Category Archives: Growing Fruit, Veg and Herbs

The challenges faced by a novice gardener in Portugal

Piglet’s Plot in April

Posted on May 11, 2013 | 38 Comments

This year I’m keeping a photographic diary of my humble vegetable garden. In theory, if I take photographs on the 19th of each month they will offer a direct comparison as to what’s growing when, where and how well. The purpose of the exercise is to provide a record for next year so I can learn from my successes and, hopefully my not too many failures.

Piglet’s Plot 19th April

Weeks of nigh on continuous rain has resulted in my broad beans developing rust. Apparently rust is an airborne fungal infection.

Useful tip from The Greening of Gavin

You can spray the fungus with a 1 part milk to 10 parts water mix which also works on powdery mildew on any of the cucurbit family (zucchini, cucumber, pumpkin, squash).

I hope he does not mind me quoting his words, but I thought the tip was worth sharing. Unfortunately, I ignored the signs and lost my remaining crop. A valuable lesson learned for next year!

Rust Attacked my Broad Beans

Thankfully, I did manage to harvest several kilos of favas (broad beans) before I removed the infected crop. Check out my delicious Salada da Favas.

Favas (Broad Beans)

The onions, planted in mid November continue to thrive.

Onions

Much to the delight of the snails and slugs the french bean seeds, planted on the 13th March, are peeping through the soil . In desperation I did scatter some organic slug pellets. (Piglet hangs her head in shame). However, an army of ants removed them in the dead of night.

French Beans

This year I only planted four red cabbages. Last year I planted twelve which was far too many.

Red Cabbage

Fruit Trees

Nespra (loquat) tree

Our nespra (loquat) tree is now 6 years old and this is the first year we’ve had an abundance of fruit. In fact, I’ve even made some nespra and onion chutney. Researching loquats on Wiki I discovered they are high in Pectin. I think I will freeze some and then add to my strawberry jam.

The loquat has a high sugar, acid, and pectin content. It is eaten as a fresh fruit and mixes well with other fruits in fresh fruit salads or fruit cups. The fruits are also commonly used to make jam, jelly, and chutney, and are often served poached in light syrup. Firm, slightly immature fruits are best for making pies or tarts.

Nespra Tree

Orange Tree

Last year we had blossom, then tiny oranges however, they withered and died for no apparent reason.

Finally some blossom on my orange tree

This year fingers are firmly crossed the oranges will set and we will be eating our own home-grown oranges by Christmas.

Fruit trees growing in containerS

I now have three peach trees growing in pots which were all looking healthy until two developed a strange disfiguration to the leaves.

Problem with peach tree

growing Fruit and Vegetables in containers

Green peppers

This is the sole surviving green pepper from the plugs I planted back in February. It’s a tenacious little soul…

The pot is a recycled plastic paint container.

Red Pepper

Strawberries

My strawberry plants just started to yield a bumper crop and we went away for two weeks. Sigh… Still there were still plenty when we returned. They are so sweet and far more flavoursom than the forced strawberries we used to uy in the supermarkets.

Strawberries growing in a container

raspberry bushes

I’ve never grown raspberries before, not even in the UK so not quite sure the best way to care for them. I have three growing in pots and another three in the ground. All are doing well, so fingers crossed.

My first rasberry flowers

Baby Leaf Salad

I only planted these on the 13th March! Have you noticed the container in which they are planted? This is definitely pushing the meaning of “salad bowl” to the limits.

Growing Baby Leaf Salad in a Container

Cucumbers in pots

I inherited these baby cucumber plugs from a friend who mistakenly bought them for zucchini. The plastic collars (made from water bottles) will hopefully deter the snails. However, the snails and slugs in our garden all possess Olympic gold medals, so I doubt it

Baby Cucumber Plants

Aubergine plant growing in pot

I bought two aubergine plugs back in February. One I planted in a pot, the other in the ground. My intention was to make a direct comparison, month by month. Unfortunately, I forgot to take the other photo. If I had a brain I’d be dangerous.

Aubergine

Mystery plant

This pot was originally home to cucumber plants which fell victim one night to snails on a recki mission. Then about a week later, three seedlings appeared from nowhere. I called them a gift from God, because was I cursing those wretched snails. I don’t know what these are – maybe melons?

Mystery Plant

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Notes
20/3 Harvested first crop of broad beans planted from seed on the 24/10
1/4 I bought another fig tree (green fig)
1/4 planted 12 perpetual spinach and 4 cucumbers

Weather in April
Cold and wet!

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Posted in Garden Diary, Growing fruit and vegetables in Pots, Growing Fruit, Veg and Herbs

Tagged Algarve, container gardening, growing peach trees in containers, growing strawberries in pots, growing vegetables in containers, Portugal

Piglet’s Plot in March

Posted on March 23, 2013 | 42 Comments

This year I plan to photograph and record what’s growing in my humble vegetable garden on the 19th of each month. This will give me a better idea of what’s growing when, and how well. Hopefully, it will act as a record for next year and I can learn from my successes and failures.

Vegetable Area 19/03/13

The Portuguese cabbages (Couve Galega) which I use to make Caldo Verde Soup are now over 2′ tall. I love the way they grow skywards – a great space-saving crop for a small plot.

Couve Galega (Portuguese Cabbage)

My favas (broad beans) planted from seed on the 24/10/2012 are now over 2’6″ tall. In fact I’ve pinched the tops out of some of them so their energy goes into the beans and not into leaves, stalks and even more flowers. There are loads of pods and we will be eating our first feed of beans this coming week.

