The pea teepee in our garden is prolific these days, loaded with long green pods bursting with the sweetest peas. Each day Iley makes his way to the teepee and pops a few pea pods off, carefully opening each green purse and removing each sweet pea one by one, popping them into his mouth. Iley's peas. Gardening with children is such a joy. Seeing and exploring the garden through their eyes, it becomes a jungle or enchanted fairy land full of nature's gifts...
I shared a recipe for our favorite summery water kefir flavor, hibiscus lemon ginger, on my wonderful friend Kirsten Rickert's journal today. Please click over to read the recipe and see more images. Kirsten's journal is filled with many beautiful creative holistic crafts, home-school lessons, sustainable children's fashion editorials, and much much more. Stay a while and explore all the goodness she shares so openly. Thank you Kirsten!
Mister and I have made a summer resolution to rise extra early and get out of the house. Our first day of practicing this resolution was to go strawberry picking as soon as the farm opened up. There's only so much time left for these sweet summer babies. We froze some for smoothies, ate a whole bunch out of hand, and used the rest in this scrumptious pie. I love this no-bake filling because you taste the freshness of the just picked berries. It's heavenly with coconut ice cream, which I made, but was not ready at camera time.
The strawberries are in! The strawberries are in! These ruby hued jewels have heralded the arrival of beloved summer on our island. Yesterday was the first day for pick-your-own strawberries at one of the island's farms and we promptly made our way to their organic fields for our first taste of local berries this season. It was a beautiful foggy grey day and the mist rose up from the farm fields as we walked to the strawberry patch. Iley picked a few, but mostly ate a lot, and I was happily reminded of a favorite childhood read, Blueberries for Sal. But thankfully, no bears were involved in our picking adventure.
This past week I've been feeling a heaviness regarding a personal matter and I really just needed something light and green and happiness inducing. No, I'm not talking about those kind greens, I'm talking about a salad. A f***ing amazing bowl of beautiful green things. Hope you're with me on this...
Lilac scones as promised! This whole week the lilacs have been in peak bloom and, I'm not gonna lie, it smells amazing around here. I kind of want to put these delightful blooms on everything and in everything. So I thought what better way than in scones. I've been craving a good scone and this was the perfect chance to bring these two desires together.
I cannot understand why my arm is not a lilac tree – Leonard Cohen
My love affair with flowers reaches well beyond the garden or vase and onto my plate. I love flowers for their beauty, yes, and for their purpose of attracting pollinators to our garden, yes, but when they also nourish our bodies, all the better. I’ve been seeking out blooms of the edible variety to grow in our garden for years now. And to my delight I’ve discovered that the lilacs trees that were already growing in the yard are edible.
Sweet and spicy vegan noodle bowls plus minor freak out about the busy season....
Last year our rhubarb plant did not survive the previous winter so we planted a new one and took extra care to protect it this past winter. I was so happy to see it sprouting up through the earth this spring. It is thriving and we can already see that it has multiplied into a few other plants. So today I cut my first few stalks of homegrown rhubarb! And, of course, to celebrate this feat, I made a cake. Yeah, you're not surprised by that fact, are you? There's always a good excuse for cake!
Well, I had high hopes of posting this recipe before Mother's day, but alas, mama life kept me from doing so. I think the wait is well worth it though. This moist spiced carrot cake is good any day anytime, like for dinner, as we ate it. Don't judge.
This month has been whizzing by. Sometimes I feel as though I can't keep up. Multiple birthday celebrations, readying the garden, busy in the workshop with wholesale collabs and freaking out about getting my tax work in on time. (I did by the way) When it all gets too much, we just need to slow down and make pancakes, ya know?
We've been drinking water kefir nearly everyday since I started making it a couple of months ago. {The original tutorial can be found here.} Now that citrus season is nearly over, I started exploring other flavors, and by far, this root beer version is our new favorite. It's creamy and spicy and very refreshing. We are looking forward to making root beer floats with our homemade coconut cream ice cream this summer.