Welcome to this summer edition of the weekend coffee share! Can I get you a cup of coffee? The photos in this post are from this morning’s visit to the garden. I rode my bike the 4miles/6,5km to the garden before 5am this morning. I wanted to beat the heat. Summer is here full force. The days are rather comfortable 79F/26C today, slightly warmer tomorrow, but nothing crazy. I still prefer the early mornings cool air and lack of biting insects.

It was a gorgeous morning. I watered the whole garden by hand before 7am, and spent a couple hours weeding. The weeds were under control when I left.

The first peony is always special.

I harvested the first Nero di Toscana today. I usually take a few of the bottom leaves from several different plants, and keep harvesting until well after the first frost in early December. I eat some right away and blanch some that I freeze to enjoy later on. These plants where planted using cold sowing, in the dead of winter.

After the morning dew vanished I harvested some oregano.

I hung the oregano to dry in small bundles, in my garden shed. (I also harvested some yellow and red onions that are drying in the shed, but forgot to take a picture of them).

I will leave you with a photo of the artistic Egyptian walking onions. I think they look like a piece of art with their unusual design.

How are you doing? I would love to hear about your week! I still have one more week of work to do, before I enjoy a few weeks of summer vacation. Do you have any vacation this summer? I am going to mostly have a staycation, with some shorter day-trips here and there. That is exactly what I need and want. There’s going to be lots of swimming in lakes, reading books, gardening, bike rides, coffee with friends, and perhaps some canoeing. Thank you Natalie for hosting the weekend coffee share!

Maria