Favas – Broad Beans

Echalotes (shallots) – I had not planned on growing shallots until a chance meeting at the supermarket with an old gardening buddy changed my mind. Clutching a bag of shallots (they are not readily available here) he asked me if I grew them. When he discovered I’d never even tried, he selected a bag from the shelf and explained you grew shallots the same way as garlic ie you plant one clove and it multiplies. I nodded enthusiastically thinking errr but I’ve never been successful growing garlic. His wife, bored with the shallot and garlic discussion dragged him away to continue shopping.

Clutching the bag of shallots I was about to return them to the shelf when he reappeared. Apparently I had to soak them overnight before planting.

I bought the shallots, which he assured me had not been “treated”, returned home and duly left them soaking in a tray of water until the following day. Mr. Piglet perplexed that I was soaking the bulbs, told me they would rot. I relayed the instructions I’d been given to which Mr. Piglet retorted. “If he’d had told you to stick your head in gas oven…blah blah blah…” (I ceased listening) but then thought, maybe he had a point and wished I’d only soaked half of them. Does you soak onion or clove bulbs before planting?

Echalotes – Shallots

Do you like my recycled freezer draws? I rescued these to reuse as clochés. They are now protecting my french beans planted on the 13/03/13.

Freezer drawers recycled as clochés

We went to the market on Monday and I bought four more cherry tomato plants and two red pepper plants. The stall holder has long ceased trying to sell me a dozen of anything and just smiles at my requests. Perhaps I will bake him a cake for his kindness.

Red Pepper and Cherry Tomato Plugs

VEGETABLE EXPERIMENT POT OR PLOT?

This year due to limited growing space I decided to try something new and see which plants adapt well to growing in containers. Although I grew some veg in containers last year, with varying degrees of success, the plan this year is that when I plant for example peppers, cucumbers or aubergines in my raised garden, I will plant a sample one in a pot at the same time. This will enable me to make a direct comparison.

Aubergines (Beringela)
Studying the photographs from February the Aubergines have hardly grown in a month. However, the aubergine in the pot does look slightly healthier and even has a solitary bud.

Aubergine Experiment 19/03/13

Cucumber (pepino)
The cucumbers are a non-starter. The baby plugs in the pot were unfortunately eaten by slugs while we were away in France while the one in the ground and clinging to life by its fingernails looks like it is at death’s door. On a positive note, several seedlings (parentage unknown) have appeared in the pot as if by magic; they are either melons, cucumbers or the dreaded zucchini!

Cucumber Experiment 19/03/13

Green Peppers (Capsicums)
The green peppers are also not faring well regardless of location. One was eaten by slugs and the remaining two, pictured below, are turning yellow. I’m not sure if this is because the compost was to strong for seedlings? Maybe but it was certainly not lack of nutrients.

Green Pepper ( Capsicum) Experiment 19/03/13

GROWING VEGETABLES IN POTS AND RECYCLED CONTAINERS

Cherry Tomatoes (tomate cereja)
I bought this cherry tomato plant from the market as a more established plant in February. I actually asked the guy for a tomate cerveja (beer) rather than a tomate cereja (cherry). Easily confused, there’s only one letter difference! At least my mistake made him laugh and he corrected me! Considering the cold nights, gales and lashings of rain it has survived well. The Plum tomato planted at the same time fell victim to blight as did all the other seedlings a friend gave me. All had to be quickly disposed of before it spread.

Cherry Tomato in Pot

Baby Leaf Salad
I only planted the baby leaf salad seeds on the 13/03, watered and then covered with clear plastic to assist germination. When I lifted the plastic sheet to take a photograph just six days later I was astounded to find the seeds had already germinated. That or I’m growing a healthy crop of weeds! The container is a recycled the washing-up bowl with a crack in the bottom. Useless a bowl but a perfect container for growing salad.

Growing Baby Leaf Salad in Pots – Ensalada Asiatica

GROWING FRUIT TREES, AND FRUIT BUSHES IN POTS

Rhubarb
Last month there was no sign of life and I thought my rhubarb had finally died. But no, I added my home-made rhubarb forcer (a flower pot which Mr. Piglet burnt a hole in the bottom) and another pot inserted inside the large hole to cut out the light. And we have the first shoots of rhubarb.

Rhubarb growing in a pot

Growing Fruit Bushes in Pots
Last year Mr. Piglet made me a frame from some recycled posts and wire for my tayberry and blackberry plants. I now keep all my fruit bushes and little fruit trees in this area, which is well protected from the winds and in full sun. I now have a lime tree, two peach trees, five raspberry canes, a groselha (think this is a redcurrant bush), physalis and of course several containers full of strawberries

Growing Fruit Bushes and Trees in Pots

Fruit Trees

Lime Tree
The lime tree is producing new leaves but is stll plagued by citrus leaf miner.
Peach Trees
My two baby peach trees which I am growing in pots continue to do well. Next month we will be making a graft from the original tree to encourage them to fruit.

Trees in the Garden

Peach Tree (árvore pêssego)
We went to the market last Monday and I could not resist buying this darling little peach tree. I asked the stall-holder, in my best Portuguese, if the tree would have fruit next year. He looked at me in surprise, pointed to the blossom and indicated I would have fruit this year! I’m a little dubious, but then blossom does turn to fruit. I then asked him if I could plant it in a pot (vaso) and he vigorously nodded his head in agreement. However, I have the feeling if I’d asked him if I could plant it in the toilet or on the moon he would probably have said yes!

He kept telling me the variety was Muito Bom (very good) so as it was only €6 bought it. My other peach trees are a long way from bearing fruit as they were grown from a stone – so what did I have to lose?

