realized.
little hands in the garden: watering, digging, picking.
"be gentle" is our garden mantra
so we don't end up with too many beheaded marigolds.

longtime friends visited from overseas.
i love them and who i am when i'm with them.
they're the people i can be weird with
and they're just as weird, in the most delightful way.

i have been knitting from evening right up till bedtime.
my linen sweater, a gramps cardigan, and some colorwork to be cast on tonight.
pots of fresh mint tea, chocolate, and marzipan round out my evenings.

also, yoga.
i know, this is a summer daydream, right?
i don't know where this came from
but these last few weeks i've found ways to fit yoga into my days
just a bit, but it's enough.

oh oh oh,
that's my own private mantra
"this is enough."
i've been using it lately to remind myself
that really, it is.

and my little guy--
these days we play an endless game of charades.
he has a handful of words that mostly all sound the same,
but he knows so much and has started to show us:

i need a new diaper.
i am hungry.
i am hungry for chocolate, but i'll take watermelon.
will you put the coconut oil on my feet?
there are goldfish in the vent!

* * *

i'm off to wind that pretty blue yarn and make my evening tea. i hope your days are dreamy, too.

allison

outside

Outside has become a taboo word around our house, to be used only when a trip outdoors is imminent. Jude clambers for the door whenever he hears the word, and it's pretty heartbreaking (for everyone involved) if we aren't indeed going outside at that very moment. Luckily we've had some beautiful spring weather and have been able to spend lots of time outdoors. 

We go for daily walks and check out our neighbors' front yard garden. They're growing strawberries, kale, beans, and other things that I can't identify yet. It's a beautiful garden with trellises, raised beds, and a flower-lined path, the kind of garden I'd love to have but know that I couldn't maintain right now. Maybe someday.

We've also been stopping by some neighborhood pocket parks. They've got wide open meadows and so many trees. The dogwoods bloomed over the last couple weeks, so everywhere we went we saw pink and white blossoms, and now the petals rain down with every gust of wind. Sometimes I forget just how much I like spring.

This morning we worked in the garden. Jude keeps himself busy carrying around clumps of dirt and rocks that he finds. I finally planted lamb's ear and pinks, and we got some zinnia and sunflower seeds in the ground. I hope they grow!

* * *

Thanks for your suggestions on what to plant with a little one. I need to make another trip to the nursery to round out my garden plantings for the year.

What are you planting these days?

*

backyard strawberries

Nearly every evening for the past couple weeks, I've been visiting our little strawberry patch, a raised bed of 14 plants in our backyard. I planted maybe six or so last year and have happily let them take over the raised bed. Who needs carrots or lettuce? Bring on the berries.

All in all, I've gathered maybe a quart and a half or two of strawberries, some large and many tiny ones, all shot straight through with deep red color. They're sweet right out of the garden, but I haven't been able to resist tucking them into baked goods. I look forward to strawberry season every year because I love strawberry desserts. This year I made a strawberry cake and my annual strawberry cupcakes, along with the messiest strawberry galette, which broke free from its crust and flooded the baking sheet with sticky strawberry syrup that we ate up with spoons.

* * * 

What are your favorite strawberry recipes? I'd love to try them out!

kitchen scenes

peach pie and zinnias

popovers that taste just like the ones from jordan pond house in maine.

 homegrown garlic. the first thing i planted at our house.

homemade mozzarella for caprese salad. 

i'd highly recommend ricki's kit if you'd like to make your own.

broccoli and zinnias from the garden.

a new dishcloth. i want to knit a whole pile of houses!

here's the pattern. i found it via casey.

* * * 

What's been keeping you busy lately?

gardener's pearls (for you, too)

When the seed catalogs arrived back in January, I dreamed about growing Job's Tears for the sole purpose of making a necklace. Sometimes my craft projects can get out of hand. Job's Tears are tear-shaped pods that naturally have a hole running through the center, which makes them perfect for stringing as jewelry. I didn't end up ordering from the place that sold Job's Tears, so I figured I'd try again another year.

This weekend I went out looking for neighborhood yard sales (no luck) and instead poked around in a tiny shop nearby. I found a bag of Job's Tears for a dollar. What luck! After an hour of threading and knotting, I've got myself a necklace in much less time than it would have taken to grow and harvest the seeds myself. 

* * * 

I've decided to share the windfall and have a little giveaway. I'll send one of you enough Job's Tears to make a necklace of your own. Just leave a comment on this post and make sure I have a way to reach you. I'll pick a comment at random on Sunday evening, June 10th. 

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only because I don't want any customs issues from shipping plant materials. I'm sure you understand. :)

just because

snails make me happy. 

maybe they make you smile, too?

*

found this little one while digging in my mom's herb garden. i've got lots of plants to fill my kitchen garden now! 

good things lately

 Despite the recent storms, life has been full of some really good things lately. I thought I'd share.

{African flower hexagons}

Crocheting African flower hexagons outside is one of my new favorite things. I love having an outdoor space of my own now (except when the neighbor dog is out; she thinks I'm in her space and lets me know it).

{Our garden before the storm}

K made this raised bed with plans from The Vegetable Gardener's Book of Building Projects. It was his first solo woodworking project, and he did a wonderful job. The seats on each side of the bed make planting and weeding much easier. 

Also, even though the garden doesn't look as pretty after the hail storm, the plants are recovering well. I'm impressed by their resilience. We should have plenty of lettuce, chard, spinach, and kale in a few weeks.

{A new biscuit recipe}

We are breakfast-making people. Most weekends we'll make eggs or French toast or pancakes or biscuits. I usually make my tried-and-true biscuit recipe, but I just had to try out this drop biscuit recipe. The dough comes together quickly (great for bleary-eyed mornings) and produces light, slightly sweet biscuits. These biscuits are too delicate for our usual breakfast sandwiches, so we drizzled them with honey. Mmm... 

{A new mug. And a new class!}

I bought this mug at an art fair last weekend and love it so much that I signed up for one-on-one classes with the maker. I haven't been in a ceramics studio in six years! I'm so excited to get my hands in some clay.

{Game nights}

We have game nights several times each week. Sometimes it's just my husband and me, and sometimes we get together to play games with friends. Scrabble night doesn't happen often--we usually stick with newer strategy games. Our favorites right now are Dominion and Notre Dame.

* * * 

Also, today is the Kentucky Derby, which means drinking, gambling, and spending time with family. All good things.

What good things are going on in your life lately?

*

seedlings

sunflowers

billy buttons

Lately every time I walk through the kitchen I find myself stopping to spend time with these seedlings. More than once I've found myself eye-level with the dirt, scanning to see if more seeds are on the verge of sprouting. I give them a spritz of water and a bit of encouragement. This is the first time I've grown anything from seed, and I am amazed at how quickly they've gone from seeds to plants. The sunflowers grew their first true leaves, so I had to re-pot them to give them enough room to grow. And I just pulled my lavender seeds from their month-long chill in the refrigerator a couple of days ago. Already I can see a tiny speck of green in the soil, a tightly curled ball of leaves waiting to unfurl. 

Now I just need to start working on the yard so I'll have a place to plant all of these seedlings... 

* * * * * 

{good links lately}

• My friend Kristen is already hard at work in her yard.
• I feel like I can do anything when I listen to this Fun song.
• The sweetest photos.
• A pretty (and handknitted!) cardigan.
• Alice's spinning wheel makes me want one something fierce.

* * * * *

What's going on in your part of the world? Anything growing?