In the garden: it keeps on giving

"This is why we do it!"
"Do what?", I hear you mutter.
"This is why we do home gardens; for the pleasure of eating freshly picked products which we planted."

The healthy salad
The pleasure was all mine with the recent salads. I was enjoying so much that I almost forgot to make photos.

I've been harvesting tomatoes, courgettes(zucchinis), bell peppers and various lettuce leaves for salads.

I made a simple salad dressing. I often use lemon but I like this dressing as well. It compliments the ingredients of the salad without overwhelming them. I usually eye-balled the recipe -it is basically 1/3 oil to vinegar. Although, this is about gardening - here is the simple recipe.
Ingredients:
300 ml extra virgin olive oil
100 ml white wine vinegar
celtic sea salt to taste
a pinch of black (if desired)
Mix/shake well to emulsify.

I sliced up the courgette thinly with a mandolin, poured a bit of the dressing over them to "satuee" them. Thereafter, the rest of the ingredients were added. This simple salad is a great accompaniment to any lunch. (Eating courgettes in this manner rather than cooking - ensures that there's still nutrients left in the vegetable.)

The giving garden
Last time, I talked about the incessant rain we were experiencing. Now we are having a heatwave with temperatures of 29-31 degrees Celsius. Nothing we can do about it - just takes it as it comes. The plants are happy and thriving in the sun.

From the salad, you can see that I have been harvesting many vegetables.

The tomatoes are ripening quickly. They are mildly sweet - so tasty enough to eat by themselves as snacks.

The **bush tomatoes **which produces these yellow tomatoes are heavy-ladened and grow close to ground. They provide many mild tasting tomatoes.

The courgette is "trained" to grow upward along the trellis.

It is doing well. Look behind leaves.

They are still a few there and more to come.

The butterbeans were finally growing. However, when I was not paying attention aphids took over the plants.

When I first spotted them - I was hoping the lady bugs would get rid of them. They did not eat them fast enough. As they were growing in the table garden, next to the courgette - I decided to removed all 8 plants.

The cucumbers and lettuce are still doing well.

However, something seems to be enjoying some of the green bell peppers.

I am willing to share - since there are still some left.

The potatoes are looking well. Soon it will be harvest time again.

I planted 1 purple kale seed. The plant grew and is looking healthy in the sunshine. I will add a few extra plants to garden.

On this colourful note, I will end my garden update. I am grateful that my home garden has done so well thus far this season.

I am so happy with my little "oasis" in the city.

All photos are my own.