Battling the garden jungle

Are any of you other gardeners out there having a late summer battle against jungle-like vegetables and flowers? I'm afraid I misjudged just how huge some things can get. Here are some examples.
Zucchinis
Next year the zucchinis will not be in the potager proper. They do not conform to the rule of thumb that no plant should be taller than the horizontal dimensions of the bed it's in. Also, I'm only going to have one plant instead of two. I have moss roses (aka purslane) I grew from seed (portulaca grandiflora) that only blossom when the sun shines on them, and the zucchinis have effectively prevented this. So every day I chop off huge leaves - up to two feet in diameter - to give them and also my boxwoods some light. The zucchinis are supposedly a climbing variety. That may well be, but they have conquered every pole I tried to fasten them to, just too heavy. One day an entire plant had collapsed on the ground, and I needed my husband to lift it. (Please click to enlarge.)

Here views of the moss roses right after I chopped off some zucchini leaves and a little later after they'd then gotten some sun. What you see on the stevia is a snail collar. If you have a slug problem like I do, I highly recommend them. My stevia was almost completely devoured and is now doing nicely.

Sunflowers
A gardening friend gave me some small seedlings after I'd admired her sunflowers last year. I planted them in one of my rose beds, carefully protecting each of the small plants with a snail collar. They turned into hardy plants, and when they'd reached about 2 meters in height (about 6.5 feet) I expected them to start blooming, as hers long since were. Here a shot of how they looked at this height.

But no, some of them didn't even have marked buds at this height, and they just kept growing and growing, jack-and-the-beanstalk-like. They've now reached over 3 meters (over 12 feet) and are starting to bloom, with up to 20 blossoms per stalk! I'm afraid some of the roses and my potted tomatoes along the wall of the cottage might not be getting enough sun, but think they are spectacularly worth it.

The flowers are already attracting birds and bumble bees.

Nasturtium (Kapuzinerkresse)
My predecessor in the allotment had attempted to build a brick compost container, which turned out to be impractical since it had no earth contact and was impossible to empty. He soon realized this and had just closed it with a board. I decided to fill it with earth and see if it would work as a raised bed. As a first try I planted nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) in it with great results. No aphids either. They haven't blossomed a lot, but the leaves are beautiful and a perfect cover for a previous sore spot in the garden. I am having to cut it back, though, in order to get to the compost bins.

Blackberries
OK, I admit that our sprawling blackberries are running riot because of pruning mistakes, although I do sort of enjoy the jungle-like feeling they give our patio enclosure. Our neighbor has kindly offered to help us prune them this year. HIS blackberries are perfect, and he's already pruned them for the winter, leaving just one or two stalks per plant. I'm sure we'll have a better harvest if we're more severe about pruning. I have to frequently chop away at them to ensure the survival of the Kerria japonica (Ranunkelstrauch) we planted in the spring.

Zillions of zucchinis (with recipes)

First off I want to apologize to any readers I may have for my long absence. Things were topsy-turvy for a while, but I'm finally writing a blog post again.

Now that it's midsummer I'm starting to harvest vegetables, including up till now onions, garlic, and herbs, but above all right now: zucchinis. I tried to solve the space problem by raising my own from seeds which promised "climbing zucchinis", i.e. that could be fastened to poles like tomatoes. Well, they did produce a longish main stem which I tied to poles, but also produced huge lateral branches that take up just as much room as conventional zucchinis. The two plants I have seem to bear twice as much fruit as normal zucchinis! Here are some impressions of how they're now dominating my hedged-in potager (click to enlarge):

Since I harvest up to four zucchinis a day, I've been experimenting with recipes and have come up with a few the family likes. Here are two of our favorites:

Zucchini-vegetable cream soup

Ingredients for four generous servings: 3 medium zucchinis, 1 potato, 1 medium onion, 1 clove garlic, 3 tomatoes, 2 small or 1 large carrot, 50 ml whipping cream, vegetable broth (granules or cubes), hand blender for pureeing.

Peel and chop the potato, carrots, onion, and garlic; chop the zucchini and tomatoes, about like this.

Sauté the onions and garlic for a few minutes in a small amount of butter, then add and briefly sauté the zucchini, carrots and potato.


  
Add the tomatoes and broth to almost cover the vegetables. I use vegetable stock, but you could also use beef or chicken bouillon. Simmer until tender and puree coarsely. Stir in the whipping cream and season to taste. IMPORTANT: This soup needs lots of freshly ground black pepper.

Serve with freshly chopped herbs, a drizzle of cream and a dusting of freshly ground black pepper. I use a mixture of chopped chives, garlic chives, oregano and rocket.





Zucchinis gratinée

Ingredients for four servings: 4 zucchinis cut in half lengthwise, 2 tomatoes, about 100 g of gouda or parmesan, some day-old baguette, olive oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper. Butter to grease the baking dish.

Grease a baking dish, place the zucchinis in it and drizzle with olive oil. Salt and pepper generously.

Grate the cheese and baguette and mix together (the baguette has to be very dry). Sprinkle mixture over the zucchinis. Slice the tomatoes and distribute on top. Generously salt and pepper the tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for about half an hour in medium oven or until the zucchinis are tender and the topping is slightly browned.

Serve with pasta or rice and tomato sauce.








Guten appetit!