First bounty of the season

One of the great things about going out of town in June is the Seattle weather is still mild enough to pamper your plants, and can even give you a nice amount of rain.  We recently returned from a trip to the Bahamas, and here is the yard that greeted us:

Strawberries, ripe and delish

A couple weeks later, even with weeding and trimming things back, and things are busting out even more. 

I harvested a nice bowl of strawberries that are so fresh, they have a hearty, rich feel to them as I pop them in my mouth.  They're not rock-hard, like strawberries can tend be from the grocery store.  

I also plucked some fresh sugar snap peas from the trellis to snack on.  Yum.

The herbs are threatening to take over, so I'm starting to look up recipes for things like fennel ice cream (yet to be tested), and sage tea (which was delicious with a bit of honey).  

Red Russian kale

The kale is still young, but needed more thinning.  So I took advantage of this and slipped some young greens into my grilled cheese sandwich for lunch today:

The red russian kale has a tanginess, with a slight honey aftertaste.  Perfect with cheddar and tomato.  

All's I can say is, I love summer in Seattle.  Harvesting endless tasty food from your yard is what it's all about.