July in my potager

Now into the second year of my gardening experiment, the results are positive and it is absolutly possible to have a vegetable garden in the city. By respecting certain basic gardening principles such as preparing the soil in the fall/winter, mulching, planting distance and choice of varieties it is really quite easy and for the last month aside from watering and planning new plantations there isn't really all that much work involved. Of course there are successes and failures which makes the challenge intresting and passionate. This year for some reason my zuccini plantlings died (I highly suspect my silly cats peed on them) so I have planted eggplant and red cabbage and ô surprise ! they are highly decorative plants. I also planted a round zucchini plant bought at the nursery with the cabbage plants and it is growing spectacularly well. Giant clover have spontaneously popped up among my vegetables and I love their pale leaves and pretty purple flowers. I don't know where they came from and they don't grow anywhere else in my garden.

I am in love mypoirées de couleur, or rainbow swiss chard which are amazingly decorative and productive too!! I need to find a new recipe because they are quite abundant with their huge leaves and stems. I have made so much gratins that I have put some in the freezer and have put them in my ministrone several times as well. I planted cucumber this year and am extremely happy with the variety, nice long fruit without seeds and thin skin. One plant is more than enough !! I have been particularly enjoying them sliced, salted, drained, then mixed with a greek yogurt, chopped mint and a large sprinkling of massalé. The tomatoes will soon be ripening and I love tomatoes and cucumber cubed and tossed together in a garlicy vinaigrette. This year I am trying a new variety of coeur de boeuf hoping it will be more disease resistant than those of last year. They are covered with green tomatoes so appear to be highly productive.

Only one bean plant has grown. I am sowing them again along with zuccini but this time in peat pots in a mini green-house and will plant them if they sprout (they didn't sprout). I sowed marigolds in the house and planted them in the garden and didn't expect such spectacular results !! They are gorgeous and in addition to being useful protectors for my tomato plants they are making my potager pretty! I also sowed several cappucine plants, all in the biological war against undesirable pests. This appears to be working, along with the ladybugs/gendarmes/hedgehogs/birds, my garden has been relatively pest-free this year. No aphids infesting my tomatoes, and no snails/slugs in my lettuces. I lost all of my boxwood to the caterpillar infestation that is ravaging all the boxwood across France, but on a positive note I have replaced them with a large variety of herbes and mints which are growing extremely well and are proving not only decorative but gastronomic. :)