Celebrate Spring with Strawberry Muffins.

Are you still awake? Oh, good. I know it's late, but since tomorrow is Monday, I really, really think you need to stay up just a little longer to ensure a happy start to your week.

Honestly, it's been such a wet and gloomy weekend here, and tomorrow looks like more of the same. The good news? School's out for summer! (Sing along if you like!) The bad news? The wet weather ushers in the end of strawberry season.

We eagerly await the first strawberry of the season. After all, what announces spring more than a scrumptious, juice-dripping, warm-from-the-sun strawberry? Then, in a blink of an eye—and maybe because we're all so wrapped up with end of school year programs, finals, awards days, playoff games, camp registration, and the assorted noise of every day—the strawberry sign pointing to the farm vanishes.

In a panic, I drove by, only to see “Sold Out” handwritten on a paper taped to the farm stand door. The strawberries in our garden are dwindling, so it shouldn't come as a great surprise that the farm by us would be done, too. But, with the craziness in getting ready for the farm tour, I completely forgot to freeze strawberries to get us through to next spring. 

So, like any good locavore, I sent out an emergency plea to my Facebook friends to find out if strawberries could be found.

Thank goodness for social media, because within moments, I had the names of three farms still selling berries. Within two hours, I returned with two gallons of strawberries in my possession.

Whew. Disaster averted.

Here's the thing: you need to make these muffins immediately, while you can get your hands on fresh strawberries. Although you can use frozen berries, it's just not the same celebratory spring muffin. I'm sure it's good, but the best part of baking strawberry muffins is savoring one fresh-from-the-garden, delicious strawberry that emits the sweet scent of spring while you chop the other berries to add to the mix. The aroma alone will make your mouth water.

I made these muffins for the CFSA Upstate Farm Tour, and they seemed to be a hit. In the next batch, though, I experimented with adding a streusel topping—and I liked it even better. (I should have taken a photo with streusel. Sorry.)

Strawberry Muffins

(Makes 18 muffins)

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1-1/4 cups milk
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2-1/2 cups diced fresh strawberries
1-1/2 cups sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper liners or grease muffin pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl, mixing thoroughly. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and melted butter. Add the liquid ingredients slowly into the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. (There will be some lumps in the batter.) Add the strawberries and sugar to the batter, stirring gently to combine.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups to fill the liners ¾ full. Sprinkle streusel topping (see below) on top of the muffins. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean and the muffins are lightly browned.

Streusel Topping

1-1/3 cups sugar
1-1/3 cups flour
1-3/4 tablespoons water
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened

Mix all ingredients until crumbly.

Now, with a warm strawberry muffin in your tummy, the challenge of Monday seems less daunting, doesn't it?

Hope you have a lovely week!

XOXO ~

Julie 

(Shared with The Backyard Farming Connection Blog Hop, From the Farm, and Wildcrafting Wednesday.)

Thank You, April Showers, for These May Flowers...Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

It's been a weirdly wet and wild spring here. With the upcoming Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's Upstate Farm Tour just around the corner on June 1 and 2, the wet and chilly weather made me a little nervous, trying to find a dry spell to plant the gardens. After all, who wants to visit a garden filled with empty raised beds?

Fortunately, the rain abated, the sun peeked out, and the main gardens are planted. Now, come on, rain, you're cordially invited back to help those veggies grow!

I suppose I should have waited to wish for rain. A week ago, our oldest son graduated from college during a torrential downpour. Fortunately, the university implemented Plan B, and we celebrated the graduates inside, where their new diplomas wouldn't disintegrate. 

We're very proud of Tyler, who graduated cum laude with a major in music composition. If you need a symphony written or a funky electronic piece composed, give him a call. Please.
 

And, look! A photo of our whole family! That's a rarity, as I'm usually behind the lens. (Note the rain-soaked hair. This is why I prefer being behind the camera. Also note Kristen's thrilled expression. It was quite a long ceremony for the siblings.)
 
I've warned Tyler that we'll be revisiting his campus to fake some outdoor photos in cap and gown. As you can imagine, he's thrilled.

