more autumn!

Now it really is autumn, though after a week of rain we are going to have warm sunny weather again.
The other night the local dogs were barking furiously, when I went for a walk next day I discovered that a wild boar had been having a digging session, just inside the village. I can't imagine what could have been so interesting for a boar but it has made a lovely mess.

 

My vegetables continue to do well, I have had loads of tomatoes and have made plenty of soup. I have also found a great recipe for using tomatoes and courgettes. Yesterday I found a great supply of mushrooms, I ate some for lunch today and have frozen some. I went for a walk this morning to look for more but I couldn't find any. I think that that was the field that had early mushrooms last year, so I will keep watching.

I am tidying my top plot and I have found a use for some of the roof tiles that I will shortly have an excess of.



I don't think I will ever pass muster as a builder but I think they will make the plot look tidier. It is a sloping plot and I have never tried to flatten it but now I am making small terraces. I will also use some to define the paths which are just a weedy mess at the moment. October is going to be a busy month there is a lot of tidying to do.

30th October

Autumn is really with us, we had the first frost last night. I have cleaned and cleared, ready for winter and my freezer is full, this really is a good life!



Autumn begins

Apparently Autumn begins this evening! The temperatures today are in the 30's. We had rain 3 times in summer, that day of heavy rain, at the beginning of September, was exactly that, a day.
Looking back over last years blog I see I wrote the same about my peppers that I am writing this year, look healthy, have flowers and that's it. Though this year I have had peppers from my Ourense plants so that is obviously the way to go. Other people get peppers though :(
My courgette this year has been just right, plenty without being overwhelming, I hope I can manage the same brand next year. My tomatoes have done well as well and most of my leeks appear to have survived the move, they just need to grow a bit now as they are very behind.
All in all summer has been very satisfactory.

September

5th September
The weather seems to have changed, I hope so. It has been soooo hot and dry but last night it poured, hopefully we will continue to get some rain occasionally.
Last week I planted out my leeks, they are very small still, too small to plant out really, especially as the weather was so hot, but too big to keep in a pot indoors. I have been having to water them well but they seem to have survived the move, most of them anyway. I have also bought 3 cabbage plants, the first time I have grown cabbage, they seem to be OK as well.
I have loads of tomatoes, just Tigerelle and Cherries at the moment but my bigger ones are just changing colour.
Someone has picked my plums again, fortunately this year I managed to get a few but the majority have disappeared. I'd love to know who it is and why they think it is OK to take my fruit, it's not as if I had very many plums anyway. If I had a bumper crop I wouldn't mind people helping themselves, presumably they would leave me some then. Blackberries are the only other fruit at the moment, they are very tasty this year.

August

I had my first tomato today:) The plant that I hoped would be a cherry tomato is, there is one more ripening, at least it's a start. The beans and peppers are coming along too and my leeks are looking healthy, they are still too small to go out but they have leaves.
The weather is a bit variable but dry and warm enough, some days are hotter than others. I now have some neighbours but not many and they are very quiet, I think the old people are quite poorly, it is odd not to see Juan wondering about. Saturday will be the village BBQ again, I don't know how many people are here this year.
I am busy clearing the barn next door, finally it is mine, one day I will have a garden, the plans are all in my head.

18th August
I spoke too soon, my neighbours turned up next day. The old people look very well and the rest are noisy. The BBQ was as busy as usual, there are lots of people here, I am lucky that I am not aware of most of them. The music went on till 06.30, but still it is only once a year.:)
My tomatoes are now ripening sufficiently for me to have tomatoes every day, not just the cherry tomatoes but the Tigerella's as well. I also pick beans alternate days and freeze them.

The courgette is, of course, taking up most of the small space, but it is staying in one place this year and I haven't yet been overwhelmed.

I dug up my onions last week as they had all dried, they are very small. I am not having success with either garlic or onions. I think that when my book says that they seldom need watering they are talking about Britain, where one can be sure of having rain all through the summer. I need to water more frequently I think, I'll re-organize my planting next year. On the other hand I think this summer has been hotter and drier than previous years, we have had only 2 days with rain in 2 months.

I have found some interesting 'antique' pieces in the barn next door, I will have plenty of work in winter trying to renovate some of them. Nothing of value, of course, but interesting insights into life gone by.

July

Well summer started on 22nd June and it just kept going. After a recordly cold spring we are having a recordly hot summer, what is worse is it hasn't rained in weeks so I am having to water daily, this is a real chore and unusual so early in the season I think.
My raspberries were late ripening but they are making up for that by ripening at a rate of knots now. It took me 50 minutes to pick them this morning, it was hot work as well, particularly as I now have to wear wellie boots as there are so many nettles. My wellies were nearly melting! I picked 800 gms this morning and I have over a kilo in the freezer.
I have the first siting of tomatoes, small and green at the moment but a promising start, the first courgettes and flowers on the peppers. I am happier with the plants I have bought this year, I won't buy in the market again, both the peppers and the courgette were a disappointment last year, my courgette was like something out of the last of the triffids.
I checked the outdoor temperatures the other day, I was watching Wimbledon and they kept saying that the temperature on Centre Court was 40 degrees, I couldn't believe it was hotter in London than here! In the shade it was 33 but in the sun 47!!! I had thought earlier about putting my sun lounger out and sun-bathing but decided that it was too warm, I think I was right.
I have no leeks, I think it is too hot, I will sow some indoors like I did 2 years ago, otherwise all is good, I hope it remains that way.
19th July
We had rain last weekend, the most tremendous thunder storms, that blew some of the electricity and my internet, but at least I didn't have to water for 2 days! The temperature has dropped slightly but is remains warm and dry, though storms are promised for this next weekend as well.
My raspberries are coming to the end, though I will probably have some for another week yet, I also have cherries though I think they will not last long, when both have finished I still have gooseberries and they are growing nice and big. I still have lettuce from my fist sowing but the 2nd, 3rd and 4th sowings have done almost nothing, just 2 small lettuce.
I am already freezing courgettes but at least they are courgettes and not baby marrows. I have my first pepper, it is a good size now, I will take it with me to England when I go at the end of the month, along with a load of courgettes, I doubt I will have any ripe tomatoes but I have loads of green ones so some time soon:) The French beans are flowering as well.
The leeks I sowed indoors have just shown signs of life so I may have some leeks this year. All in all I think the hot weather has made everything catch up with previous years, despite the awful spring.

