There is nothing like homegrown tomatoes. You always hear that from gardeners all over. Funny, I love growing tomatoes but I cannot eat them solo like my husband does. In fact, I just learned to eat tomatoes in 1995 when I first came to America, and I started with the green ones paired with shrimp paste as a side dip to eating fried fish. My (past)  aversion for tomatoes goes back to when I was a little girl. My Tatay (Dad)  used to have me drink a glass of tomato juice at dinnertime. (And there is no saying NO to him). For a season of how long, I could not remember, I dreaded dinner  because as I walked towards the table each time, the glass of tomato juice is already standing full and red by my plate, smiling at me. I am glad I got over that because now, I do not mind drinking ice-cold tomato juice, or having ripe tomatoes in my salad.

Down below is the tomato salad I made for Steve at lunch today. He polished it off in no time and gave me a thank you and a kiss.

Garden tomatoes, olives, basil, gorgonzola cheese drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Steve said this is like the very salad he ate in Greece last summer.

So we came home last night from  a two-week vacation in Colorado. As soon as I opened our gate to our property, my eyes were happily delighted to find my garden so lush and green. Our teenager neighbor who is also a lifeguard  in our Beach community, whom I asked to water my garden did very well.

This hibiscus usually blooms when I am on vacation. I am so happy to see some buds waited for me  to open.

Steve gave me this  plant as pasalubong in 2003. It's been coming back every summer and blooming wildly.

As soon as I saw these last night, I knew we were going to have pasta with tomatoes and  basil  today,  and so we did!

I gave some to our neighbor...these are more than enough....

my sister Ellen gives me this stunted ficus plant

the lilies finally bloomed

the lowly chayote 

purple stemmed malabar spinach mingling with it's green stemmed cousin

waterspinach (kangkong) is getting ready for a second harvest

my ever trusty red hibiscus getting ready to bloom...I may not be around to see its fiery beauty, but my neighbors always enjoy them

I totally forgot about this green stemmed malabar spinach under the porch bench (try saying that!)  and look how beautifully it's twining itself up to get to the sun.
How will I ever begin to eat this charmer?

the fuschia hydrangea's turn to shine

Panache Tiger fig growing ever sooo slowly....

what a beauty huh? 

chartreuse with dark green stripes
can't wait to sink my teeth to these ones

some herbs and fruits from the garden
applemint, peppermint, garlic chive, spicy oregano, plain oregano, sage, green and purple basil, tomatoes and strawberries

second blooming of the English rose Wedgewood

Another hot day. My hydrangeas are bowing down, stevia leaves are wilting. I spent a long time soaking the garden up. I've chopped off the sugar snap peas as well as the nasturtiums (that had a few flowers left and a lot of aphids). Yeech! Blueberries were eaten off the bush as well as a few raspberries. We never got a chance with the strawberries. Some critter got to them first. 

Picture below are my meager harvest of purple, almost black potatoes, green tomatoes and sugar snap peas.

black purple and white potatoes

these green tomatoes are casualties as the plants were tied together

golden raspberries

really sweet sugar snap peas

my hydrangeas

I made this jar of Habanero-peach  hot sauce this morning for my brother-in-law who requested it. This will travel to Canada on the  4th of July.