Gardening | First Fruits

Here's a garden update for you all:

Strawberries have arrived! Hooray! We don't have many but what we have are sooooo good. Mmmm...why do I buy strawberries in the winter?

Mixed salad greens and Russian kale are also up and being eaten. Very yummy. Both are heritage seed packs we got on Saltspring. The kale is smaller and leafier than the kale you buy at stores. Kind of close to arugula.

Tomatoes and squashes are coming along nicely, seeing little fruits growing.

Potatoes, corn, beans, carrots and Swiss chard are all sprouted and growing nicely.

Peppers are still little but seem happy.

Basil is sad, there was too much rain and cold weather. I'm hoping they bounce back as I had big plans for pesto this year. Ah well we shall see.

Well I'm off to Nelson today with Barb and Micah And hopefully she picks up some yummy strawberries on the way to get me. Mmmm, nothing beats living in fruit country for the summer!

Kitchen | Organizing

So we're in the kitchen this week for Flylady, And I've been on a cupboard reorganizing kick. My baking cupboard used to look like this:



And I was whining to my mom about how I need to organize but I don't want to use plastic because it will likely kill us all, and I can't afford glass containers right now. She pointed out that I can just use mason jars. Well.....yeah, forehead slap. So this is what it looks like now:



It makes me happy. I walk by and just open the cupboard and look at it. Um, I will however need to find more jars as I do intend to can this year...also...my mom might not keep sending me soup if I never return her jars...

Want to see another cupboard? Of course you do!



The metal canisters were my Gramma's before she moved into a seniors home. I love them.

In addition to the organizing (and there has been more, but I'll spare you photos of every single cupboard) I have been purging again. I whine that I don't have much storage here...but really, I have too much stuff. I can say I have less stuff than most people, which is true. But I still have more than I need. I want to only have things I need and love in my house, the rest is just baggage. I don't need 5 sets of chopsticks (sets, like 4 pairs in a set, not 5 pairs...I kept about 8 pairs)...I don't need 13 dinner plates...I now have 6. That kinda hurts. But you know, I don't have room to feed more than 6 people, and if I do I have more littler plates. And my cupboard is happier (wanna see? hahaha). Anyway...I've made three trips to my neighbourhood thrift store in the past month...and I think I'll still make a couple more.

Also. My house has been clean for a month. Self high five!