July - Potager Update

Here's a quick update on how my garden grows.......................
This morning in between rain showers I spent some quiet time hoeing, weeding and generally tidying up the potager.

Dwarf runner bean"Hestia"
The seeds were a gift from Gay

Getting my hands in the dirt is my idea of fun, no gardening gloves for me, which is why I recently joined Sharon Lovejoy's Grimy Hands Girls Club.
Thanks to Pondside for pointing me in that direction.

Dwarf Haricot beans

Lynn @ Happier Than A Pig in Mud recently shared her recipe for Pickled String Beans, in a week or so I think these guys will be ready to be picked and pickled!

Top: second sowing dwarf haricot seedlings.
Middle: Spicy, peppery rocket..
Bottom left, just visible: Red oak leaf salad.

I think that this is my favourite time of the year, when all the hard work starts to pay off.

It is one of my life's joys, each evening, to carefully step between the rows and pick mesclun leaves for the salad bowl or a small handful of yellow and green dwarf haricot beans to go with a simple steak and frites.

Courgettes; round, green or yellow, (zucchini) get a quick egg wash and breadcrumb coating, before frying gently in butter, they go well with steak too.
Or I could make zucchini bread.
I came across a great recipe on Becky's blog " Not Your Ordinary Agent" earlier this week.

As well as cauliflower and cabbages I planted Chinese leaf a type of crunchy oriental cabbage, for the first time this year.

It has a very mild flavour and can be eaten raw in salads, steamed to serve as a side vegetable, or added to a vegetable stir fry for a quick and easy supper dish.

Today's potager produce; yellow and green courgettes; a handful of beans; chinese leaf for steaming
and
a pretty blue hibiscus flower.

Joining The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays

and

 Mary @ the little red house for Mosaic Monday.

Click on the links above

or on the sidebar

 to visit their wonderful blogs.

Mother Nature's Bounty.

You probably know by now that I love to grow my own vegetables in the potager outside my back door?

I love looking out of the kitchen window and "watching my garden grow".

I can spend hours out there planting, weeding, watering and nuturing, it's the number one priority for me during the summer.

So, just to show you what I've been doing instead of blogging, some photo's of Mother Nature's bounty which we have enjoyed this past week.

Am I allowed to brag a little bit?

On the menu this evening.
Bon appetit.