The state of things...

I always pinch myself when I harvest such a lovely lot of veg as this.  Tender, lush kale and chard which sautéed up beautifully with an onion and some butter.  Into the casserole it went with freshly laid eggs to produce the tastiest frittata we've had in ages.  A very frugal and nutritious meal cooked in so little time.

A good deal of time this week was spent weeding the potato and squash bed.  With the heavy rains lately, the weeds were absolutely enormous as you can see below (laying on the grass next to the garden area).

Thanks once again to Freecycle, we have added to our stash of pavers and bricks.  These will come in very handy around our place with all the projects we want to work on (wood fired oven, retaining wall, bed edging, shed foundation, etc).  

Kelly has done a spectacular job of fixing up the dilapidated garden shed.  Trust me when I tell you that it was in rough shape - we even considered bulldozing it and starting over, but after close inspection, it was deemed repairable. Kelly levelled it up, built new doors and added some trim to make it look a little nicer (especially as we see the shed from our back deck).   My job now is to prime and paint it.  Roger that!  Hopefully, our efforts will buy us some more years of useful service out of this old shed :)

Around the left/south side of the garden shed, is my strawberry bed where big things are taking place!  We've been picking a few berries each day and the kids are learning how much more delicious and juicy homegrown strawberries are to the hollow, flavourless counterparts from the store.

After a fantastic tip from a member at the Down To Earth Forum, my blueberries are perking up rapidly!  They are much happier with the addition of some wood chips and coffee grounds (adding acid to the soil).  Disaster appears to have been averted - whew.

The first blooms on my (John Cabot) climbing rose have graced us with their presence... such a treat for us all including the hens who are rather intrigued by the shock of colour!  

The garden is growing rapidly now with that much needed LONG soaking of rain we've had.  The forecast is for scorching temps for the next week (30-32C), so we'll see plants growing practically overnight now!  Don't laugh all you readers from the south...that's REALLY hot for here!

The Norkent and September Ruby apples have formed and are plumping out beautifully... it seems that I was just taking pictures of their blooms only a few short weeks ago.

Sour cherries are coming along, although not too many of them will grace my kitchen this year...  if my eyes see correctly, we may just harvest 6 of them!

Our silly hens still enjoy hanging out in their basket on the front porch of the coop...  They've scratched all the straw out of it, but they don't seem to care.

 I've never seen so many raspberries and I'm elated to see them thriving after 3 years of getting them established.

I've been busy re-seeding my greens - you can see baby lettuce in the background and new kale seedling in between the established plants.  I'm working much harder at succession planting this year to avoid having a glut of any one thing all at once.  There's only so many things you can hide kale in in the course of a week!

Through the trees I see the butter yellow blooms of canola all around me...  soon it will fade, but for now all is cheery.

Evidence of the kids' play in the forest behind the house... building a log house and hanging out in their teepee are the current favs.  Imaginative fun (out of doors), is so good for children.

The back deck is nearing completion (railing, wind screen and planters still to be built).  After 3 VERY long years of saving, waiting and planning, it is GLORIOUS to have functional family space out back!  These doors lead to our bedroom, so we will have a lovely private spot to sit and put our feet up with a much deserved evening beer while watching the sunset.  

Good things really are worth the wait, aren't they?