Happy May Day! Is it Really Spring Now?

I've been slacking on my blogging for the last two weeks.  Time to catch up.  Funny how once I start the procrastination in motion with something, it gets harder to get back in the habit.  I haven't been doing too many culinary treats out of the ordinary lately so I'm not too behind on recipes.  I've been sticking to our fruits in the morning, raw salads, and beans, with a few steamed veggies thrown in now & then.  I've also been anxiously waiting for the change from cooking to gardening.  It's been the wettest and coldest April, I've heard, in about 50 years.  This is the second spring in two years, we haven't seen sunshine in April.  But today the sun is shining and we're going out to work in the garden while we can.  It's supposed to be 70º today, I sure hope so.  It will bring some joy all over town. We'll  hear the sound of lawn mowers, motorcycles, and the outdoor toys as people come outside to play.  We've done a pretty good job of tackling the weeds and decayed plants.  The artichokes are coming back strong and many herbs made it through the winter.  I picked enough oregano yesterday to make a few quarts of oregano oil.
 
I took a stroll through the farmer's market yesterday and picked up a yellow Mystic Spirit dahlia, a couple Spanish Lavender plants, some rosemary, some fuchsia starts, Italian parsley, and a couple purple daisies. We managed to get most of it planted outside yesterday.  The fuchsia starts are for my deck.  I take pride in starting with tiny little seedlings and diligently trimming them daily until I have a full blooming fuchsia with beautiful big blooms.

Fuchsia

 Even though it's early in the season, there are some crafty farmers who have some edibles.  I picked up a nice variety of edible flowers: mustard, turnip, and broccoli.  Those are broccoli flowers in my blog header. Ruth & Mike had some nice spinach and Eva had her herbs and Jerusalem artichokes.  After shopping I took out my camera and went for a walk through the market welcoming the vendors back for the season.




I do have a vegan banana creme pie in the fridge waiting for the cashew coconut creme.  I'll be sure to post some pictures and the recipe once we break into it later on.