Garden happiness.

Succulents from Earth Flowers.

My first harvest of Lacinato Kale.

See the potatoes growing in our compost bin?

Foxglove bud.

Chris raised the rain barrel which makes it so much easier to use. The flow is better and it's easier to get the watering can under the spigot.

Yarrow.

Echinacea.

Callirhoe.

Butterfly milkweed.

Peony.

Foxglove.

Precious little mushroom bursting forth through the mulch.

First broccoli harvest!

Foodie Club: Ghana

Foodie Club this month was at Sean's house and he was in charge. He went with a West African food theme that turned out to be quite the tasty treat. Josh made fried plantain chips with a black bean and tomato dip for the appetizer. Leah made Pink Ladies for the pre-dinner cocktail. They were definitely named appropriately with their sassy pink frothiness. Sean made an assortment of delicious dishes including one called Red Red which was spicy-hot black eyed peas. My dessert, although it was not really an African dish per se, was a really yummy raw tart made with avocados and coconut on a macadamia crust (more on that later). To add to the mood we listened to Fela Kuti and Ali Farka Toure. It was great!

Oh Henry.

Last week, on a gorgeous Spring day, Kendra, Josh and I went to Henry's Plant Farm to buy some plants and go behind the scenes to the succulent greenhouses. It pays to know people. Teehee. Jozie, Brian and Homer do our flowers and plants at The Merc and also work at Henry's. They own a few greenhouses at the back of the farm where they grow everything. It was a lovely little field trip.

A late, but good, start.

It's been chilly. Well, on and off. One day it will be 80 degrees and then it will drop way down. I still haven't planted my okra! But the weather hasn't stopped things from happening around here. When we get a warm day it seems as though everything grows a couple of inches. The Lawrence Food Garden Tour is in 3 weeks, so I'm definitely hoping things grow at a rapid pace. I want it to look full and abundant when people stop by.

Chris made this super cool gate. All materials found or used. That's how we roll.

There is a Finch nest in the hanging fern on the front deck for the third year in a row.