A bunch of fresh raspberries and a couple of peaches to make a beautiful bright red jam.
A little too much sage growing in the garden. Well, that is if you're not going to use it to make Sage & Walnut pesto. 
The Clover is too and the 10 crows in my backyard tell me that they're all quite happy as well. Unfortunately for most everything else in my garden, the rain is slowing stuff down -or perhaps its the Black Walnut tree. The above is a picture of my radishes. These are the only ones I could salvage. I think that I'm probably lacking a ton of nutrients in my soil - perhaps it's all been washed away by the rain?!
See the little birds nest? Thankfully there was no eggs in it. It fell from my maple tree and landed 'smack' onto the patio slabs. I think it's a nice addition to the little bush don't you? I have a little fairy garden door on the opposite side of the tree. It's all quite magical.
The Dragon's Tongue (I just love that name) is in bloom. I quite like the soft blue blooms next to that vibrant burgandy. It looks even better in person! I'm hoping this spreads and/or they have more of it next year at the nursery.
My two curly garlics are going along about their business. I'd like for those to spread as well - cross your fingers. I'm not sure if they do.... the onions have gone to bloom; see them in the back? And that is a sunflower with the big leaves from bird seed - thanks to Miss K. for taking pictures for me last year! They pop up everywhere! I'm hoping for more - natural birdfood!!!
This is the amaranth I bought in the spring. It's not taking off at a fast rate (again, nothing is) but it's gorgeous just the same. On the tag it said you could use the leaves like spinach. Has anyone tried this? And when can I do that? I expect it to get quite tall - perhaps I should read the tag. Yes, I kept it. I can't rely on my memory or my knowledge of flowers to get me by! I think I'm still waiting for that pregancy brain to go away... it's been 5 years...
These are the grocery bags I brought in and emptied. Then I realized I should have taken a picture of everything that was in them... oops... Trust me, they were full. Very, very full. I'm hoping that next week all I have to buy is milk and flour. Cross your fingers 'cause there's not much left in the bank account for anything else!
Probably because I bought a LOT of this kind of stuff! It's summer and around here that means there's going to be snacking - and more snacking and probably not a real meal to be found. I try to keep our 'snacks' fairly filling so you'll notice theres bagels, nuts, carrots and tortellini's on the menu. The kids aren't yet aware that most of this is good for them and if any of you tell them you're going to be in trouble! 
I just threw this picture in 'cause I was sooo happy to find this in my garden! The peas are up and producing and E and I are eating them faster than any thing. I don't think they'll make it into the house but who can get mad at a kid eating raw peas?! The squash plants are in full bloom now too. The backyard is a sea of yellow flowers. With any luck the squash borers won't get at the plants and I'll be able to have a boatload of goodness. I'm currently battling the slugs - they're winning...
Beautiful purple Water lilies. A friend picked them up for me last year but they didn't bloom. I guess this years rain is making them happy too!
I spy with my little eye... Things pop-up in the garden when you're not even looking!
Little snippets of love in a mist (the white and blue flowers). I just love these and their name.
The peas are flowering on the teepee I made for the kids! No snowpeas yet - my mouth is watering just thinking about them.
My Peony finally bloomed! Isn't it pretty? The first one opened on Wednesday and now I've got 3 blooms. And do you see the little ant? Pretty cool eh?
It's been raining quite a bit. There's a lake in my backyard. It seems that there's always a lake in my backyard. I really have to work on that rain garden. It's a might bit soggy over there...
Luckily, the rain stopped long enough for E. and I to walk/run/skip/jump downtown and go to the local farmers market. Today was "Go Green Day". I love our little town and all their little gimmics to keep us all happy. 
The picture is a might bit dark. In my defence, it was dark. 
Salad anyone? Baby lettuce and wild onions with a quick dressing of lemon and olive oil. Super yum! I haven't got everything planted yet (and the onions are wild - as stated above - so I didn't do a darn thing to get them) but I'm s-l-o-w-l-y getting there. It's been dry and because of that my soil is one big, solid mass. We got rain last night and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to plant something this afternoon! Cross your fingers. You were right (you know who you are), I can just throw down some seeds and something pops up (most of the time...).
