Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Garden Veg

Yesterday, I did the flowers. Today, I'll do the veg itself. We're actually close to getting some produce out of this year's garden.

Basilic (basil) in a flower pot.

I looked back at 2006 and noticed that by this time that year, we were harvesting a lot. This year, the garden got put in a few weeks late because we were having too much fun with friends and not working in the yard.

The courgettes (zucchini) get larger every day.

If you remember, last year (2007) was pretty much a bust year for the garden. It was too wet and cold to get anything but the weeds to grow. We're hopeful that this year will be good and encourage us again for next year.

Five rows of haricots verts (green beans).
The fifth row, on the left, hasn't sprouted yet.

One of my plans this year was to plant successive rows of green beans so that we'd have a good continuous harvest right into fall. Surplus beans will be blanched and frozen so that we can eat them during the winter. I'll let you know if it works.

Little poivrons (bell peppers).

We're also looking forward to roasting and preserving our red bell peppers. They're great eaten with goat cheese or incorporated into a sauce.

Our first aubergine (eggplant) of the year.

And the eggplant, well, we just love eggplant. The plants we grew from seed have taken a long, long time to grow, and they're still small. But the two plants we bought at the market are in full flower and are producing fruit now. If the weather holds this year, the smaller plants might make it to production as well.

Little green tomates (tomatoes).

The same happened with the tomatoes. We bought four plants because our seedlings were just not growing. Those plants have fruit on them now. But the seedlings are in the garden and are trying to catch up - in fact two of them have little blossoms forming now.

Menthe (mint) and persil (parsley).

We also have some herbs. Parsley and basil, mostly, but also some tarragon and coriander. Of course, the perennial herbs continue to do well (thyme, rosemary, sage). And this year we added mint to our perennial club.

7 comments:

  1. Glad you removed that flower shop advertisement from yesterday's blog. I wonder how much money she gets from it, or is she advertising for a friend?

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  2. I hope you have now picked that zucchini and eaten it in its prime :-)
    Susan

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  3. Keep an eye on the mint: it can be an absolute thug and put out root runners everywhere. It's not unknown to keep it in a container of some sort to stop that happening - or is it a different variety from ours?

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  4. autolycus is right about the mint. They are invasive. I have experienced this occurrence in my herbs platebande. I will keep it in a pot like the basilic.

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  5. Looks like a very prolific year! I guess I don't have to tell you to "t'occupe-toi de tes oignons" because you're busy enough in the potager.

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  6. I thought your flowers looked great, but your veg look amazing..brilliant.

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  7. chm, I wonder.

    susan, not yet, but real soon.

    autolycus, I'm sure it's the same kind. I know its habits, so it's planted inside a well where it can't get out. But it will crowd out the parsley before the end of the year.

    beaver, good idea!

    rachael, I wish I had some onions!

    ann, thanks!

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