Zucchini, peppers and other fruit-vegetables are especially appreciated now, because they are perfect for light summer cooking and grilling.With good care, their harvest can last for many weeks, as long as the weather does not spoil our tastes.Summer of the century is not necessary, but the air temperature during the day should be above 20 ° C and by the end of August, which guarantees an abundance of fruit.
In warm regions, the cultivation of zucchini and sweetcorn begins at the end of April. Sowing ends in mid-June. From mid-May, we can resign from forcing the plants in pots, and we sow the seeds directly into the ground in the bed.Both vegetables are good partners for each other in coordinate cultivation. Tall maize protects the thermophilic zucchini from the wind.On the other hand, large zucchini leaves cover the surface of the bed, reducing evaporation and deafening the weedsBoth maize and zucchini like fertile and humus soil. When preparing the bed, do not save on garden compost.
Fertilization is the key to bountiful harvests
It is also worth adding a slow-acting organic fertilizer for vegetables or horn chips or other natural nutrient to the dug soil. In a small plot, corn is sown or planted together with green beans, and instead of a bushy or climbing zucchini, such as the green variety 'Defender' or round-fruited rondini 'Floridor', we choose classic climbing forms, such as 'Black Forest' .These varieties also thrive in boxes next to trellises for creepers on a balcony or terrace.Here and on the flowerbed, they can be planted with basil or other annual herbs.
Due to the high soil and climate requirements, paprika was long considered a vegetable unsuitable for amateur cultivation. However, its new varieties appear not only in vegetable patches, but also in pots and containers as a decorative vegetable, creating a Southern mood around them. The color, shape and sharpness of the fruit depend on the variety, which we can choose according to individual preferences.Fruits are light green, yellow, orange, red and purple, spherical in shape to narrow pointed pods, and flavor ranging from mild and sweet to fiery sharp.Peperoni 'Fireflame' forms narrow, long pods, ripening from green to red.
Pepperoni peppers from your own vegetable garden
Those who like spicy marinades or exotic dishes will surely enjoy this variety of peperoni with a spicy flavor of cayenne pepper.Juicy pods of 'Tommy' tomato pepper, vegetable pepper, e.g. the 'Bontempi' variety or 'Atris' pepper with thick-sided fruit, are perfect for salads, stuffing or grilling.
'Pantos' paprika with elongated, firm and sweet pods won the taste tests with children. Like all tall varieties, it is led in three main shoots, tied to poles. When planting, it is worth enriching the substrate with a large dose of compost (3-5 l / m2).The surface of the bed is covered with agrotextile or mulch material, such as dried cut grass, shredded plant parts after harvest and garden remains.From the beginning of the fruit setting period, feed the paprika with liquid fertilizer for vegetables. Pinching out the first flowers (royal flower) is a controversial procedure. The conducted experiments did not show its beneficial effect on increasing the size and quality of fruit.
Carrot seeds sprout at temperatures above 5 ° C.If the soil is moist and rich in humus down to the deeper layers, there should be no problems with summer sowing as well.From March to June, we sow fast-growing deli varieties suitable for salads or for direct eating.To save effort when breaking, it's a good idea to buy seeds on belts. At the beginning of summer, we also sow varieties rich in carotene and well tolerating storage, such as 'Robila' and 'Rodelika'. Both organic varieties amaze with the strong carrot flavor we remember from our childhood. And just like in the past, young plants are thinned by hand, 5 cm apart, so that the roots grow straight and strong.
Fresh and tasty summer vegetables
Carrot
Young carrot roots are particularly delicate, often even sweet, but most often they are not very aromatic because they contain little volatile oils that create the smell.Early varieties can only be used fresh and can only be stored for a few days.
Harvest late carrots when the tips of its leaves turn red or yellow, and the roots are no longer conical, but cylindrical.
Peppers, peperoni
Pepper fruits are picked on a regular basis, according to your preferences, shortly before or after reaching full maturity. The green pods are always unripe and have a green aftertaste. As they mature, they turn yellow, orange, red or purple, depending on the variety.
Red pepper contains the most sugar. Pepperoni fruits become sharp as they mature. Before using the pod, it is worth checking its sharpness, because there can be large differences between individual fruits.
Sweet corn
It usually takes about 13 weeks from sowing to harvesting maize. Cut the cobs from the main shoot only when the grains are light yellow and have reached milk maturity, i.e. they are still soft.As an indication, it can be assumed that this is the moment when the threadlike stigmas of the pistils begin to turn brown and dry up.
Zucchini
Perfectly sized fruits are 10-15 cm long. The picked rondini fruits should not be smaller than a golf ball and not larger than a tennis ball.
