Tomatoes, Zucchini, and Arugula, oh my!

  I know..... I was a bit late in the game to start my vegetable garden this year ( end of May). At least, I will not have the formidable chance of a fluke hailstorm that pulverizes my baby tomato plants like last year into little lifeless green stubs sticking out of the dirt sans leaves..I bought three cucumber plants that I slowly realized when I saw the orange flowers sprout up were really zucchini plants. Working the earth is always the hard part especially where we live in the arid Provence. There is no dirt..only rock. I built my own planter boxes to house the  vegetable garden. This way I can mix my own dirt and create a healthy base for the plants.  Each year the climate is so different that one never knows which plants will produce.  We have two large cisterns on our property that takes it water from an internal water source somewhere from the mountain in back of our property.  During the summer we install a pump into a cistern to circulate the spring water to my vegetable garden. The rain water is much better for the plants than the harsh city water. Plus, it feels good doing my part to recycling mother nature.