Still, the rain--although ill-timed--did its job. The May blooms are popping throughout the garden, just in time for May Dreams Gardens' Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Walking by the pool, through the woods, around the chicken coop, and along the back seating area, the sweet, sweet scent of honeysuckle lingers in the air. What announces spring better than the fragrance of native honeysuckle? It's delicious. 
 

The edible gardens host lovely flowers, hinting at the yumminess to come. Chives...
 

...culinary green sage...

 

...'Provence' lavender, just about to bloom...

 

...and strawberries. Oh, the strawberries. I wish you could taste these organic beauties. The cute little flowers blanket the beds, and we're stuffing ourselves with the first flush of sweet fruit. Honestly, is there anything better than eating a sun-warmed strawberry straight from the garden, juice running down your chin? 

I think not.
 

Although, I have to admit, peas come a close second. Adorable blossoms in purple and white add ornamental beauty to the kitchen garden, plus our kids will actually eat peas without much complaint. Perhaps that's why I tend to overplant this crop.

The kids also eat grapes without complaint, and our first hint of summer yumminess is making a show in containers by the pool. Here's hoping for a stellar crop!

The herb gardens also sport a few blooms, with the valerian about to burst with white blossoms. 

Wildflowers throughout the property make gardening easy. Who doesn't love free, surprise blooms, like this cheerful daisy...

...or the bright blue of lyre-leaved sage? It spread beautifully by the herb gardens, and I'm loving it. The foliage is beautiful, too.

Isn't it cute?

While I love the wildflowers, the perennials and annuals take center stage in May's garden.

Fuschia baskets brighten the shady corners of the back garden.
 

Wisteria hugs the arbor leading to the pool, which we finally uncovered this week. With our 90 degree temperatures today, the kids are anxious for the murky waters to clear so they can begin the swimming season.

Encore azaleas continue to produce a few scattered pink blooms, while the gumpo azaleas in the front garden have just begun to show a few blooms.

One of my favorite plants, fringed bleeding heart, will produce blooms throughout most of the summer. It's such a workhorse for a shady garden.


This poor clematis was hidden by our behemoth viburnum, which I finally pruned after its spectacular show. I love finding plants I forgot about hidden under other plants...oops.

Our new woodland garden by the garage is progressing nicely. I just added it in the fall. With hostas, hellebores, Solomon's Seal, Oakleaf Hydrangeas, and fraise des bois, the only blooms currently showing are the recently added woodland phlox. I think in a year it will fill in nicely.

While I love roses, our (extremely) shady gardens allow only enough sun for three bushes, crammed together by the street. My rose bushes are sentimental garden additions, given to me by my mother and moved from my first house to our current home. 
 

The roses are bursting with blooms, enjoying the spring weather before the heat sets in and the pests come out in full force. I'm determined to deter my arch nemesis, the Japanese beetle, this year with strategic companion planting. Stay tuned.
 

Our cute ice plant also holds sentimental value. A sweet older lady who owned a small nursery gave it to our daughter when Kristen was an itty bitty thing. Truly, gardeners are the nicest people.

Last weekend, I finally changed out the mailbox garden, pulling up the tired pansies to make room for the summer perennials. I tucked in a new clematis, along with purple fountain grass and vinca, knowing we'll need the splash of color mid-summer. Of course, 'Miss Huff' lantana in this bed always provides decent color all summer until frost, attracting hummingbirds and butterflies. 

'Miss Huff,' it's time to make an appearance, please! (It's coming along behind the grasses.)

This poor, variegated weigela--how I love its sweet blooms. Sadly, it's listing to one side, stretching toward the sun...which is the result of my pushing the envelope, trying sun-loving plants in our shady garden.  Lesson learned.

The irises, however, are more forgiving. They've bloomed beautifully all spring.

The baptisia also blooms well in its patch of sun, attracting pollinators and adding a splash of brightness to the front walk garden.

Mexican evening primrose springs up each year in unexpected nooks in the garden, and I don't have the heart to pull it. I know, I know--I should be brutal and yank it out. Still, it adds such a sweet bit of color wherever it appears.

