You are invited to the 2012 Spring Edible Garden Tour!

We're busy preparing the garden and orchard for the Spring Edible Garden Tour. Flowers are blooming madly in every corner! As the temperature rises, many of the flowers will fade and others will take their place by the time the tour date ( May 12th ) rolls around. I'd like to take you on a stroll this morning and share a few of the simple pleasures taking place in the garden!

Gathering and sorting eggs... today there's only one egg with a chicken peck in it!  Who did that? 

Here's Pansy, she's our  Buff Cochin. She is the oldest and sweetest chicken in the flock.

Below, " Cherry Rose " heirloom Nasturtiums. The peppery leaves and flowers of the Nasturtium plant are edible. Here's a great recipe for stuffed nasturtium flowers.

 Also, we are harvesting, rinsing and bagging the last of our winter lettuce. Then, we quickly add more compost to the boxes and plant again!

Here is a basket of parsley that I will rinse, and lay out to dry. Then we just crumble and store in a glass jar. I use it in all of my soups and stews. Herbs are easy to grow, and it's nice to have them when you need them.

Our strawberries are slowly turning from delicate white flowers to rosy red strawberries!

The Scarlet Flax was one of the first flowers to bloom this spring! We let this hardy annual go to seed to ensure it will re-seed next spring!I can't seem to keep up with the thinning of the peach trees. There are boxes and baskets under each peach tree...in case I have a moment to climb a ladder and thin a few more! And yes there's lots more (peaches) left on the tree!  

This is our new crop of Anna apples, we are thinning these too! They won't be ripe until the end of June. We can always count on making apple tarts for the fourth of July!

"Cupani's Original " antique sweet peas. This bi-colored sweet pea was named after Father Frances Cupani, the Italian monk who discovered the wild sweet pea in Sicily in the 17th century.  I ordered mine from Enchanting Sweet Peas last fall. I am sorry to say that these highly fragrant beauties are on their way to forming seed pods as we speak! I'll try to save a few seeds to share at the tour!

It's our turn to house Charlotte and her buckling Snowflake in our little backyard barn for a couple of weeks .Charlotte is an expert climber! She is the queen of the hill and from this vantage point she can keep an eye on the whole farm. We are loving that she shares her milk with us each morning!

If you're a local neighbor or live in the Phoenix area, we'd love to meet you at our Spring Edible Garden Tour. The tour consists of a handful of neighborhood urban farmers that are opening their garden gates just for you! The farmers  have worked hard to transform their properties into productive garden space that provides healthy, organic food for their families and in some cases the surrounding community. We'd like to reach out into the community and expand our circle of urban farmers and friends. Help us sow the seeds of change! 

Tickets are limited. Go to ediblegardentour.com for tickets. 

See you in the garden!