knee-deep in spring

Spring has sprung said the bumblebee! 

How do you know? said the old oak tree. 

I saw the yellow daffodils 

Dancing with the fairies on the windy hill.

my daughter sings this song while jumping all over the house. spring really has come to the pacific northwest. in fact, it almost feels like summer! i'm trying to appreciate it as much as i can because i know that this could just be a big tease and the rain could return for another month at least. crossing my fingers that doesn't happen!

radishes are one of the first seeds sown every year and i tend to be so excited to be putting something in the ground that i get a bit liberal with my seeds. i mean, i like some radish slices in my salad, but i can't eat them everyday in a variety of ways for four weeks straight. this year i saw a recipe on pinterest for making a taco garnish of pickled radishes and i knew i had to try it. it's pretty sweet and not too spicy. i think they'd be tasty on a taco or bowl of beans and rice. next year i'm going to search for a spicy, garlic-y radish recipe. and a word of caution, please remember to wear gloves when working with jalapeños. my fingers continued to burn the day after i made this...

the other seeds that are sown at the beginning of the season are peas. i planted an enormous amount of peas. we have all fallen in love with shelling peas. they are the new favorite snack while working in the garden. the other day i noticed that the peas were just the right size, not too big, in the pods and knew it was time to harvest them.

my thumb still hurts from breaking open so many pods. it will be worth it, though, when i pull out a bag of our frozen peas to add to dinner through out the year.

our strawberry plants have begun giving us little tastes here and there. truly the best.

 last weekend we went on our first berry picking trip of the season! we picked about 5 lbs of berries. we ate a bunch of them and then the rest went into this strawberry pie. someday i'll learn how to make a pretty pie crust.

three days after making the pie i realized that the two pints of strawberries that i had ordered through our buying club was actually two half-flats of strawberries, which means 12 pints. so naturally i had to make jam. this jam was a team effort, with my mom providing both berry chopping and child-wrangling support. i couldn't have done it without her. this year i decided to try using Pomona's Universal Pectin. what a difference! my jam last year was good, but tastes really cooked compared to the fresh taste of this jam. it's almost like eating freezer jam, which isn't cooked at all. i'm so happy with it! and so in love with these little Weck jars. if only they weren't so expensive. sigh.

our weekly pizza with a gorgeous spring peony. they're my favorite flower and they're everywhere right now! there's a charming little farm stand in our neighborhood with flowers and a lock box. put your money in the box and take some flowers. it's all based on the honor system as no one is ever there. i bought this stem for $2 and it is on it's third blossom with two more buds yet to open. it may be the best $2 i've ever spent.

and lastly the vest is coming along quite nicely! i figured out how to knit in the round with these double pointed needles by watching youtube. i love the internet!