Treats from the garden

I must admit that for the last couple of weeks, I have been overwhelmed by the amount of upkeep necessary to keep our yard acceptable looking. Not helping is that we also have quite the list of the yard projects we hope to get done this year. I would go outside, see the amount of weeds overtaking my gardens, note all the projects not being completed, feel overwhelmed and go back inside. Not really the best way to get things done (I have been known to do this with other projects as well... I now understand that staring at the yarn will not get my projects knitted). This week I have been putting a lot of my energy and time into getting my gardens weeded and I must admit that it really is worth it (and remember that if I did it more often, the weeds wouldn't be so big and there wouldn't be so darn many of them!!)

All the hard work does have its rewards. They come in the form of beautiful flowers, sweet little hummingbirds, and yummy fruits!

Our raspberry harvest was huge this year. This is just a small sample of what we picked. I was able to freeze some as well, but I really don't think they will last until winter.

Our first blackberry. They are huge and we have so many for such a small amount of plants. I'm looking forward to having enough to be able to freeze these as well (and make jam too!)

I picked these strawberries last night and there are still lots left at various stages of ripeness. I will miss having fresh strawberries on my morning cereal so I am enjoying them while they are here and plentiful (and sooooo good!!)

My tiny garden can't produce all the fruits and vegetables I would like, so I feel very lucky that we have so many different places to get fresh, local produce. Yesterday, I stocked up on local peaches, plums, nectarines, corn, beans, cabbage, cherries... I couldn't help but feel that we live in a really wonderful place.