Peach Tree

Fig Tree
Last year I planted this fig tree in a large pot. However, after research on Google revealed its aggressive root system did not lend itself to planting in containers I transplanted directly in the ground. Shortly afterwards it lost all its leaves so I figured it was dead. However just before we went to France, at the end of February, I noticed much to my surprise there were a few tiny figs and new leaf shoots. I was overjoyed until looking out of the window I noticed a pair of green finches pecking away at my little tree! I immediately decorated the tree with strips of silver paper and bottle tops hanging from string.

Fig Tree

Nespera Tree
We have a good crop of nesperas this year. Never ate these in England – what do you make from them?

Nespera Tree

Orange Tree
The orange tree is JUST producing an abundance of tiny new leaves. Hopefully it will blossom and have fruit this year!

Vegetable plants for sale at the markets in March
Aubergines, green AND red peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, squash, melon cabbages, lettuce, onions (they look like chives), broccoli, cauliflower, runner beans, spinach, strawberry plants, fruit trees and bushes.

WHAT’S GROWING WHERE?

Plan of my Vegetable area

Weather in March
The weather has been very similar to February except we awoke one morning to discover a rare event – frost on the car! Fortunately it was not a ground frost and none of my plants were affected! We’ve also had more rain than sun (or so it seems). Temperatures at night range from 3C (except the one day we had frost) to 15C, and during the day from 12C to 20C

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Tagged favas, gardening in the Algarve, growing fruit trees in containers, growing peach trees in containers, growing rhubarb in containers, growing vegetables in containers, Portugal

Piglet’s Plot in February

Posted on February 23, 2013 | 46 Comments

This year I plan to photograph the plants in my humble vegetable garden on the 19th of each month. This will give me a better idea of what’s growing when, and how well. Hopefully, it will act as a record for next year and I can learn from my successes and failures.

Raised vegetable garden 190213

The broad beans (or favas as they are called in Portugal) planted from seed on the 24th October are growing well. The favas flowers are now forming into tiny bean pods – but only just!. I bought the loose seeds from our local hardware-come-garden shop for just 30cents – a bargain. If I’d bought in the bean seeds in posh packets they would have cost me three euros plus!

Favas (Broad beans)

The baby broccoli and cauliflowers planted in December are almost ready to pick. For some reason the broccoli heads never grow very big before running to seed. Any suggestions please?

Broccoli 19/02/13

Cauliflower 19/02/13

And here’s the next batch planted on the 21st January

Baby cauliflowers and broccoli planted in January

VEGETABLE EXPERIMENT POT OR PLOT?

The green peppers, aubergines and cucumbers below are my first guinea pigs! All purchased as seed plugs from our local markets.

Green Pepper Experiment 19/02/13

Aubergine Experiment 19/02/13

Cucumber experiment

Last year the tomato plants grew so well in the raised garden bed the area resembled a “tomato plant jungle”. After the disastrous start to the season when I killed most of my container grown tomato plants due to over-watering, this year I need to be more careful and learn from my mistakes.

I’m not sure how well plum tomatoes grow in pots; they probably grow too tall – we will see.

Plum Tomato plant in pot

My main focus this year will be growing cherry tomatoes because not only are they expensive in the shops here in Portugal my little granddaughter loves them. Last summer one of her favourite activities was to lead me to the vegetable garden and pick cherry tomatoes. When we were in the house she kept asking for “a-baul-li-air” and we could not understand what she wanted. This is not a French word, nor Franglish so we were all puzzled. Enlightenment dawned recently when she saw a picture of a tomato in a book, pointed and then excitedly exclaimed “a-baul-li-air“! So lots of cherry tomatoes this year for her next visit are a must!

Cherry tomato plant in pot

GROWING FRUIT TREES IN POTS

This peach tree grown from a stone was donated by a friend a couple of years ago. It is now about three years old. To encourage it to fruit we are going to take a cutting from his fruiting peach tree and graft to mine (watch this space).

Peach tree in pot

My lime tree continues to battle on. I’ve now transplanted from the ground to a largish pot because once again the root system was competing with a mature hedge. New shoots are appearing but the poor tree is still plagued by the citrus leaf miner which I can’t seem to eradicate. My solitary orange tree is also affected.

Lime Tree growing in pot

GROWING FRUIT, AND FRUIT BUSHES IN POTS

These dead looking sticks are raspberry canes. I have three in the ground, planted last autumn, and five in pots. I will plant three of these in the ground and then repot the other two in giant containers.

raspberry canes

Mr. Piglet built me a frame to train the tayberry and blackberries against. Unfortunately, I’m unable to plant these directly in the ground due to the proximity of the Melaleuca hedge.

Tayberry bush growing in pot

Physalis growing in a pot

Finally we have the strawberries!

The strawberries continued to produce a small about of fruit throughout the winter. I thought the strawberry runners would sap their strength how wrong I was!

Strawberries growing in a container

Also, but not worth of a photograph

Rhubarb in pot: either dormant or dead!
Fig tree: dormant
Orange Tree: lots of tiny new shoots. Should I feed or wait until the blossom develops?
Medlar: Mass of blossoms turning to fruit!

Whats growing where

Plan of my Vegetable area 19/02/13

What vegetable plants are for sale at the markets in February?
Aubergines, green peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, squash, cabbages, lettuce, onions (they look like chives), broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, spinach, strawberry plants, fruit trees and bushes, seed potatoes.

Weather
The weather in February is warm during the day, up to about 19C in this south-facing sheltered corner of my garden and at night temperatures can fall to about 5C. We do not have frosts but we do suffer with strong salt winds and high humidity. We have had plenty of rain so far so I’ve only had to water my containers on a couple of occasions.