And even if I never intended for it to co-mingle with coreopsis, it's still kind of cheerful, don't you think? 

OK, I KNOW...it doesn't belong together at all. Next year, I swear, I'll be strong and yank that sucker out.

It's been my dream to grow peonies, even though I know our garden is too shady. Still, I tucked six small peony bushes in any bit of sun I could find...and each bush has one single bud. Crossing my fingers that next year I'll be cutting dozens of peony blooms to arrange inside. A girl can dream...
 

And finally...you know summer is upon us when the mandevilla blooms make an appearance. Soon, the vines will wind their way up the trellises by the pool, adding a tropical feel to the area.

With less than three weeks of school remaining, soon our days will be spent lounging by the pool rather than racing to activities.

I think I'm looking forward to summer vacation even more than the kids!

Did April's weather provide for many May blooms in your garden? What's your favorite spring bloom?

Happy Bloom Day to you!

XOXO ~

Julie 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

By the time you read this, perhaps I should wish you a Happy Belated Valentine's Day! It's late. The kids are watching TV, as there's no school tomorrow, and I'm playing catch up after a week of sick kids, Valentine's festivities, and seed sowing. Tomorrow, my sister undergoes surgery to remove a large tumor from her spine. I'll be playing nurse for awhile...poor Becky! Still, I know we'll all be relieved tomorrow when her surgery is over.

So, because I'll be a bit busy tomorrow, I cheated a little and took photos of today's blooms for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by May Dreams Gardens.

First, though, a Valentine for you from my garden..

'Something Magic' Hardy Cyclamen. The foliage is as lovely as its flowers.

'Silver Leaf' Hardy Cyclamen's vibrant blooms add a nice burst of color to the gray winter garden.

Although it's only February, spring feels close in South Carolina. It's hard not to feel anxious to start planting, because the garden is beginning to come alive.

Crocuses...peeking out from under leaf litter...

'Ice Follies' daffodils, one of my favorites, are a sure sign that spring is near. I've already harvested several bouquets for the kitchen.

  

Paperwhites, planted late in a new bed along the side of the house. The new bed, located in deep shade under a forest border, also contains... 

...hellebores...

...snowdrops, fraise des bois, oak leaf hydrangeas, hostas, and blueberry bushes. I'm working hard to develop a forest garden leading to the greenhouses.

Thank goodness for hellebores in the winter. Our few original plants have multiplied and spread throughout the front beds, forming thick clumps filled with blooms. A bee buzzed by me as I tried for a close up. (I abandoned my efforts, since I'm so allergic to bees.) 

The fall planted witch hazel seems on the verge of blooming. Honestly, though--it has been in this stage for a week. Will it come through and deliver its fragrant blooms? I'm crossing my fingers...

The forsythia is ready to pop. This year, I'm taking a few branches inside to enjoy their heralding of spring.

Aren't these the most adorable little irises? Iris reticulata, how I adore you. I wish I had planted hundreds of these bulbs in the garden.

Spring bulbs, in case you haven't noticed from my obsession with them for the cutting garden, are my favorite. Forced hyacinth bulbs add the loveliest sweet fragrance throughout the house...

...and soon, their fragrance will also fill the garden.

Still, nothing can beat the amazing fragrance of winter daphne. Planted in containers next to the front walk, I take a deep breath whenever I pass. My neighbors planted daphne in their front beds, and the scent drifting into our yard is incredible.

Our sweet camellias continue to bloom...
 

...with another round of blossoms soon to appear. 

  

But the bloom I'm most excited about this February? My first orange blossom! Last year, I purchased six citrus trees, overwintering them in the greenhouse. And today--the first bud burst open! I'm so excited! The fragrance is delicious.

The greenhouse is quickly filling with seedlings for Garden Delights--organic heirloom herbs, tomatoes, peppers, flowers...but that's a story for another day. 

Did you do anything special to celebrate Valentine's Day? Wishing you the loveliest of Valentine's Days--and a very happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day! And, if you have a moment tomorrow, please think good thoughts for my sister. Thanks so much, friends.

XOXO ~

Julie