Hi, there! I'll keep this brief - strawberry season is HERE, and those juicy little gems deserve pride of place on your dessert table. My recommendation? This Strawberry Snack Cake. 🍓🍰 It's buttery and just sweet enough, topped with strawberry whipped cream, then garnished with even more fresh berries. You get layer after layer of strawberry goodness in every bite! It's like strawberry shortcake...in cake form. Get the recipe
4 days ago • 1 min read
Hi, Reader, Do you grow any herbs? I'll be honest - I wasn't that interested in them when I started gardening 11 years ago. I usually focused on basil and cilantro since you need those for pesto and salsa! But over the years, I've added more and more. Parsley, chives, mint, rosemary, oregano, thyme, bee balm, dill, sage, and probably more I'm forgetting. I love watching them grow, I love running my hands through them, and I love preserving them to enjoy all year long! Fortunately, herbs are...
16 days ago • 1 min read
Hi, Reader, Canning season is almost here! Are you ready? 🫙🌿 And hey, if you’re not a canner (yet), don’t click away!Canning is just one of many ways to preserve food, and I promise, it’s not as complicated as it seems. I started with a basic stockpot, a few jars, and a whole lot of curiosity. Over the years, I’ve created tools to make the whole process way easier, like my canning equipment checklist to help you make sure you have everything you need before you get started.But if you want the...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi, there! If you have lemon balm in your garden, you probably have a large bush of it right now. As a member of the mint family, it is quite prolific! This homemade lemon balm simple syrup is such an easy way to use it up while adding sweetness and a mellow herbal note to lemonade, iced tea, soda, and more. Get the recipe here
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi, Reader, It's almost berry season! I don't know about you, but I look forward to this moment all year long. The little green strawberries on my plants are starting to blush, the bees have been buzzing in the raspberry batch for weeks, and there are blooms all over the blackberry brambles. Living in western Washington, berry season is a big deal! We can grow pretty much any kind of berry here, including some less common ones. Ever had a thimbleberry? Or a salmonberry? Red huckleberries?...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi, Reader, Happy weekend! Here we are half-way through May already (I almost wrote April). Time is going fast right now! There's been so much happening lately. If you missed it, my vanilla extract workshop was last weekend. The recording is available in my Facebook group, so you can watch it anytime! I also shared a behind-the-scenes photo of the chaos that is my garden right now. If you're feeling behind on your garden...I promise, you're probably not too far behind. There's a lot of...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Happy May! Doesn't it feel good to know we're getting closer and closer to summer? We've had some gorgeous sunny days here in western Washington with temps in the 70s. We all just want to be outside soaking up the sun!I hope you're having some nice weather too and spending lots of time outside. If you've been following me on social, you may know that I spent the last two weeks setting up my first booth at an antique mall. It finally opened on Thursday! I was so nervous it...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi, Reader, Can you believe it's almost May? I swear, this year has been flying by! It's been pretty chaotic here lately. As you know, I went on a last minute trip with my mom to Washington's tulip country and the time away helped me clarify a few things. I realized how much I missed selling vintage pieces, and then just so happened to find out that a new antique mall was opening up. The timing felt like fate...so I went for it! I've been going through my stash of finds from a couple of years...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi, Reader, How's it going? My mom and I spent last weekend in Washington's tulip country. I just needed a break and knew that staying in an old farmhouse would do the trick. Little did we know...that we would be about 2 miles from the biggest tulip farms in the area, 4 miles from the most wonderful little town filled with antique shops and thoughtful small businesses, and surrounded by beautiful sights. It was such a special experience and honestly, I'm sad it's over! I could gladly go back...
3 months ago • 1 min read