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!

in the garden

spring in portland is a fairly rainy affair, like every other season here. the only difference between winter and spring is that the temperature is a bit higher and every 10 days or so we have a couple of warm-ish sunny days. yesterday was one of those lovely days.

the peas (in the foreground) and radishes (the half bed by the kids) are doing quite well. i sowed seed for carrots and beets, and saw lots of flowers on the strawberries.

gigi really wanted to have this ladybug for a pet, but i told her that her job is to protect the garden. let's hope she's doing her job well this year!

hopefully this weekend we'll get the last bed turned and amended so i can get the leafy greens sown. and then next month it will be time to plant tomatoes! we will probably be in this house for a few more years, so i've started thinking about planting perennials, like asparagus and artichokes. i think we've already missed the window for the asparagus this year though. my favorite gardening book says to sow the seeds when the apple trees are blooming. well, our apple tree is blooming right now and we don't have a bed built for the asparagus yet. next year...

snapshots from the weekend

that's my shadow...

that grassy looking bed is full of garlic we planted last fall.

so grateful for my husband who pretty much did everything in the garden that day: turning, composting and amending four beds.

i love our front yard garden.

gigi and i planted many, many sugar snap peas. it will be so delicious in a few months!

saturday was the first nice day where none of us were sick this year! we had a good time getting outside and waking up the garden. there is still so much to do. in addition to snap peas i intend to plant some shelling peas and french breakfast radishes this week. fingers crossed! it really is amazing how long it takes to get anything done with a preschooler and an infant...

picnic in the camper van! 

enjoying life in the driver's seat

braised beef short ribs with beef bacon, broccoli, and creamy mashed potatoes.

on sunday our plans were simple: get the ribs in the crock pot, make burritos for our picnic, and take a drive out to the farm to pick up our beef share. that sounds easy, right? well, we managed to do it all, but it ended up taking almost all day. first, it was the switch to daylight savings time, so we lost an hour before we had even woken up. then i realized we didn't have all of the ingredients for the crock pot, so my husband ran to the store. once he returned i started to fix the food, only to have a screaming hungry baby. so i had to stop and nurse. my husband picked up where i left off while also trying to keep gigi's hands off the raw bacon and out of the olive oil garlic paste and the raw onions... then i finally got to take a shower, then it was time to make our lunch. by this time we all were almost feeling hungry for lunch, but no we were going to eat it in the van! for our picnic! even if it killed us. and in my quest for us to eliminate white flour, i bought whole wheat and corn tortillas. i couldn't find just plain whole wheat tortillas. (i love and hate trader joe's.) so there i am starting to make the burritos, when dino starts crying because he is hungry again! so i put him in the sling and roll up the burritos, with him screaming and the tortillas splitting and falling apart. so stressful. i get them wrapped and held together with foil. then sit down to nurse him again. finally we all get in the van and head out to the farm. both kids fall asleep and we are able to enjoy the next 40 minutes in peace as we drive into the country.
visiting the farm was great. as a courtesy for making us drive out to pick up the beef, (usually we get it at the farmers' market but it is too early in the season still) we were given a complimentary carton of gorgeous eggs and a bottle of their kombucha. i'm not a usually a big kombucha fan, but i like theirs. i also picked up some ingredients to make some cheese at home. whenever i have time for that, ha ha ha!
finally we went to a park, had a picnic in the car (no one liked the whole grain tortillas) and gigi and vincent played at the playground while i nursed and nursed. we didn't make it home until 3:30, which gave us a little time to relax (or nurse) before mashing potatoes and steaming broccoli. so glad that dinner was mainly already made. the house sure did smell good!
lastly, today dino is three months old! while life is harder now, we are all really glad he is here.

snapshots from the weekend

my current favorite breakfast: poached eggs on toast with tea

chicken salad with last week's pickled radishes on a bed of homegrown lettuce

the first strawberry of the season!

two seconds later...

welcome to your new home tomatoes!

checking in on the potato towers

the beginnings of a bean and edamame tepee

burgers after a big day in the garden

do you think it's a bit too big? maybe?

light, fresh and seasonal

swirling steam, hot from the oven

tea time

the last few days

i love finding this bounty in the nesting box

so excited that domino is back! (even though it's a limited thing. i'll take what i can get.)

wandering at the zoo

'meow meow meow'

lettuce and radishes from the garden

still enjoying domino with my afternoon tea

simple raviolis and veggies

snapshots from the weekend

scrambled egg sandwich with love and orange juice

hair in a top knot

lunch at our favorite taqueria 

garlands and lights

in her own world

lovely lettuce

snap peas climbing and climbing

my neighbor's gorgeous tree

a perfectly grilled cheeseburger and chard

a quiet moment

in my kitchen this week

baked eggs with cream and kale

ham, cheese, and homegrown broccoli quiche

simple roast chicken with potatoes

pressure canned split pea soup with ham, still hot and bubbling

the first spring harvest from the garden: french breakfast radishes