year of snow, crops will grow?

let's hope so!

the winter snow is a distant memory as we enjoyed a week of summer weather here, with temperatures in the 80's!

taking full advantage of the nice weather, i spent every day outdoors, and got lots done in our garden. as you can see we've added another box - this one 6 feet by 6 feet. our parsley and strawberry plants survived the winter, and the woodland strawberry plant is producing sweet little flowers.

always the procrastinator, i ordered my seeds much later than originally planned. thank goodness for Baker's Creek Heirloom Seeds, as my package arrived in 3 just days! i comprised a list of the plants i plan to grow from seed this year. (seeds are from Baker's Creek unless otherwise noted).

Veggies:

Blue Curled Scotch Kale 
Detroit Dark Red Beet
Danvers 126 Half Long Carrot
Tall Telephone Garden Pea
Cherokee Trail of Tears Pole Bean
Royalty Purple Pod Bush Bean
Richmond Green Apple Cucumber
Sunset Lettuce
Break O' Day Tomato
Zucchini Black Beauty Squash

Botanical Interest Seeds:
Tango Leaf Lettuce
Red Velvet Lettuce
Little Gem Romaine
Chard
Arugula

Herbs:
Basil - Genovese
Basil - Lemon
Dill Bouquet
Cilantro

Flowers:

Arikara Sunflower
German Chamomile
Echinacea Purpurea
Zinnias
Dahlias (tubers from Home Depot)

some seeds went straight in the garden, others were started indoors in containers of vermiculite. most of my planting was done on april 1st and 2nd, and there are already lots of little sprouts.

this is just my second year, so i've been using my beloved All New Square Foot Gardening book and the Farmer's Almanac Gardening by the Moon Calender as a guide for planting. for any other questions, i search or post on gardenweb.com.

~*~

the garden and the other little sprouts in my life really tired me out this week, so i took it easy in the kitchie.

here's bubbie, one of the adorable children i babysit. we like to go on "inbestigations" outside when the weather is nice.=)

this is my niece alaina, growing up so quick! she's playing at Spread Your Wings, the perfect indoor play place for little ones with lots of energy!

john and i were exhausted after a fun-filled overnight visit from alaina, so we treated ourselves to dinner at a local cuban restaurant where we enjoyed a relaxing dinner outside on their patio.

yucca fries with a side of spicy guacamole... mmm!

~*~

my prize arrived in the mail from a 2 pound bag of chia seeds giveaway hosted by the lovely candice at chiaseedme. ♪ ch-ch-ch-chia! ♪

candice has inspired me to sprinkle these super-seeds on top of my salads and soups.

 
i've got a nice system going for my dressings and soups with the new vitamix: after blending my dressings, i find there's a lot of the good stuff left in the bottom around the blades. what i like to do is make a raw soup in the container right after without washing. the dressing gives the soup a little kick of flavor, and since the soup is thinner than the dressing, there's less waste clinging to the bottom of the vita!

~*~

last but not least, i leave you with my first raw pie (and tastiest raw vegan dessert yet!): heavenly mudslide pie from Sweet Gratitude.

the title is fitting as this recipe must have been created by angels! seriously. so creamy and delicious, with all natural, plant-based ingredients, like cashews, coconut milk, almond milk, almond butter, cacao butter, cacao powder, and dates. (are you drooling yet?=)

swirling the fillings was so much fun! it reminded me of the days when i would do nail polish swirls on my nails. i watched bitt's video again for some guidance. my pie was "over-swirled" just a bit, but i'm very happy with the way it turned out.

which desserts do you enjoy making?