Lilies in Bloom.

Some Of Our Flowers.

Petunias, a geranium that's about to flower and some rosemary hiding behind the two.

Asiatic lilies, Cancun variety. One of my favourites.

Asiatic again.

Foxtail lilies, appropriate name.

Foxtails again.

The petunias, geraniums and rosemary again with some basil. All started from seed.

The very first daylily. Daylily flowers are actually edible, although if you scour the Internet you will come across cautionary tales suggesting they should not be consumed in large amounts. It seems after overzealous consumption some have found slight gastric distress to follow. I have yet to try them myself, for the duration they are in bloom I have seem to have more than enough items ready in the garden that require eating.

Ooops, who dug up more baby potatoes? They are amazing. 

Baby mesclun mix lettuce also resists the urge to bolt quite well. It can be grown in the shadier corners of your garden, requiring only about 6-8 hours light in a day. Sow it thickly, as it doesn't need much room to grow.

Beautiful Romaine.

Romaine is a fantastic lettuce to grow for the duration of your growing season. It may be less likely to bolt during hot summer days than other varieties. Lettuce should be planted in succession for a constant supply.

Scallions or Green Onions.

The green onions are ready. You can plant them as soon as the soil can be worked, we planted ours early in April. They do really well and require very little space to grow. I save odd little corners and nooks to plant green onions, as they can be planted quite close together. I then plant them in succession all summer for a constant supply. You can even plant some early in the fall to 'overwinter' and use in the early spring. I like having lots of green onions this time of year since storing onions are less than fresh and usually starting to sprout at this time. I use the green onions as my main onions until the other onions are ready closer to the fall. Earlier in the spring I use chives where I would use onions. Change is always nice.

We have been enjoying lots of these beauties over the last few weeks. With a little care, strawberries are extremely easy to grow and enjoy in your backyard. The plus side, no pesticides are needed.

Stole some early carrots I had left too close together for this purpose. Carrots are one of my favourite veggies to eat straight from the garden. A quick wash and they are ready to go.

Progress and Peas.

Garlic, onions, shallots, leeks, tomatoes, peppers, carrots and potatoes in the background.

Carrots, Beans, Beets, Potatoes, Strawberries and Peas in the background.  

The onion family.

Some beets, beans, broccoli, brussel sprouts, lettuces, green onions and swiss chard.

Peas.

Swiss Chard and Beet Greens.

Lots of these around these days. Swiss chard grows extremely well and if you just take leaves here and there it will last into the fall. Swiss chard also freezes really well after a quick blanching. You can then easily add it to soups and other dishes in the winter months. I can usually brush the first few snowfalls off of the swiss chard and still use it. I do not usually grow beets just for the greens, usually the greens on the beets are still in good enough shape to cook with the bulb, however I had to thin some beets and I wasn't about to toss the greens. This specific variety of beets is  titled 'Bull's Blood' and have extremely tasty crimson red greens. The beets themselves are even darker. 

Early Treasures.

We stole some early potatoes from the plants we had planted sometime in April. They were heavenly. You hardly need any toppings when the potatoe flesh itself is buttery and smooth. Now to resist the temptation to dig up more and allow them to fully mature. I often wish I had room for a much larger garden so we could plant extras for an early crop, however I think we do quite well with the land we have.

Sugar snap and snow peas are available by the handfuls now. They grow from a pea flower to a pea seemingly overnight. Pick your peas with two hands always, otherwise you risk ripping the whole pea stalk from the ground.

Berries

Strawberries.

New raspberry cane.

Haskap Berry bush in it's first year. Haskap berries are also known as 'Honeyberries'. We have 3 of these. You need at least two different varieties. for cross pollination, same as highbush blueberries and cranberries, which we also have.

Veggies.

Peas and pea flowers.

More peas, they took a bit of a beating in the wind yesterday.

Mesclun mix lettuce.

Swiss Chard.

Romaine, needing some weeding.

Green onions.

Garlic scapes still on the plants.

Carrots, beans and potatoes with peas in the background.

Petunia and Pansy.

Pansy.

Dutch Iris.

Dutch Iris.

Geranium, Petunia and Basil.

Dutch Iris.

Allium still hanging on. Allium's are long lasting flowers.