The first week of summer!

The weather is very variable but I think it normally is. Apparently we have had the second coldest spring this century but as we are only 13 years into this century that isn't really saying much.
Certainly fruit is ripening more slowly this year. I have had my first two strawberries and I am hoping to have enough for a small helping on Sunday, that's providing something else doesn't eat them first. I have tried to set up protective covering as something is still eating the flowers and leaves. I have had a few gooseberries, not enough to make gooseberry pie or anything like that but I don't like gooseberry pie anyway. They go well with yoghurt and honey and are the first fruits available so very welcome. I have net covering over my cherries, it is still a very small tree and there are only 7 cherries but I would like to have the opportunity to eat them before the birds. When the tree is bigger I will be willing to share!
My tomatoes are showing the first signs of flowers, the peppers look healthy as does the courgette and two or three beans have sprouted. I sowed 5 French beans, I only wanted three really as I just wanted to see how it would work.  There is absolutely no sign of my leeks and I sowed twice, it is a shame as they have been good the last two years.
Only my lettuce are abundant, I am back to working on the 101 things to do with a lettuce leaf! Though I have also dug up the first of my new potatoes, so at least, for lunch today, the lettuce the chives and the potatoes will be from my garden.
My calendar tells me that, for the feast of Saint Peter, which, if my memory is correct is the 29th, one should dig up the garlic and transplant the leeks. The garlic are still very green so I think that may need to be postponed and there are no leeks to transplant :(

27th June
Having started summer with a cool, wet day the weather has improved, it hasn't rained for a week and things are sprouting, though there is still no sign of any leeks so I have sowed seeds for the 3rd time, maybe this time I'll be lucky. I dug up my garlic, I found that the neighbours were, even though they were still green. They were not brilliant but better than previous years, they are now drying out.
I will have my first raspberries today, only 5 but the glut will come soon, hopefully they ripen bit by bit for a while.
My top plot is looking healthy as well. I have dug up some of my potatoes and will dig the others next week as they are a nice salad size now.

 The green cover at the bottom is to protect my strawberries. Everyone else has nice big strawberry plants, mine just get eaten by something.



I am left with just stalks, so I am protecting from above and below and hope that whatever is causing the problem will be beaten :)

may

Well, having had 2 beautiful weeks in April, the weather turned chill again, to the point of having hail and snow. My 2 biggest tomatoes were getting too big for their pots so I planted them out anyway.
They seem to be doing alright, I will put the rest, another 4, out next week. I also planted out a courgette I bought, that seems to be surviving too.  Potatoes are starting to sprout so if there were another frost it would be very sad.
I had an operation on my hand at the beginning of this month so I had to do as much as I could before hand and now I can only do light work. Mostly the work that needs doing now is clearing and maintenance, like weeding.
I have had my first lettuce from the garden and the spring onions have germinated. I am watching the fruit carefully, I am going to be overwhelmed with raspberries again and I think this will be a good year for cherries

April

We have had 2 days without rain! A sunny weekend. Today everyone is out doing the clearing and digging that they did mid March last year. I have dug my bottom plot and sown lettuce and Spring Onions.  Next to attack the top.
I have one tomato plant that looks as if it will be ok. Hopefully it is a Gardeners delight, I forgot to label them properly so I will have to wait and see.  It is lovely having warm sunny weather, even if it doesn't last long this time.

April 27th
The warm weather lasted nearly 2 weeks with no rain in that time. Everyone is catching up on their work. The trees are all in blossom, a whole month later than last year. On the other hand my tomato plants are growing and looking healthy, I have 6 that I have potted on and should be able to plant out in May. My peppers did nothing but I will buy some.
Something nibbled all the flowers off my strawberries, either a rabbit or a deer. A few are flowering again. This week I will plant some potatoes, I was going to do it this weekend but it keeps snowing and hailing today, winter has come back!

nearly the end of winter!

I don't think I was early cutting my branches, not compared with last year, it is just that things are later. we had a warm weekend and everyone was out working, now the weather has turned very wet again.

I have planted more strawberries, which seem to have taken alright even though they were snowed on the next day.

I have pulled up my last leeks, they were quite a good size this year.

This one is lieing on a very weedy plot. I have dug over the plot now but I expect it will be covered in weeds again when I return. These last 2 years we seem to have many more weeds than before. Everything is now waiting for April, when I return and can start preparing for summer.

time to start again!

Time to start again, or maybe not, but I will be away in March so I need to start early. The first thing has been cutting back my pear trees, last year I had loads of pears and most were too high to reach. I even cut off a couple of branches in the snow yesterday, but my fingers felt like they were dropping off too, so I stopped.

Today has been much kinder weather so I have finished. Now all that is left is tidying up the branches I have cut off!

I have also bought a mini germinator and have sown my tomato and pepper seeds, hopefully they will do better this year than last year.

January

This winter has been very wet and now it has snowed, the heaviest snow we have had for four years. My garlic got washed out, but fortunately I saw them so have re-planted. I made a lovely leek soup and I am doing well for carrots, they seem to be doing OK in the soil, hopefully this snow will not affect them.