Hi Reader,

Maycember is in full swing around here. I thought I could escape the end-of-school-year schedule crunch because we homeschool, but nope, it's still total chaos—and maybe even worse because a lot of it is of our own doing. It's good chaos, but chaos none the less.

The garden is also taking every spare minute we have (we're drowning in lettuce, the weeds are trying to take over, and of course, I've added just one more bed about 10 times), and I also have 100 recipe ideas bouncing around in my brain that demand to be tested right this very second. Anyway, here's a peek at what's been keeping me busy this week.

From My Kitchen

It's berry time! Thanks to an unusually hot spring, we're already into fresh strawberry season around here. We grow a few plants for fresh eating, but we get most of our strawberries for freezing and for making jam from a local u-pick spot up the road. We usually pick about 8 gallons of strawberries to put up for the year!

Chicken all the things. The family art time theme lately has been very on-brand for our household: chickens. My daughter is in her Full Chicken Era and honestly? Her love of our feathered friends is pretty contagious. So painting chickens is now how I spend my free time. I'm proud of how they turned out!

Baby hashbrown casseroles. I have been deep in recipe testing mode this week, and this is the dish I cannot stop making and eating. It's cheesy, it's cozy, it's everything you want for breakfast. The recipe is almost ready, and I cannot wait to share it with you. Keep an eye on your inbox next week!

Drowning in lettuce. Our lettuce is going wild in the garden right now, and it's hard to keep up! We have about a million heads coming in, which means we've been eating allllll the salads. Garden lettuce in spring is one of life's great simple pleasures, so I'm not mad. This pretty lady is Flashy Trout Back, and she's one of our favorite romaine varieties.

Strawberry chia pudding. When life gives you approximately one million strawberries, you make strawberry chia seed pudding. It's fruity, it's sweet, it's creamy, and it's also packed with 25g protein and 11g fiber! I posted the recipe brand new this week so you can enjoy it this strawberry season!

Flower power. This patch of clover next to our greenhouse might not look like much now, but this is the future home of my cutting flower garden. I have grand visions of zinnias and dahlias and little bundles of flowers at a roadside stand this summer. Whether reality matches the fantasy remains to be seen, but I am having so much fun planning it!

• 💡 Try this: When you buy a big head of lettuce (or harvest one), cut it up, wash, and stash your lettuce still wet into Veji Bags for long term storage. I can get a week or more using this method! No salad spinner necessary.
• 💭 Something I figured out: If you're drowning in strawberries right now like I am, get yourself a strawberry huller. I thought they were silly for years, but then a lady at the strawberry u-pick spot said it would change my life, and she was right. It makes hulling so much faster than using a knife. I've had mine for ages, and it still works great.
• 🧰 Worth buying: I reach for my serrated bread knife more than any other knife in my kitchen. Crusty sourdough? Yes. A perfectly ripe tomato? Obviously. A fresh head of lettuce straight from the garden? Surprisingly, also yes. A good serrated knife is genuinely one of the most underrated tools in the kitchen, and I use mine approximately one million times a day.

Here's to Maycember. May your chaos be the good kind! Preferably with strawberries.

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