Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables – November


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... Continue Reading →

Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables – 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... Continue Reading →

White insects in soil…what are they?


There is never a dull moment on Piglet's Plot.  I've discovered yet another bug has taken up residence in my gourmet garden so I need some help from my gardening buddies please! While emptying the soil from a pot I'd recently grown potatoes in I discovered tiny white insects running around in the soil. I've... Continue Reading →

Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables – September


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... Continue Reading →

Telling Porkies


When my son and fiancée moved to their new home in the UK they inherited a neglected, but nevertheless healthy rhubarb plant which had masses of thick juicy stalks. I was green with envy as the plant was growing in a small container and I'd desperately tried for years to grow rhubarb in containers, with... Continue Reading →

Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables in Containers – July


My container gardening diary continues... The temperatures in July, after scorching winds, soared into the 30Cs and certainly tested my tenacity and ability to grow fruit and vegetables in containers. Unlike cacti, succulents, hibiscus and the other variety of plants I grow,  container grown fruit and vegetables are certainly more challenging for the novice gardener.... Continue Reading →

Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables in Pots – June


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... Continue Reading →

Garden Diary: Container Gardening – Cochonilhas or Mealybugs?


On Monday, I met up with Joan a fellow "container" garden  enthusiast  and a regular visitor to my blog. It was great to not only see all her wonderful pots of fruit, vegetables and flowers, ask numerous questions ranging from types of compost, worm farms to problems with insects, but also discuss our successes and... Continue Reading →

How did I kill my tomato plants?


There's certainly never a dull moment when you attempt to grow your own fruit and vegetables, especially on Piglet's plot! One minute they are all fine and the next... Before we returned to France I went to our local plant and hardware shop to buy liquid fertilizer for my fruit and vegetables. After performing various... Continue Reading →

Global Warming and Zucchini


Piglet is going green!  No, that's not green with envy of EC's wonderful zucchini and squash. But I do feel I can at least make a small contribution to help reduce global warming by cutting down on my personal carbon emissions. How? By not growing zucchini (courgettes) What...has Piglet gone mad? (probably...) How will not growing... Continue Reading →

Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables in December


Over the next year I will be keeping a monthly diary of all the fruit and vegetables I grow in my garden. This idea was prompted by fellow blogger Hurtled to 60 and now beyond I've made various garden posts over the last year, but as there is very little information regarding what to grow... Continue Reading →

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