With work kicking into full gear, I'm left scrambling to get the garden ready for planting. As if my plate wasn't already overflowing, there's the added distraction of all the things that are blooming that I'm itching to play with.
The creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) were glorious this year. I had something special planned for them but an unrelenting schedule and three days of rain have left them in a pitiful state of mush.
Ditto for the lilacs.
Oh, well…there's always next year (the gardener's mantra).
I was, however, able to harvest some of the tender young peach leaves.
Last year I learned that there is a short window– from the time that the blossoms drop until the fruit begins to set– that the flavor of the leaves is the least bitter and most almond-like.
I was able to harvest enough leaves to make a few liters of peach leaf beer, using a recipe for ginger beer. It's really more like a soda: light, crisp, barely-sweet, with refreshing effervescence from the addition of yeast.
Playing with Fire and Water 