Pineapple Rhubarb Jam. As you might have guessed the pineapple is from a can but the rhubarb is not. It's early and it's HUGE! I've got enough in my fridge to make a little coffee cake this morning... mmm.... If I stay on top of things this year I might have a pantry full of little goodies. I have my heart set on making Chili Sauce (I can't find the recipe on-line but if I make it then I'll post it), Giardiniera, and jam, jam, jam! Oh, I can hardly wait.
The Oasis is open and ready to accept visitors. It's not pretty. Nothing is in bloom but we're here with open margarita bottles and jokes a plenty. So, if you're in the neighbourhood feel free to stop by. It'll give us a reason to celebrate!
See all those little paper pots? Aren't they cute? Not perfect but I think they'll do the trick. I looked online to find instructions on making paper pots that would work for plantings and quite frankly, aside from the one video I couldn't find anything (note: I'm not a good googler. I get irked when 100 unrelated sites pop up.). Alright, I just googled "How to make paper pots" and about a gazillion things showed up. Crap. Anyway, I did try and it was all a little complicated and I was trying to make my life easier. So, I folded paper until I came up with a little pocket big enough to throw some dirt in and a seed. I'm thinking this doesn't have to be rocket science! If you'd rather buy some fandangled contraption to build your pots you can do that too. Me? I'm on that whole Lent/Budget/Broke thing so I'm just gonna get my son to help me and call it a craft.
Get some kid in the neighbourhood or heck, use your own, to cut 'rings' out of toilet paper rolls. I was going to use all those rolls but then I realized that that expensive toilet paper that we all like so much uses bleached rolls - see the little suckers? Darn it. I'll be recycling those instead. I'm not sure if bleached paper is bad for your garden in such small quantities and I'm too lazy to look it up.
While the kid is cutting you can fold your paper. I like using the local paper and I rip a full piece in half as the half tends to be almost square instead of a long rectangle. This makes it small and then it seems to fold nicely. Read it first before you rip it up okay. Get up to date on local happenings!
So, fold your half paper in half. That looks like a dental coupon there doesn't it? I don't think it's my dentist though... See, that's why you should read it first...
Then, and here's where it gets a might bit tricky (even harder to describe when your 'helpers' talking in your ear as you're trying to type)... take the bottom left hand corner and bring it up to the top of your page. This creates a triangle on the left hand side of your folded paper and eventually, the little pocket you put soil in.
See? There's that little triangle only in this picture I've folded the bottom half of the paper up to the top.... is this making any sense at all? If you look at the previous picture you'll see the dogs legs on the bottom part of the picture and when you fold it up the dogs from the other side are now visible. This might also take off some of your rectangle (the bottom part of the triangle folds too).
Now that you are thoroughly confused, fold the paper to the right about 3 inches or so. Can you see the left side of the triangle under my fingers?
Alright, now fold it again.... and again....
And put one of those handy rings around your column.
And look at that - there's a pouch in there!!! Holy man - who knew?!
Nice mug eh? Even better are the Black-Eyed Susans that finally took in the front yard! Hurray for positive thinking (and water and sunshine and all that good stuff...).
Hot peppers anyone? They are HOT and a little more than I can handle. I've got lots!
Gotta love birdseed and well, birds! I didn't plant the sunflowers in my yard - not a one - but I've got plenty and they make me quite happy. Everyone should plant at least one in their garden - yes, yes, it's soooo very basic but it's gorgeous for the same reason! Oh, and do you see the umbrella in the back? It also makes me happy!
Plant Number One: The seed pods (?) start out green and then turn black. There are little yellow flowers though I've never seen them open. And yes, that's a piece of bamboo I used to hold it up. I think it can stand by itself but it started leaning and I wanted to be sure it stayed upright or else the kids would have trampled it by now.
A close up of No.1's seed pods - interesting no???
Plant Number Two: It might also be a grass. I think it might have been in with the bird seed I bought and just came to be. Funny thing is I saved this and pulled a bunch of stuff I shouldn't have... Darn it.
Here's a close-up of No. 2. Nothing miraculous really. I think I like the height of the plant and the branches. It takes up an awful lot of space in my herb garden.
