Rosemary hedge

Low maintenance, trim once or twice a year.. voila!

https://youtu.be/Tt_xunpl4mk

Purple plums in flower.

Okay.  Now I'm ready to plant peas!  I heard the frogs single my last week.

Chilean guava

This fig was really tasty this morning.  How did we get so lucky?!  I was told that in most cases, the second crop (this one) does not have time to ripen.

I also ate the berries of Chillean guava and the few ripe ones I found were really good.

Prunus laurocerasus, English laurel

These berries are sweet with a mild cofee taste.  The seeds are toxic so ma sure to spit the out.  Last year, production was poor.  This year I'm rich!

First mason bees have emerged

Go girls!  The men will be out soon after.

Thornless Blackberries

Absolutely delicious.  No thorns!  Tough plant!  Wow.

Combo #1

Thimble berry daylillies!

Hemerocallis

I wonder how these could be preserved? So crisp and nectary!  Yay daylillies:)

Strawberry!

It's totally awesome to share the first strawberry with Tessa.  On this steep, south facing slope, I think they are ripening early!  

Yum!

Here is the plant, surrounded by bind weed.  This slope needs all of the binding it can get as it used to be shaded by cedars and it's now exposed to the elements.

Berberis Darwinii in bloom

These flower, once pollinated, will make tasty berries.

Ferns

Bracken ferns are unfurling their fiddle heads.  Aquilinium esculent in.  Don't eat these raw.  The should be blanched and soaked in water for a couple hours and then fried.

Ribes Sanguineum (Red Flowering Currant)

These beautiful flowers make a great addition to salads or to decorate a dish.

Thanks for showing me to Tom Kral (Natures Chef).

Evergreen huckle berries

Yumm.  The ripe ones taste just like blue berries.  The less than ripe ones are like a mild Oregon grape.
I don't know of any other berries ripe for the picking at this time of year!
 

Catkins and baby shoots

Catkins on the hazel nut trees are quite nice to look at.  The day Lillie's shooting up mean it's spring!
 

Acca sellowiana. Pineapple guava (Fejoa)

Wow this tastes really good. I hope you get to try some one day.
they are right when soft and wrinkly like a fig.

Leccinum rotundifoliae

Leccinum rotundifoliae, edible mushrooms growing under birch trees.
To learn more check out http://www.svims.ca/council/Bolete.htm  Thank you Southern Vancouve Island Mycological Society!  I love you fun guys... and gils ;)

English Laurel Berries

Prunus laurocerasus fruit offers a tasty snack. The seeds and leaves are poisonous so don't chew them or swallow them. Only eat the flesh from around the seeds.

Berberis darwinii

Hey!  I've moved to Sooke and I've discovered another deer resistant evergreen that makes berries much sweeter than most.

Yucca filamentosa

The flowers can be eaten raw however I found them too bitter.  The flowering stalks, cooked like asparagus were good!  Of course, most things fried in butter are good.  :)

First Duck egg

Yumm...  Can't remember last time we had a duck egg.