He has us both scratching our heads and laughing at the same time because for whatever reason, Gabriel absolutely loves tomatoes. He frequently asks for them at snack time and when he gets out in the garden he raids the beds with the tomatoes growing like untamed animals. (I never really got around to staking them this year.)

{This crazy weather we have had! We are still gathering tomatoes every few days.}

Ariella is much more interested in the flowers than the tomatoes.

These two green zebra tomatoes were meant for lunch but when I looked away Gabriel swiped them for himself.

He probably would have eventually ran off with the bright orange ones (Kellogg’s Breakfast) as well but I put those inside before he could.

See, he attempted to steal one after the green zebras were all gone!

My two little ones know this garden so well. Watching them run about in it this week has made me a little sad since we will be leaving it so very soon. I keep reminding myself we will make new memories in our new home and what fun we will have there.

…………….

{Seeds from the green zebra tomatoes can be found here.

And seeds from the Kellogg’s Breakfast tomatoes can be found here.}

Hard to believe that summer is just days away! You would never know it here in my Northwest garden. It has been such a cold and wet and downright dreary spring. Just a few days here and there of sun. The garden is moving along sooo slow. Some plants in the herb garden are looking nice right now and I thought I would share some photos I took of them.

The photo below is of my Berggarten sage. I just love the nice thick green leaves it has. If I decide to let it flower this year I will have to remember to get some photos of them as they are just as attractive.

Lovage is just now beginning to flower. It stands a good 4 feet tall these days. It has grown a lot in the past few weeks. I photographed it back in April and you can really see how much it has grown since then.

Also photographed back in April was the Egyptian walking onions. They too, are now beginning to flower.

Feverfew decided to reseed itself last year and it has came up in some unusual places. As you can see, it is also flowering.

Last to share is another picture of Lady’s mantle in full flower now. See how pretty it looks next to the just beginning to flower lemon thyme.

Despite the gloomy weather the herb garden is still attempting to put on a show. The veggie garden, however, is another story entirely. I’m battling slugs, soggy soil, and a lack of warm weather. We might get some home grown veggies this year! Fingers crossed.

Yesterday afternoon was so beautiful and sunny. (Today is back to the gloomy gray I’m sad to say.) I went out to the garden with camera in hand and took a few photos here and there of the herb garden and the plants that are waking up. I just recently showed a photo of my comfrey coming back to life and it seems to be growing everyday now.

Below is a glimpse into one corner of my herb garden.

The plant in the front with the celery like foliage is lovage. I’m happy to see that it survived all the rain and did not rot away. This will be its third year in the herb garden and I am anxious to see how big it will get this summer.

Behind the lovage you can see my Egyptian walking onions. This also marks their third year in the garden and I am so pleased with how well they are doing this year. I have several nice and healthy clumps at the moment.

I love the Egyptian walking onions! Every bit of them is edible and we have been enjoying the greens in salads and soups for a few weeks now. (My 12-year-old and I especially like them in egg drop soup made with our homemade stock.) The kids love them because of how they “walk” around the garden. When they flower and grow heavy the tops fall over and a new plant will sprout– hence the “walking”!

Two herbs have reseeded themselves with abandon throughout the garden and I have willingly let them do just that. Below you can see some bronze leaf fennel has sprung up next to a new seedling of clary sage. I think they are going to look just lovely growing next to each other.

Finally, I took a photo of my roses and as you can see they are just beginning to wake up.

They are rather far along in waking up in comparison to my Japanese maples who happen to still be tightly in bud.

Not too much longer now and the garden will be bursting with plants and flowers! I cannot wait to get my little man out there exploring it all–my little man who just happens to be one years old now! Where did that year go?!