Eggs and Edible Weeds.

A nice surprise for Easter, our chickens have finally started laying eggs. At first I thought it was a prank and someone put them there to trick us because I kept on complaining we still had no eggs. But no. They are laying on average two eggs per day, more than we really need. The smaller darker eggs belong to Maria Augusta, our laying hen. The larger lighter colored eggs belong to another chicken that shall remain nameless for practical reasons.

I learned of another edible weed that tastes just like cabbage. Not that we really need more cabbage in our diet, but this is really quite a delicious version. Here we call it ´Couve do Monte`(Hill Cabbage), but I can´t seem to find it mentioned anywhere to give you its ´real´ name in English. It does not cease to amaze me how many edible weeds there are.

The pear trees are in bloom. Pretty.

I am working on a new order for a patchwork quilt. I can´t show you any more than the fabrics chosen because I have been asked to keep the design a surprise. It is coming along nicely and I will show you the finished result, most likely about a month or so from now.

A potholder made from left over fabrics.

And finally some watercress in the creek. Not enough to bake a cake yet, but not to worry. I am sure there will be more watercress than I can poke a stick at soon enough. Surrounding the watercress, you can see submerged another creek delicacy. The name given here to this "creek salad" is ´Meruje´. It is Montia Fontana, from the Portulacaceae family. People go crazy over this stuff, I find it nothing special really, and much prefer its relative the Portulaca Oleracea, also know as Little Hogweeed.

Weeds... weeds, what are weeds really?

Well... I think Ralph Waldo Emerson put it quite nicely when he said that a weed is "A plant whose virtues have not been discovered yet." Of course we also know what Bob Marley would have to say on that subject.