May 2014

11th May

The weather brightened up quickly and it has been warm and dry all month so far, the result is that I am having to water frequently. It is the usual story outside, somethings are doing well and others are not doing at all.  I have now sown lettuce for the third time, so far 3 have germinated but they are still tiny, like wise the Spring onions are on the annual 'go slow', as are the carrots.  I don't want to tempt providence but so far my strawberries have not been attacked by any thing so I may have strawberries this year. My first planting of potatoes have all sprouted and I have planted a second lot. In my bottom plot I have leeks, that I was given and cabbages, peppers and tomatoes that I bought as plants. The 'mangetout' are sprouting and I have sown runner beans. This is really the week for planting tender plants but the weather has been good so I have risked putting things out this weekend. I still need to buy a few more peppers and a courgette, maybe even a few lettuce plants to get things started. I have 3 nice tomato plants, that I have grown from seed, they are doing well now and I will plant them out next week.
I expect to have loads of raspberries again soon so I ma trying to finish the frozen raspberries that I still have from last year!  On the whole progress is now being made, the season is starting.

April

The good weather continues. My tomatoes, lettuce and Spring onions, that I sowed indoors, haven't done anything useful whilst I've been away so I've topped up the tomatoes indoors, hopefully I still have time for them to germinate. I've now sown lettuce and Spring onions outside. I've planted some potatoes, the onions are growing well and all the trees have blossom so hopefully there will be good crops. Now all depends on what frosts we get over the next few weeks and no-one can do anything about that.
April 28th
The good weather didn't persist for long and the temperature dropped considerably, to the point that it snowed on the mountains, though not here.
I have now sown; leeks and sugar snap peas (mangetout), that's a first so I'll see how they do. I've also sown more lettuce and spring onions though the first sowing hasn't done any thing yet, I'll probably end up with them all germinating at once. I have 3 small tomato plants indoors, the time has come to start looking for plants to plant out.
One apple tree has blossom but the other has done nothing but I look to have quite a few cherries and the pear tree will be loaded again this year. Another month and I should have something out of my garden.

2014 March

This winter has been very wet. It has snowed and rained every day for weeks, right until last Thursday, suddenly it turned very warm, unseasonably so. We have had wall to wall sunshine for 5 days and it seems set to continue. The constant rain has meant that it has been impossible to do anything but now is time to start, or maybe it isn't but as, once again I am going to be away I am having to start anyway.  Today I have dug and manured my top plot and tomorrow I will plant my onion sets, fortunately the ground there is not too wet as it is higher up.  I have sown tomato seeds in doors and this year, for the first time, I have sown some lettuce and spring onion seeds in doors. I have sown them in an egg box and it seems to dry out very quickly so it may not be a good idea as I will not be here to keep them watered. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Everything else will have to wait until I return at the end of April. 

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.