Well hello! It’s been a little while since I’ve updated you on the happenings of my life and garden. That is mainly because there isn’t much of a garden when we’re this deep into winter. I would be showing you the same pictures of my sad Brussels sprouts that are still trying to hang on to life and a bunch of dirt and sticks, because that’s about all we’ve got right about now! It’s ok, though, as there are many other things to do this time of year. You might have noticed more of a focus on cooking and fermenting posts around here, because that’s what I tend to do in the winter. But, spring will be here before we know it and the mad planting and foraging will begin once again! Here is Cosmo the kitten wondering what happened to the garden. It’s his garden, you know, so he gets upset when it’s not to his liking!

Honestly, though, he loves playing in the bare thicket that was once the raspberry plants. He finds lots of good bugs to eat in there.

Besides the Brussels sprouts, one of the only other plants that is hanging on is the artichoke. I’m a bit surprised that it lived through all the snow and wind that we’ve had, and I still have hope that it will actually do something this spring. We’ll see!

Here is what my gorgeous lavender field looked like a couple of weeks ago.

All of that snow has melted now, and it has started to warm up a little. The yarrow really wants spring to come! I keep telling it to not get too excited yet.

After a big windstorm a couple of weeks ago I came across these giant hollow Madrone tree rounds from a fallen tree up the road. I want to bring them home and turn them into planters, but they are so heavy!

In the kitchen I’ve been doing many things with citrus, including making preserved lemons. I can’t wait to use these in a recipe when they’re finished! Moroccan chicken anyone?

I’ve also been doing a little brewing, which is a great activity when it’s cold and snowy outside. I have a couple of gallons of hard cider brewing, and I also started a 5 gallon batch of mead made with green apples, oranges and raspberries. Should be delicious once it’s finished!

And that’s about it for the past few weeks! Many of these pictures were taken from my Grow Forage Cook Ferment Instagram page, which I update fairly regularly about my day to day doings. Give me a follow if you want to see what I’m up to! I also have a brand new Instagram page for Coco’s Herbals which will have lots of fun herbal pictures for you to look at.

I also wanted to let my email subscribers know that I’m going to be changing the way I do my emails. Instead of sending out an email every time there is a new post on the blog, I’m going to just do one weekly email that will have links to all my new posts, plus cool things like special coupon codes for Coco’s Herbals and other surprises! I’m also hoping to make it a bit more personal, because my readers are my people and I want to build a lasting relationship with you guys. Please let me know if there is anything that you would like to see, whether it be on the blog or in my weekly newsletter. Oh, and if you haven’t subscribed yet, now’s a great time to do it!