SummerThe season of abundance and the watering can
The Belgian summer alternates between real heat and grey weeks, and the vegetable garden follows suit. Tomatoes redden in the greenhouse or against a wall, courgettes produce faster than you can cook them, beans call for picking every other day. It is the season when you harvest, water in the evening, mulch to hold the water in, and already think about autumn by sowing lamb’s lettuce, winter radishes and cabbages. The garden feeds you, and it is there to be shared.
The priorities for the season
- Water in the morning or evening, at the base, less often but generously.
- Mulch anything bare to keep the soil cool and hold back the weeds.
- Harvest often: that is what keeps courgettes, beans and cucumbers producing.
- Sow autumn and winter already: lamb’s lettuce, spinach, black radish, turnip, spring cabbage.
In the vegetable garden and orchard
What happens in summer
We’re sowing
Let's plant
We harvest
- Tomato
- Courgette
- Cucumber
- Sweet pepper
- Aubergine
- French bean (dwarf bean)
- Garden pea
- Broad bean
- Potato
- Carrot
- Beetroot
- Radish
- Turnip
- Onion
- Garlic
- Shallot
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Rocket
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage
- Broccoli
- Florence fennel
- Swiss chard
- Rhubarb
- Basil
- Parsley
- Chives
- Thyme
- Mint
- Coriander
- Dill
- Strawberry
- Raspberry
- Redcurrant
- Blackcurrant
- Blueberry
- Blackberry
- Apple
- Pear
- Plum
- Cherry
- Fig
- Melon
On the plate
Eating seasonal food
Summer is eaten almost without cooking: tomatoes warm from the garden, cucumber, raw courgette in thin ribbons, beans barely blanched, soft fruit straight from the bush. The surplus becomes passata, pickles, jams and jars, so you can find the taste of July in the depths of January.
Living well
The evening picking round, when the light fades and the heat drops away, is a ritual well worth a relaxation session. You come back with your hands full, cook what you are holding, and the meal becomes the natural conclusion of the day.