Urban Gardening - Early July

I was afraid to come back to a crispy little urban garden after my vacation. Apparently, that rain dance worked. I'll keep up the tapping, jigging, and shuffling.A month ago, we had itty-bitty baby cucumbers, eggplants, and jalepenos. Now, those babies are all grown up and ready to eat. The cucumbers are making a run for the neighbors yard, so I snatch those delinquents back over and make vinegar marinated cucumber salad, a cool and refreshing summer staple that gets better as it sits – and even better with tomatoes.

The eggplant in the garden is a variety called 'Fairy Tale', which I've never grown. I don't like the traditional Italian eggplant, simply because the fruit is too big and more eggplant than I know what to do with. I usually grow the long, slender Japanese varieties because they are smaller and more tender. I couldn't find any Japanese eggplant starters this year, so gave 'Fairy Tale', a miniature eggplant, a try. The purple fruits striated with white are absolutely gorgeous.

The jalepenos will probably end up in salsa – once the tomatoes ripen. 'Juliet' (tomatoes in this picture are smaller than they appear), not so early 'Early Girl', and too young for his stripes 'Mr. Stripey'

In the last post I mistakenly wrote that we had baby cherry tomatoes; we actually have a variety called 'Juliet', a prolific grape tomato. Grape tomatoes are slightly larger than cherry tomatoes and smaller than plum tomatoes, and oblong instead of round. Like cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes are perfect for popping in your mouth or throwing on salads. We also have an early variety, 'Early Girl'. Apparently, girlfriend doesn't wear a watch. The boy picked out 'Mr. Stripey', a low acid heirloom tomato that I neither love nor hate. I kinda like acidic tomatoes; it's how it's supposed to be, but I understand that some people have problems with acid. Head on view of the garden. The walls are turning green.

We pulled all the lettuce except one – they all bolted and were old and bitter. The boy likes bitter lettuce, so he gets one – just one! – plant. We also pulled the beets that were growing on the shady side of the garden. Like the kohlrabi on the shady side of the garden, the beets never developed a bulbous base. In addition to the two existing basil plants in pots, three new basil plants (pictures taken before the deed was done) went into the raised bed for maximum basilosity.

Urban Gardening - Early March
Urban Gardening - Early April
Urban Gardening - Mid-April
Urban Gardening -Early May
Urban Gardening - Late May
Urban Gardening - Late June