How to Grow a Mediterranean Vegetable Garden in a Small Space©
 (Read 100+ times)
By Arlene Wright Correll
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When we think of Mediterranean vegetable gardens we rarely equate them to our good old gardens in the USA. We tend to think of tomatoes, sweet peppers, zucchini, squash as our own. Yet these are all vegetables that grow in the magnificent gardens in the Mediterranean and grew there long before our settlers grew them here. Let’s add Aubergines (eggplants) and yellow Courgettes (zucchini) and you are now thinking what about the “small space” mentioned in the title of this article?
You can grow these very easily in containers on your patio, in your small courtyard or any other space you have that receives about 4 to 6 hours of sun a day and you will be able to have the same satisfaction that any other vegetable gardener has as long as you remember to water the containers faithfully since containers need watering more often than regular gardens do.
Should you wish a true Mediterranean vegetable garden with true Mediterranean vegetables than you will need to find the seed for those special vegetables and you do not need a lot of them. Three different kinds of tomatoes will do you fine and the seeds I recommend are the following:
1. Small cherry tomatoes such as Tiny Tim, Tumbler and Sweet 100 to use whole in salads and cooking. These grow busy and produce a nice tangy and sweet taste.
2. Marmade is large French beef tomato which is also a bush variety and can easily be grown in a large container, but needs to be outside as it needs bees to pollinate it. However, it does not need pinching or pruning.
3. For canning and drying then you want a nice tall vine tomato called San Marzano Lampadina which is a wonderful plum tomato used widely in southern Italy.
When you plant your Aubergine or eggplant seeds or plants in your container you will be twice blessed because they produce lovely lilac and gold flowers, mauve tinted leaves as well as glossy purple fruit. I find that picking these small make for a much better eating eggplant. (We north Americans tend to think big, however, I find the bigger the vegetable the less true flavor and taste it has.) These are easy to grow even though they may seem exotic and do not require staking as the tomatoes may. If you start the seed or have purchased a plant only transplant them to your larger container when the roots fill up the pot they are growing in and work your way up to a 7 or 8” container. They will need the same love and care as the tomatoes which are lots of sun and lots of water, watering at the base of your plants.
Even the blackest of thumbs can grow sweet peppers and chili peppers in a container. Choose the kind you like and I suggest your choose a miniature bell pepper for containers. You might try Red Skin, Jingle Bells or Baby Belle which are all nice. In the Basque country of south-western France chili or cayenne peppers are really popular and the varieties are vast not only in shape but also in degrees of heat. I find that Firecracker produces purple, red, orange, cream colored cone shape fruit.
The small compactness of the Gold Rush Courgette (zucchini) are much more bland and mellower in flavor than the green type and I seem to like them better especially the grand colors of their blossoms which can be stuffed or frittered when they are picked early in the morning. For this vegetable in a container garden you will need 1 pot for each plant and each pot must be at least 10 inches in diameter.
Well, you have the start of a nice small Mediterranean vegetable container garden that will give you joy, satisfaction, healthy eating and now all you need is a good Provencal recipe for ratatouille!
“Tread the Earth Lightly” and in the meantime… May your day be filled with…
Peace, Light and Love,
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries and to take a walk through her pictorial garden or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books, including her new book, “The ABC’s of Wine and Beer Making”. Many of her articles written for Greenthumbarticles have paintings she has created of the subject and they can be seen at her “How to Do It” site. Remember to check out her artwork, especially of her fruits and vegetables. Many of her paintings are sold internationally and many of her works of art have been reproduced on note cards, post cards and other functional items and you can get Giclee prints of her artwork starting as low as $11.89 Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books, art, etc. go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my sites.”
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