Spring Time Gardening & Easter Happenings

Adam having fun digging in our raised bed garden.

Spring has sprung in Oregon and although the weather is still unpredictable, it has been great to have more chances to go outside and work in the garden. Little by little things are coming together. I love how Adam dove right into gardening with me. He loved to use the shovel and the other tools in the shed. He'd keep pulling things out asking "What is this?" He really enjoyed the seed spreader and also the watering can. 

As you can tell the rhubarb and raspberries are doing very well in the garden. I have been able to get a lot of weeding done on the sunny days, so things are getting ready for late spring planting. This year I want to plant more lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and maybe some chile peppers in the garden. 

I ended up thinning out my strawberries a bit this year. I think that we didn't get as many berries as I had hoped last year because the plants were spreading so much. I decided to move more strawberry plants to other sunny areas in the yard in order to make the strawberry bed healthier.

I am looking forward to planting my annuals in pots on the deck and planting a few sunny perennials in the garden as soon as I receive the plants I ordered from Adam's plant sale at his preschool. It is so wonderful that a local nursery helps us with our fundraiser every year. It feels good to make a difference in his school with the plants that I purchase.

The rhubarb plants are already growing fast!

There is a lot of new growth on the raspberry plants!

The grape hyacinth that showed up in our garden bed!

Wow! These Walla Walla onions came back from last year!
They are looking big and strong!

A volunteer tulip that showed up in the side yard!

Adam having fun playing hide and seek in the yard.

Bunny Brunch:

At Adam's preschool, The Creative Children's Center, they have a wonderful Easter tradition- The Bunny Brunch. All of the kids go outside first and hunt for hard boiled eggs that the parents have brought in and that they have colored. Then, they head inside to have a "bunny brunch" like a picnic on the floor. They set out colorful plates of veggies with a hummus dip that the kids enjoy munching on like "bunnies" and like "dinosaurs." It was amazing how many veggies the kids ate when they ate them like the animals! How fun!

 

 Adam with his mouth full of veggies at his preschool bunny brunch.

Teacher Courtney in Adam's preschool class talking about

 the veggies with the kids.

Painting Easter Cookies:

This year we decided to paint Easter cookies together. It was a lot of fun! First, we made some lemon cookies and then made a thin frosting paint to paint them with in lots of different colors. Adam had fun making faces on his cookies! 

 Adam having fun painting his Easter cookies.

  Paul and Adam painting cookies together. What fun!

Family Easter Gathering: 

We had the most lovely Easter dinner at my parent's house this year! We had an early dinner in the afternoon with a delicious pork loin roast that my mom made accompanied by rolls, salad, vegetable macaroni and cheese, a cheese platter, deviled eggs and a most delicious sponge cake filled with lemon curd made by my cousin Helen. It was a feast! 

After the festivities we headed down to the lawn where more than 75 eggs were hidden for Adam to find. Paul came up with the great idea to put a bingo number in each plastic egg and then call it out as Adam found the eggs while the grown-ups checked the numbers off their bingo cards. Then, there were prizes for the bingo winners including chocolate, beer, wine and coffee! We all had a great time and the most wonderful thing was it was about 70 degrees outside! 

Adam with Grandma Serena on Easter Sunday.

 

Some beautiful spring flowers at my parent's house.

 

 

 Me with Adam and Paul after the big egg hunt. 

 

 Cousin Helen, Aunt Debbie and Me on Easter.

 

 Some beautiful primroses at my parent's house.