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Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables – December

Posted on January 29, 2013 | 24 Comments

Better late than never!

I don’t know whether the excitement of our imminent trip to the UK for several weeks was sapping my enthusiasm, or just the December blues due to the long dark evenings, but I really had to dig deep (pardon the pun) to motivate myself to work in the garden. I’m not usually given to bouts of lethargy so perhaps the virus I picked up in France still made me feel sluggish. However, we can only reap what we sow and I kept plodding along.

Favas (Broad beans)

The Favas seeds planted on the 24th October have grown well and the plants are now in flower. Hopefully we will be eating the beans by the end of February

Broccoli – Brócoloss

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Cauliflower – Couve-flor

The Broccoli and Cauliflower plugs planted the end of September are growing are also growing well and have already yielded enough for several meals. I’ve finally worked out if I only buy three plugs of each at a time this is more than enough. This, in theory, gives me four plants for me and two for the slugs!

Red Cabbage

The four tiny red cabbage plugs I planted at the end of November are growing really quickly. Last year I planted far too many red cabbages and several were wasted as even my friends were red-cabbaged out! Perhaps four is still pushing it, but the snails are bound to enjoy at least one.

Red Onions

This year I planted 20 baby red onions, as an experiment, because they are expensive to buy in the shops. The guy at the market tried desperately to persuade me to buy a 100! I mean, what would I do with 100 onions? He even offered me a discount of 50 cents as an incentive.

Growing Fruit and Vegetables in Containers

Strawberries growing in pots in December

Strawberries growing in containers – December

I’ve discovered one of the keys to successful strawberry growing in containers is to regularly remove the dead leaves so they do not rot into the soil. Strawberries are the one thing that seem to grow well providing I can keep the mealybugs at bay. Removing the dead leaves and letting the air circulate seems to help. They are still selling bunches of strawberry plants so I’m going to buy some more.

Growing Sweet potatoes in pots

I planted two pots of sweet potatoes (batata doce) on the 18th September, but I have the horrible feeling they are not growing.

Potato Blight

The potatoes I’m growing in bags all got potato blight. The potatoes although small were fine, but unfortunately all the pots of potatoes had to be destroyed. I will not attempt to grow potatoes again as I had exactly the same problem last year when the blight spread to my tomatoes.

Blackberry and Tayberry plants growing in pots

Mr Piglet kindly built me a frame for my blackberry and tayberry plants. It’s nothing fancy as we utilized posts and wire we already had, but it will do the job. Because of the proximity of the hedge and its aggressive root system I’m growing most of my fruit bushes in large containers.

Peach trees in pots
The two peach trees growing in pots are still alive, even though they look dead.
Lime tree
Citrus leaf weevil is still attacking the leaves despite various applications of olive oil and soap solution.
Groselhos
I’m not entirely sure exactly what this fruit bush is, but my guess is that it is a cross between a gooseberry and a redcurrant.
Blueberry
The blueberry cuttings I made in France are still holding onto life by their fingernails…
Rhubarb in pots
My Rhubarb plant – well there is nothing much to say except it looks dead. It’s put up a valiant fight for survival over the years, but I think I must concede defeat. We will see.

***********

raspberry canes
I bought three sticks from the market in Sao Teotonio and planted these directly in the ground. At just one euro each it was worth taking a chance.

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Posted in Garden Diary, Growing fruit and vegetables in Pots, Growing Fruit, Veg and Herbs

Tagged Algarve, container gardening, gardening, growing peach trees in containers, growing vegetables, growing vegetables in containers, Portugal, postaweek2013

Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables – November

Posted on December 4, 2012 | 39 Comments

My passion for gardening has taken a back seat during November due to my trip to France, illness and of course the National Novel Writing 30 day challenge. However, much to my surprise everything, bar the cucumbers growing in pots, survived despite being unloved and neglected. Temperatures in the day hovered around 18C and 12C at night. So not cold, but it rained, oh boy did it rain!

The green peppers planted in the raised bed, continue to thrive and bear fruit! I will certainly plant these again next year although I will not bother with the orange peppers as they took far too long to change colour. The pot grown peppers are now passed their best and it will not be long before I finally find the time to recycle them in my new composter.

Green peppers in November

I planted garlic cloves as an experiment at the end of October in the raised bed rather than in pots. So far so good. My last attempt to grow garlic in pots a year or so ago proved unsuccessful. I think it was probably due to lack of water. Anyone had any success growing garlic in pots?…and if so please share your secret

Garlic – Alho

The Couve Galega planted at the end of September have somehow escaped the attentions of the army of snails and caterpillars who have taken up residence in my absense. The Galega cabbage, I’m assured, is the tall cabbages seen growing everywhere here in the Algarve and are used to make Caldo Verde

Couve Galega – Cabbage

The Aubergines planted in June are still bearing fruit.

Aubergine – Beringela

This year I bought favas seeds (broad bean) from my local hardware shop. Forget buying the prepackaged seeds in posh packets at over €3.50 a go, mine were a real bargain at just 38 cents for the same quantity. I planted these on the 24th October and they are doing well. I’m personally not keen on broad beans but Mr. Piglet loves them.

Favas – Broad beans

The olive tree crop is disappointing as the olives are really small so not worth the effort in the pickling stakes. If anyone has any suggestions to encourage them to grow larger, please share!

My Olive Tree

Olives in December

GRowing Fruit and Vegetables in Pots

I planted these potatoes at the end of October in a plastic purpose made potato grow bag.

