Garden Freebies

Last year's strawberries are growing gung-ho. It won't be too long. Just need a few more warm days and visits from busy bees.

It's going to be a great gardening year. My patches of dirt have started supplying delectables that have been already consumed.

The oregano is lush and green. This herb really makes dishes pop with spring flavor and excitement.

Now, I won't be eating this stray chick, but isn't it pretty? It escaped last fall from the hen and is happy bedding down with the strawberries. It shall soon join the high heat, low water portion of the garden.

The sage is growing crazy wild. This is year three for this plant. Last year it jumped right into blooms, so I am hoping for a slower race to seed.

Meet one of my new "I will do this again for sure" experiments. Last fall, after the killer attack of the aphids, I ripped all of the kale plants from the garden bed. Except this one. Did you know how difficult it is to pull out the roots of full sized plants? I just destroyed it as much as possible, and left this stalk in the dirt. And now? I already have fresh baby kale leaves. We have been pulling off leaves for a week or two. Not a ton of fresh produce, but enough to top a salad or sandwich.

As you can tell, I barely kept up with my herbs. My guilt is showing in the seeding of the parsley. Many baby plants coming up on their own. Good for us. We love fresh and dried parsley. Now, if anyone knows of a way to kill off the aphids, I will be forever grateful.

Either all of my lettuce seeds did not germinate last spring, or a few sneakily went to seed. The baby lettuce, already in use at mealtimes, is growing quite well. There are several random spots of lettuce sprouts in each garden bed.

This won't be on our menu either, but I'm pretty excited about the baby lupines. These are all volunteers. Next year they will be gorgeous.

The mama plant is towering over the brood of babies. Maybe some of them will show off their colors this summer.


Those are some of my freebies this spring. It's always a surprise when the greens start sprouting. Some I have forgotten, others are a result of bolting plants or lack of time on my part. This gardening girl is pretty happy to welcome the plants back to our yard.


How does your garden grow?