May Harvest

This time of year is like Christmas for gardeners, so full of hope!

First let's talk about strawberries.  'Not a great year for them.  We've had a lot of rain.  Any berries touching the ground quickly mildew.  Ones that can be harvested taste bland, like they are systemically watered down.  I've kept the vines clean and have been rewarded with several small runners.  Those will be used to expand the bed.  There's always next year, right?

Next, let's discuss herbs.  Any member of the mint family grows well in my area and can become a thug if not frequently harvested.

My favorite way to use spearmint is making my own flavored water.  After rinsing and remove any dead leaves, stems and all get tossed into a pitcher.  Ice is added.  By giving the ice and spearmint a good rattle, the leaves are easily bruised and essential oils released.  The pitcher is filled with water and hangs out in the fridge for a couple of hours.  Sometimes lime is added, but not always.  Either way, this is a refreshing treat!

Chocolate mint is performing well, too.  It gets added to my morning coffee.  Click HERE for my very old post with tips for that.

Lemon Balm is another member of the mint family. It is delicious on its own or brewed with a couple bags of Lemon Ginger Tea for a lovely cool drink with dinner.

Parsley, sage and oregano get tossed into recipes whenever the mood strikes.  I love strolling out to our garden or greenhouse, snipping some herbs and heading back to the kitchen.  The fragrance is heavenly!

The last of the Scarlet Nantez carrots have been harvested.  Raggedy Jack kale continues to be an over achiever.  That stuff just keeps generating wonderfully large leaves.  Both will be re-planted in Autumn.

Onions and garlic are continually dug.

With all the rain, I've had great germination rates with the seeds planted this year.  Hopefully, the harvest reports will be exciting all summer!

What's happening in your garden?