An update on the progress of our garden is long over due, I think. Earlier in the spring, I shared our garden plans with you. Now it’s time to take a peek at how things are growing.
Below is what our backyard veggie garden looked like after the first day of planting seeds, on May 4th.
Early spring offerings from our garden include chives, lilacs (which we don’t eat), and dandelions (which we do eat). These simple things are always so refreshing to see pop up and bloom, after months of winter. {May 10th}
Chive blossoms are another of my fave spring offerings. Often times, I just snip some off and stick them in a jar to bring some colour into the kitchen. This year, I also cooked them up in butter and added them to a chicken dish for supper. They go sweet & yummy! {May 25th}
Five to six weeks later, this is what things are looking like. Green things popping up all over! At this point, we are facing a drought in Alberta. The garden is coming along OK, with the help of the sprinkler every few days {the story on our farm near Carstairs is another matter… worst drought in 50 years & our pond almost dried up}. Thankful for the miracle of city water! {June 17th}
The salad greens are looking tasty and ready to eat in another week. If you ever thought growing salad sounded like a tricky thing, then you are missing out on one of the best gifts from an urban garden! {June 17th}
The rains finally start to fall on our very dry province and the garden seems to sing! {June 30th}
The rain makes the salad greens look truly joyful! Ready to cut and eat. You can read more about some of the homemade salad dressings I’ve been experimenting with this year {using essential oils for extra flavour} over here.
The first of the pea blossoms start to show up. Very early this year! These are not from seeds I planted, but from seeds that just fell from plants last year. So now we have a very productive, surprise patch of peas in the middle of the carrot rows. It’s shaping up to be the best year for peas! {June 30th}
Our herb garden {planted in containers on our front deck} is coming along and I’m starting to harvest herbs by the bowlful to dry. These help keep our spice drawer stocked with lovely things for the winter. Roman chamomile, sage, green onions, more chives, and parsley. {July 2nd}
The garden has officially reached the jungle stage, common in our yard in the summer, thanks to all the rain. Looks crazy and messy, but in there, is so much food! {July 15th}
The first batch of snow peas are harvested! It must be the earliest we’ve ever had peas. So thankful for plants, that well, plant themselves! {July 17th}
I’ll try to remember and post another progress report on the garden in a couple of weeks. So much goodness being harvested {and devoured} right now. If you want to keep more up-to-date, follow along the adventures on Instagram @happiness_by_the_acre or @bubblegumsassy .