Salad and spinach is something I look forward to every spring together with spring onions. Having a refreshing salad mix for lunch is a great way to take advantage of garden offerings and take in some leafy greens. It can be combined with various main dishes but my favorite combination is with meat and mashed potatoes or BBQ.
Potatoes had a rough start at the beginning and we thought that we'll end up having none but somehow they made a comeback! There's still a few empty spots where they didn't grow so it will be used for something else but overall we'll be happy with the harvest, no matter how small it might be.
Strawberries is one fruit we are enjoying the most at the moment! I don't know about other parts of the world, but here in my area (in Serbia) bought strawberries taste like... nothing. Almost like water. And it's not only strawberries, but that subject can be a whole new post to discuss. Therefor, I am even more grateful this year we are having one of the best seasons when it comes to strawberries - if we had more space in the garden we could re-plant a lot more.
While we are enjoying strawberries, I am keeping an eye on other berries we have planted - raspberries, chokeberries and blackberries. So far it seems like they are doing well and I spotted a lot of fruit buds forming which is a great sign.
This year mint is spreading like crazy! I did a little bit of a clean up and harvested a bunch to make mint syrup for the first time. I made a small batch just to test it and see if it's a good proportion of sugar, water and mint. If it turns out good, I'll definitely make some more for summer.
After removing grapes at the different spot we had, these are the only ones we have left. There's not much but if they make it through, it should be enough to eat them occasionally throughout the season.
Tomato plant starts were a success this year and we have them in one main area and at few smaller empty spaces in the garden. With the combination of few different tomatoes, including my favorite cherry tomatoes, we should be set for the season.
Now we come to one of my favorite garden related activities and that is emptying out pea pods, haha! Every few days we harvest peas that are ready, I empty out the pods and we store them in the freezer for fall and winter. I don't know why but I love doing this, it some how makes me calm and relaxed.
Not sure if you can tell by this photo but our leek is turning into a massive weapon, lol. It's definitely starting to overgrow so we are using as much as possible, mainly mixed with eggs for breakfast. I should have put something next to it for comparison. :)
Rosemary bush was in a desperate need of a clean up and I took a photo in the middle of doing it. Next to it there is mint and strawberries used to be close before moved to a different spot but I have found so many strawberries and mint in the middle of rosemary and all around it. There was also a lot of grass and I wish I took a proper before and after photos so you can see the difference a little bit of maintenance can do.
Of course, there would not be a garden visit on a sunny day without a few cats! There's a bunch of them and some of them became more friendly lately, following me around or just supervising garden work.