Growing potatoes in a plastic potato bag

I planted these sweet potatoes in a large pot in the middle of September. Maybe they will grow, may be not, but I thought it would be worth a try. No idea how long they will take to grow so I will leave it until February before taking a peek.

Growing sweet potatoes in a pot

Finally my winter strawberries! They are not huge but they are soooo sweet! My summer strawberries are busy producing lots of babies at the moment which I am in the process of rooting and potting on.

Winter strawberries growing in pots

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Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables – October

Posted on October 29, 2012 | 33 Comments

Orange peppers are still growing in October!

Here we are hurtling towards the end of October enjoying the sun when autumn arrived quite suddenly. One minute we are swimming in the sea and enjoying temperatures of 25C while the cloudless blue sky suggested not a hint of rain and then it turned cold and wet…

I should have known better, our wedding anniversary was looming and it ALWAYS rains around that time. True to form ominous clouds gathered in a slate-grey sky and obliterated the sun. Howling winds alerted us just in time to batten down the hatches in preperation for the onslaught of rain which continued for two days and counting. When it rains in Portugal it rains! And as I write this it is still raining…

As the summer season ends and we move into autumn I dug up all the tomatoes growing in pots and in my raised vegetable area. There’s not much growing in Piglet’s Plot at the moment (as you can see from the pictures below) until I visit the market and buy whatever vegetable seed plugs are in season. I really want to plant some broad beans! (Favas)

Piglet’s Plot mid October

At the end of September I bought two Couve Galega plugs (cabbage) from the market. The stallholder assured me this is the type of cabbage the Portuguese use for Caldo Verde (Cabbage soup).

Couve Galega

Time will tell! They should grow really tall just like the ones pictured below.

Are these Couve Galega?

Container grown fruit and vegetables

The experiment to grow potatoes in pots (prompted by a friend) proved to be a great success. I returned the pots on loan and found other suitable containers. Namely a potato bag designed for growing potatoes as pictured below and an abandoned and now re homed plastic paint tub. This is the true meaning of recycling!

Growing potatoes in bag

I’m attempting to grow sweet potatoes. I planted these in large containers on the 18th September and so far so good, However, again time will tell. They weren’t seed potatoes but ones I rooted myself.

Sweet potatoes growing in pot

The lettuce plugs planted at the end of August are growing slowly, but at least they are still growing! The container is an old bowl which I drilled holes in for the drainage. It is perfect!

Lettuce growing in a recycled container

The cucumbers plugs planted at the end of August much to my surprise are growing well. Baby cucumber plants and parsley have self-seeded and are growing in the raised vegetable area.I always enjoy free plants – makes up for the ones the bugs eat! To help prevent white mould I’ve regularly sprayed the cucumber leaves with a solution of half milk and half water. Strange, but it seems to work.

Cucumbers growing in pots

Earlier this month I gave all my strawberry containers a good clean up. I cleared out all the dead leaves, potted up runners and gave all the plants a good feed. Two weeks later strawberries are beginning to appear!

Unfortuntely, some of the plants had mealybugs so I destroyed the infested plants and sterilised the containers. To be honest the old plants have produced so many runners I now have plenty of young strawberry plants. I never win the mealybug battle no matter what deterrents I use.

Strawberries growing in containers

And finally!

Mr. Piglet very kindly constructed a simple frame for my tayberry and blackberry plants which I’m growing in very large containers. It is in a nice sheltered location in full sun. I can even put a net over the plants once they start to fruit to protect the fruit from the birds!

Tayberries and Blackberries growing in pots

Until next month!

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Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables – September

Posted on October 8, 2012 | 45 Comments

August passed with a blink of an eye and before I realised, it was September. Unfortunately, I failed in my personal challenge to record my “August” gardening “ups and downs” along with photographic evidence. Fortunately I made some notes, which I’ve recorded below, but photographs are like hen’s teeth (non-existent)

A bug called citrus leaf miner attacked my lemon and lime trees so I attempted to treat with a spray consisting of
100ml (2 cups) of vegetable oil
25ml (1/2 cup) of washing up liquid

I then added 1 tablespoon of the above concoction to one litre of water and sprayed all the leaves once a week for four weeks.

Citrus leaf minor

The concoction proved unsuccessful and the leaf miner still rules supreme!

In fact, my garden is proving to be a real haven for all types of bugs and diseases and treating them is like trying to climb a greasy pole. Attempting to grow my own fruit and vegetables in containers and in my little raised vegetable area is proving to be quite a challenge and battle of wills. Thank goodness for my tenacious spirit!

The lettuce and corn salad seeds, planted in early August, despite my devoted attention to their needs failed to germinate. Bah humbug! Eventually I conceded defeat and purchased some lettuce plugs from the local market. My other purchases included a couple of sage plugs and cucmbers for 10cents each, and dare I say one zucchini. The stallholder laughed at my requests and I responded a Portuguese shrug and a smile. The poor guy has long since given up hope of selling me the normal minimum quantity of ten plants per variety.

On a positive note, my successes in August included: one orange and several red peppers, french beans, cucumbers, lettuce, cherry and plum tomatoes, chili peppers, lemons and some strawberries.

September
August merged seamlessly into September, the drought continued and the bugs, despite my best efforts continued to thrive and multiply.

The latest visitor to take up residence bored its way into several of the tomatoes, growing in pots. Once discovered I quickly disposed of these and then wished I’d cut open one of the tomatoes to discover who had moved in. I’m still none the wiser as to their identity – any clues please?

