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I adore this place. They are moving soon, so I wanted to capture a few memories.

Drifter Coffee, Ferndale, MI

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The nasturtiums bloomed! Such a pretty color.

Kale, cabbages, lettuce, and nasturtiums all poppin. Time to make lots of salads and other yummy green-filled meals.

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I know right? One minute they are docile little stems, then they come out of no where and go nuts, gnarling and twisting everywhere.

But also. I’m stoked! Obligatory first tomato photo:

Oh would you look at that, it’s already tomatoes are out of control season

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Rainy day cook book reading.

The white one in the middle, “Kitchen Table” by Shubalakshmi Shekar, is a sweet little collection of recipes and food stories from people living in Detroit.

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Garden greens, Detroit MI

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Salt City Birds, SLC, UT

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Happy Tuesday

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My favorite summer tradition: Café Coffee Porch!

Today featuring a mug from The Gathering Coffee Shop (rip), a mug made by Moon Ceramics, rhubarb rosemary pie by Sister Pie, and usually the coffee is from Eastside Roasterz or Sepia, but today we tried some Geisha coffee I found on a work trip. And rose from the garden.

Baby basil and dogwood tree we planted 2 years ago in the background.

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Garden progress! Both beds almost fully planted. Just need to fill in the end of the hot crop bed with more hot peppers since the Ohio peppers didn’t sprout and 3 cayenne were eaten.

The Patch is fully planted with corn, watermelon and pumpkin. Most of the corn has sprouted! When it’s 4” tall I’ll plant the beans and squash. It’s probably a little tight. I stuffed the patch last year and promised I wouldn’t this year, but it’s hard when you want so many things.

First rose and tomato flower :)

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Got the marigolds and replacement eggplants!

Thank you, Beaverland Farms!

Still need more cayenne. And the hot peppers seeds I planted from that Ohio never sprouted (too cold or Michigan hate??)

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Something ate 2 of 3 Japanese eggplants and 3 of 4 cayenne peppers.

I had almost zero problems with critters last year minus a bite of one cucumber and a hole in one pumpkin. I had marigolds in that bed last year and have been slow to it this year. Do we think that is what helped last year??

I am so sad. These were from Keep Growing Detroit (KDG). If I can find even replacement plants each plant is probably going to cost more than an entire annual membership. Sigh.

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First greens harvest!

Not decimated by bugs this year, hooray.

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Hot crops are in!

They include Persian cumbers (heirloom seeds my uncle brought from Iran), three types of tomatoes (sun gold cherry, black cherry, and Cherokee Purple), Asian eggplants, and lots of hot peppers (cayenne, hatch, guntur, Jamaican habanero). And “the patch” is half way planted with watermelon and corn for the three sisters experiment.

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Views from Milwaukee Cafe, Milwaukee Junction, Detroit

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Spring greens.

They are coming in better than last year. I learned a few things and the weather has been much cooler and less BUgS!

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The backyard, Detroit

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Agnes St., West Village, Detroit