Anticipation

Before I get into this post, let me tell you about the dinner I just had. I've been craving it all week. The only negative thing about it was that the tomatoes weren't fresh from my garden. More on that later. My plate contained a caprese salad, fresh cucumber (thinly sliced -- picked straight out of the garden) and slices of ciabatta bread. The salad is made by slicing fresh tomatoes (preferably room temperature, or just out of the garden) and adding in chunks of fresh mozzarella (which does not grow in a garden), and torn basil leaves. Then drizzle a bit of olive oil over the salad, and add freshly ground sea salt and pepper to taste. I sometimes add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar as well. Also, if I had more time, I would have made some roasted garlic to put on the ciabatta, and seared the bread on the grill with some olive oil. But to me, caprese salad is the epitome of summer. And if you didn't try the fresh corn salad recipe posted last week, I suggest you do. It turned out better than I remembered, so good that I'm making it again tomorrow. Kyle got a grill finally, and I'm looking forward to spending more time eating out on the beautiful deck.

Summer, summer, summer, summer . . .

Baby bush beans. We've harvested 5 batches already, but there are more to come! We have green and yellow, and I really like the yellow ones.

Yellow squash

Cherry tomatoes. We have four tomato plants -- heirloom, roma, cherry, and Oregon Spring. I cannot wait for the tomatoes to ripen!! They will probably all ripen when I'm out of town. It will be sad to miss that glorious moment. We have about 100 green ones right now.

I bought four varieties of blueberry bushes to plant in the backyard. In a few years we should have berries galore all season long. Won't that be fun?

Here is one of our garden beds. These tomato plants are six feet tall. They are mutants. I guess the expensive organic soil was worth it.

Hayden by the big cherry tomato plant. This thing is trying to take over the world. Or at least the garden.

We've had delicious lettuce for about six weeks now. It is dying off a bit because of the hot weather, so I will probably pull it and plant again in September.

We found some deck chairs on a major sale. No table yet, though, because all the clearance stuff was ugly. So we'll probably wait until next year to get a table. We have a long folding one that should do the trick for now. We sit out on the deck almost every evening. It is shady and pleasant. Come over!

We were going to do a built-in bench at this end of the deck. We left room for future owners of this house to put in a hot tub, though, so we're not sure we should block it off. Instead, I think we'll get a wicker loveseat, table, and chairs for a nice sitting area. Then I'm going to do three decorative trellises right off the edge of the deck and plant some climbing flowering plants. That should look cool, huh?

I'm itching to buy pots for the deck and fill them with annuals, but we're going to be out of town for three weeks in August, so I don't see the point. I'll do it when I get back for sure, though, and most things should be on sale by then. It's fun to have an outdoor space to work with.

What are you working on in your yard?

Amy

PS -- I'm close to my 300th post and my 2 year blog anniversary. Thanks to all you readers! I'm also up to 17 followers. That makes me feel good. Feel free to add yourself to the following list.