An insect bored into my tomato

The cherry tomatoes, both in pots and in the raised bed yielded an abundance of sweet ripe tomatoes. However, the variety (breed unknown) shown here, just refused to ripen. I even placed banana skins close by, to encourage the ripening process. Well that was a waste of time as the banana skins eventually shrivelled to nothing and my tomatoes were still a yellowy-green. Patience is not always my strong point so I picked several pounds of the greenest tomatoes and made green tomato chutney. If it’s successful I will share the recipe at a later date.

Tomato jungle

On impulse I bought a packet of seeds labelled something like “mixed salad leaves” Yay! these did germinate and resulted in an interesting, if not strange tasting assortment of salad leaves to go with the lettuce.

Mixed salad leaves growing in a shallow container

The first crop of aubergines from the plugs I planted on the 16th of June are now ready for harvesting.

Beringela or aubergine

A quick snapshot of my raised veg garden below reminds me the parsley which self seeded survived the summer and continues to grow well. Why do seeds grow best where they self-seed?

Leeks, parsley and orange peppers

The leeks planted in June have struggled for survival during the hot dry summer months. They’ve survived but they resemble oversized spring onions rather than leeks.

Strawberry runners

My strawberry supply ceased in early September and the established plants sent out runners which I potted up while they were still attached to the mother plant.

Potatoes grown in pots

I planted potatoes in pots on the 24th of June and we harvested the first pot (enough for two servings) beginning of September. I felt really pleased with myself until I discovered that you should not plant potatoes and tomatoes near each other because they are both prone to blight. I later identified one of my potato plants had blight, which in turn spread to several of my tomato plants which then had to be destroyed.

Cucumber grows well in pots

I have a couple of pots of cucumbers and apart from battling with Downy Mildew or Anthracnose the cucumbers are delicious! Blogger, Growing Up in the Garden , suggested keeping downy mildew at bay with a 50/50 milk/water solution. Use a spray bottle to apply solution to the leaves, removing those that are too far gone. So far so good and it has definately helped.

I also planted a couple of baby cucumber plants in the hope I can continue to grow my own cucumbers in a sheltered position during the winter; we will see!

Overall considering August and September were so dry and hot they proved quite productive. However, next year I will not grow orange peppers as they take far too long to fruit and then turn orange.

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Posted in Garden Diary, Growing fruit and vegetables in Pots, Growing Fruit, Veg and Herbs

Tagged gardening, growing lettuce in containers, growing potatoes in containers, growing tomatoes in pots, growing vegetables in containers, Portugal, postaweek2012, Western Algarve

Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables in July

Posted on July 31, 2012 | 51 Comments

You certainly reap what you sow!

I’ve devoted hours tending my vegetable garden this month and I’m now reaping the benefits with an abundant crop of tomatoes, lettuce, radish, carrots, peppers, red cabbage and French green beans. The crops are fed at regular intervals with the MiracleGro kindly donated by a friend. However, I can’t seem to order this online for delivery to Portugal, nor can I seem to source from any of the garden centres or co ops.

Raised vegetable garden 22nd July 2012

The parsley is a bonus – it self-seeded!

The leeks planted at the end of May continue to thrive. However, because they were given to me as seedlings I planted more than needed so I hope they are not all ready for harvesting at the same time. The last batch I grew were left in the ground far to long and were woody and inedible. Mental note: next time, make some leek soup!

Raised vegetable garden 18th July 2012

I am still struggling to eat the few remaining cabbages, both red and green. I’d love to freeze them, but our freezer is just too small! When we were away last year we had a power cut which tripped the electric and we lost all the contents of our freezer. “Fine, no problem”, we thought, until we discovered the insurance company refused to pay out for the spoiled food!

Green Beans, variety “Contender”

The green beans planted from seed on the 3/6 are now ready for harvesting…lots of beans! We not only eat them as a standard vegetable but are also one of the key ingredients in one of my favourite salads – Piglet’s Portuguese Salad

My first red pepper 22nd July 2012

I transplanted several of the red and orange peppers growing in pots to the raised bed. The pots were unfortunatly not big enough and the plants were suffering. I also repotted the remaining plants to larger pots in order to continue my container gardening experiment.

Plum tomatoes 22nd July 2012

The first fruit from the cordon plum tomatoes, planted as plugs at the beginning of May, are now finally turning red. I’m surprised at the length of time they’ve taken to ripen. The little cherry tomatoes, which are growing in pots, produced fruit and ripened quickly, so “cherries” seem a great option to kick-off the salad season.

Aubergine plants (Beringela)

The two aubergine plugs purchased from our local agricultural shop and planted on the 16/6 are growing well and are now covered in flowers. Looks like I may have a bumper crop of Aubergines. Thank goodness I only bought two plants!

I now need to grow a few more from seed or buy more plants. The little agricultural shop has now stopped selling plants through the heat of the summer months. I tried buying more lettuce plugs at the beginning of July, but now luck.

My baby lettuce are wilting in the heat and full sun

Unable to buy lettuce from our local shop I tried growing some from seed – would they germinate, not on your life! Faced with the prospect of paying inflated prices during the summer for lettuce, I managed to find plugs from a car boot sale. I could not believe my luck when I spotted a whole stall devoted to selling baby veg plants!

I only bought eight (four rosso and four green) However, in hindsight I wish I’d bought more as I’m now left with only one green and two rosso. Despite watering and planting late evening the tender baby lettuce have not fared well in the glare of the hot sun.

Note for next year: Plant baby lettuce in a more shaded place during the summer months.

Insect “burrowing” in leaves of orange tree

The baby oranges on my solitary orange tree turned black, shrivelled and died. Some of the leaves are now infested with an insect that burrows its way through the leaf layers. I initially removed the affected leaves, but this did not resolve the problem as more appeared. I’m going to try one of the green pest deterrent potions suggested by Sami and Joan. Any idea what this insect is?

Food From Seed
Black Carrots
Joan’s black carrots seeds planted on the 5/6 have exceeded my expectations and are almost ready for harvesting. I’ve never eaten black carrots before so it will be an interesting experience. In fact, I’ve never seen a black carrot!
Radish
I continue to plant radish seeds at regular intervals to guarantee an ongoing supply. Rather than plant in regimented rows I now group in squares which works really well and conserves space.
Lettuce
Despite my best efforts I’m unable to persuade my lettuce seeds to germinate and resorted to buying more lettuce plugs from the market…
Green Beans (Contender)
Planted 3/6 and in just six weeks I have a bumper crop of beans.
30/7 Planted several seeds in a large pot as I need to rest an area of soil in the raised garden for a crop of broad beans which I will plant in October.

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Posted in Garden Diary, Growing Fruit, Veg and Herbs

Tagged gardening, growing fruit and vegetables in portugal, growing green beans, postaday2012, postaweek2012

Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables in Pots – June

Posted on July 3, 2012 | 40 Comments

My monthly garden diary continues with my ongoing attempts to grow fruit and vegetables in pots and various containers. After various gardening disasters in May I learned some valuable lessons such as a basic understanding of soil nutrients, watering (under and over) and the size of the pots I should be using to name a few!

Growing Peppers in pots

Bell red peppers growing in containers

The red bell pepper plug plants planted in March are just beginning to ripen but, the orange peppers are still green. It’s a shame the pots I used are too small (8inch) as further research revealed containers should be at least 12” wide and deep for dwarf varieties and 16” diameter or larger for regular to large. Not speaking Portuguese I’m not sure which variety I bought – I’m just relieved they turned out to be be bell peppers not chilli peppers! So another lesson learned for my next crop. “Forewarned is forearmed” as they say, so I’m prepared for the worse should I not reap a good crop from each plant. I expect the leaves will probably start to yellow and…no doubt, I will have other problems as well. But at least I’ll know why! I feed the plants weekly with miracle grow at the moment and since doing so the leaves have turned from yellow back to green.

Tip also worth noting: Do NOT let the plants dry out or allow to stand in water.

Growing potatoes in pots

Growing potatoes in containers – planted 23/06/12

I happened to mention to a friend (as you do) that I fancied growing potatoes in pots. Her hubby’s attempt had proved successful and they’d generously given me some of their surplus potatoes, which were delicious! Next thing I knew she was on the phone not only offering me 4 seed potoatoes, but also the loan of 4 pots to go with them. Before I could procrastinate further they were delivered to my door. I planted them immediately.

I put a layer of gravel in the bottom of each pot followed by a few inches of soil, then the chitted potoato, which I covered with about 6 inches of compost. Apparently, potatoes grow from the fresh stems so you must keep the soil topped up as the foliage grows.

I’m told they take about 12 weeks to grow?

Growing tomatoes in pots

Cherry tomato plant growing in pot 30/06/12

After my previous tomato disasters in May see How did I kill my tomato plants? I bought and was also given a selection of tomato plants to start again. This time I planted the tomatoes in larger pots, and changed the compost and fertilizer.

The turning point came when a friend kindly gave me some MiracleGro plant food to try, and my vegetables are now doing well. There is a downside, however – I can’t buy this product in Portugal and as far as I know, I can’t order online!

Growing cucumbers in pots

Cucumbers grow well in pots

My three cucumber plants continue to grow well and yield about two cucumbers a week. Next year I may attempt to make a frame so they can grow upwards rather than trail along the ground.

Growing strawberries in containers

A feast of strawberries

My strawberry plants continue to give me a daily dish of mouth-watering strawberries. Forget the “forced” tasteless strawberries grown in Spain that seem to grace the supermarket shelves here in Portugal, everyone should try and grow their own! You can grow strawberries in a variety of containers from crates to plastic boxes in fact any containers you can lay your hands on. Just make sure you give them adequate drainage and good soil!

White mold growing on base of strawberry plants

I inspect my strawberry plants regularly for any signs of pests and diseases. This week I noticed some of the leaves were going brown and closer inspection revealed the dreaded white mold on the base of some of the plants. I removed all the plants and disposed of those with white mold. The remaining plants I repotted in new soil and individual pots, away from the main crop. The container sterilised and recycled is now used for a baby leaf crop (lettuce).

Growing Rhubarb in Pots

Growing Rhubarb in a container

This year, dare I say, the rhubarb growing in a large container is doing well. However, I’ve started to feed with MiracleGro on a weekly basis and it has responded well. Fingers crossed!

My Rhubarb in April

Looking at the picture above (April 2012), it’s amazing how much the rhubarb has grown.I’d only left it in the pot to overwinter as I was unable to find a suitable place in my garden to plant it.

Growing Fruit trees in pots

Growing fig trees in pots

Fig tree in pot – planted 4/6/12

I’ve made many attempt to grow fig trees directly in the ground without success. What makes my failure so frustrating is that the pigging things grow wild along the road side and in the middle of nowhere. I read or was it someone told me I should try one in a pot – so here goes. This is a black fig and planted in worm pooh earth. It came with six figs, lost two and is now growing another.

Growing Peach trees in pots

Peach tree grown from a stone!

I was given a little peach tree (sapling) last year which had seeded from a stone thrown onto a friend’s compost heap. I repotted the little fellow in the spring into a larger pot and it’s now growing like a weed. Apparently it is an American variety of peach tree which is disease resistant. Good, poor little thing it needs some luck on its side living on Piglet’s plot!

One day it should look like this!

Once I’ve repotted in a far larger pot a friend is going to show me how to graft a cutting from the original tree (see above). Watch this space!

Growing Lime Trees in Pots

Lime tree in pot

Gasping for life and especially winter sunshine I made the executive decision to dig up this baby lime tree and rehome in a pot. It will now enjoy all year sunshine in a sheltered location. And, it will not have to compete with the invasive hedge roots!

GROWING LEMON TREES IN POTS

Lemons at last!

My lemon tree is doing well and this year has produced an abundance of lemons. The only problem being half the tree has died off and it is now rather uneven.

Lemon tree in pot

***********

Other Fruit, herbs and vegetables I’m growing in pots
Basil
Sage
Lemon grass
Mint
Savoury
Bay
Piri Piri
Chilli peppers
Lettuce

Please don’t forget if you have any suggestions on growing fruit and veg in pots or would like to share your experience, please share in comments below!

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Posted in Garden Diary, Growing fruit and vegetables in Pots, Growing Fruit, Veg and Herbs

Tagged Algarve, gardening, growing potatoes in containers, growing red peppers in containers, growing rhubarb in containers, Portugal

Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables in June

Posted on June 24, 2012 | 58 Comments

Shame on me. I completely forgot to write my monthly vegetable diary for May and I only took one photograph of the raised vegetable area.

Raised vegetable garden 30th May 2012

In my defence, I was away for several weeks so my garden was left very much to its own devices. Unfortunately this created problems with bugs and of course my container grown tomato plants

Another lesson learned is not to leave leeks in the ground too long as they run to seed, the centres become rock hard which then makes them inedible. All the leeks pictured above were recycled on the compost heap. “Waste not, want not” as they say…

Raised vegetable garden 23rd June 2012

Since returning to Portugal I’ve spent all my spare time in the garden and I’m finally reaping the rewards.

Plum cordon tomatoes

The cherry tomatoes bought from the local village shop look like plum tomatoes – strange I could have sworn I specifically asked for cherry! Another “lost in translation” frustration. I remember the guy saying they were cordon and “BOM?” as he smiled and nodded his head enthusiastically.

Orange Bell Pepper Plant

I transferred a couple of the orange bell pepper plants from their containers to the raised vegetable bed as the leaves were turning yellow and beginning to curl. I think the pots were probably too small and the plants were not getting enough nutrients. They certainly look much happier now. The next batch of peppers will be planted in much bigger containers!

However, I hope these are orange peppers and not green. After the tomato misunderstanding they could be anything.

French beans – variety, contender

French beans are really expensive here in Portugal so I planted a couple of rows of “Contender” This is a dwarf bush variety. I can’t grow anything up tall canes here on the coast as they would just blow away. I grew this variety last year and they were perfect.

Aubergine seedling planted 16th June

I bought these Aubergine plugs for just 20 cents each from the local hardware shop. They were already in flower which I’m not sure was a good thing? They struggled for several days after planting, but now seem to be holding their own. The flowers are dying off and maybe, just maybe a baby aubergine will appear shortly. I decided against planting in containers on this occasion as there was room in the raised area.

I’m still pulling carrots planted from seed earlier in the year, and the green and red cabbage continue to do well.

Fruit

One of my Olive trees

I discovered, one of my olive trees has lots of tiny olives. However, not so delighted to discover fluffy white bugs, possibly mealy bugs, have taken up residence!

My first orange tree

This is my first attempt to grow an orange tree and so far, although the odds are stacked against success as they dislike salt winds, so far so good. This is a winter fruiting variety and already it has several tiny oranges. Fingers crossed!

Nespera tree

The harvest from the Nespera tree was extremely disappointing this year with only six fruit. Someone kindly pointed out there were to many stems coming from the bottom of the tree and it resembled a buh, not a tree! After some drastic pruning we have our fingers crossed for a more successful harvest next year!

Food From Seed
5/6 Planted some of Joan’s black carrot seeds. I’ve never eaten black carrots before so it will be an interesting experience. In fact, I’ve never seen a black carrot!
7/6 Planted Mexcla Baby lettuce leaf seeds (Ensalada Asiatica) purchased from the Horticultural centre in Portimaõ.
11/6 planted spinach seeds

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Posted in Garden Diary, Growing Fruit, Veg and Herbs

Tagged gardening, gardening in the Algarve, growing vegetables from seed, Portugal, postaday, postaday2012, postaweek, postaweek2012

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Category Archives: Growing Fruit, Veg and Herbs

Fruit Trees

Fruit trees growing in containerS

growing Fruit and Vegetables in containers

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VEGETABLE EXPERIMENT POT OR PLOT?

GROWING VEGETABLES IN POTS AND RECYCLED CONTAINERS

GROWING FRUIT TREES, AND FRUIT BUSHES IN POTS

Fruit Trees

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VEGETABLE EXPERIMENT POT OR PLOT?

GROWING FRUIT TREES IN POTS

GROWING FRUIT, AND FRUIT BUSHES IN POTS

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Growing Fruit and Vegetables in Containers

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GRowing Fruit and Vegetables in Pots

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Container grown fruit and vegetables

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Growing Peppers in pots

Growing potatoes in pots

Growing tomatoes in pots

Growing cucumbers in pots

Growing strawberries in containers

Growing Rhubarb in Pots

Growing Fruit trees in pots

Growing fig trees in pots

Growing Peach trees in pots

Growing Lime Trees in Pots

GROWING LEMON TREES IN POTS

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