Complete tease

Fascinating creatures like the dragonfly will soon be emerging from our ponds. Many a fine afternoon can be wasted in pursuing dragonflies until they come to rest, only to fly away as

soon as you point the camera in their direction.

Admired for their beauty the dragonflies are also excellent at keeping down other garden bugs. I'm hoping mine develop a taste for the horsefly and deerfly we too often encounter, here in the Mediterranean Garden Spain. 

Resolved re-blogging malpractice

Thanks to Annie at The Transplantable Rose for alerting me to the problem of the re-blogging activity on the Grow Girl site.

Today I received an email from them advising me that my posts have now been removed, it took a while but hopefully that will be the end of the matter.

If you want to read more about the shady practice of re-blogging as practiced on the Grow Girl site follow the debate here.

Plagiarism and re-blogging - Grow Girl

Showing results 1 to 20 of 20  Search took 0.09 seconds.Search: Key Word(s): mediterranean, garden, spain
		Thread / Thread Starter	Last Post	Replies	Views	Forum
		Lillies and the lily beetle. (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	11-20-2007 02:10 PM by GrowGirl	0	82	Gardening Around the Web
		Ever composted road kill? (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	11-16-2007 08:15 PM by lulugardens	2	95	Gardening Around the Web
		The difficult sod! (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	11-16-2007 01:35 AM by GrowGirl	0	49	Gardening Around the Web
		Flower of the year (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	11-14-2007 01:21 AM by GrowGirl	0	72	Gardening Around the Web
		Remember well! (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	11-12-2007 01:00 AM by GrowGirl	0	62	Gardening Around the Web
		70% shortfall! (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	11-10-2007 12:23 PM by GrowGirl	0	98	Gardening Around the Web
		Just the spot! (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	11-09-2007 12:07 PM by GrowGirl	0	67	Gardening Around the Web
		Project time - Pergola (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	11-09-2007 12:01 AM by GrowGirl	0	75	Gardening Around the Web
		Raindrops on Roses (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	11-07-2007 11:34 AM by GrowGirl	0	76	Gardening Around the Web
		Mist and mellow fruitlessness (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	11-04-2007 11:16 PM by GrowGirl	0	87	Gardening Around the Web
		Mellow moods (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	10-29-2007 09:54 PM by GrowGirl	0	54	Gardening Around the Web
		Hardly a vegetable is it? (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	10-29-2007 09:54 PM by GrowGirl	0	108	Gardening Around the Web
		Iris (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	10-29-2007 09:54 PM by GrowGirl	0	110	Gardening Around the Web
		Water conservation. (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	10-29-2007 09:54 PM by GrowGirl	0	58	Gardening Around the Web
		Near Normal Service (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	10-29-2007 09:54 PM by GrowGirl	0	57	Gardening Around the Web
		Passion flower (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	10-29-2007 09:54 PM by GrowGirl	0	67	Gardening Around the Web
		Ceramic (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	10-29-2007 09:54 PM by GrowGirl	0	125	Gardening Around the Web
		Back to Living in Paradise: The World on Fire (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	10-29-2007 09:54 PM by GrowGirl	0	189	Gardening Around the Web
		Netar food of the gods (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	10-29-2007 09:54 PM by GrowGirl	0	48	Gardening Around the Web
		apologies (Mediterranean Garden Spain) GrowGirl	10-29-2007 09:54 PM by GrowGirl	0	104	Gardening Around the Web

I'm a man - so macho

There is a dog in the village who barks and generally goes beserk  every time I pass by in the car. However if ever it is out walking on its own it stands and shivers making itself appear small; both actions are a form of acting on the dogs part. As a dog lover and keeper of various breeds over the years I have become used to dogs acting as brave or as pathetic as they can get away with in order to manipulate their owners and get their own way. Animal behaviourists have often commented on canine traits such as this.  An advert currently running on television for the VW Polo car and featuring a Jack Russell terrier used this behavioral trait to great effect. The theme of the advert is confidence, inside the car the dog is full of bravado but in public he becomes timid.

The advert has become controversial with many people unable to accept that this is an Actor (the dog) and that the training process was humane.  

Music 'I'm a man' by Stevie Winwood

For an explanation of how the Ad was filmed read the Agency story here.

Imagination plants and imagery.

Alex Dragulescu a Romanian artist has used the ASCII attributes of spam email to create plant images. 

I'm sure his work will be in much demand both for his technical expertise but also because of the intrinsic beauty of his images. His site illustrates a variety of topics and also lists his international exhibitions.

His colourful and striking pictures can be viewed on his web page. 

The final winter's tale

We have been ripped off by our removal company Crystal clear removals of Peterborough. Our cheque was cashed on Wednesday 5^th. March and the company was declared insolvent by the owner Claire Tomlinson on the following Monday 10^th. March 2008. Although an email informing us of that insolvency decision, did not get sent to us until 8:34pm on 12^th. March 2008. This occurred just a few days before our scheduled move to Spain on Monday 17^th March 2008.

 Claire does not take it personally, as a limited company she has been advised that it is not a personal debt. It feels quite personal at this end!

 She complained that she had worked every hour God sent to make the business work. God had us working similar hours to pay you Claire.

 Maybe springtime will see better days.

How the other half live.

Sifting through my spam mail this morning I came across a news letter from Suttons seeds

this is an extract.

 Gardening as a career? 

We all know that gardening is a great hobby, but more and more high fliers are now switching to a career in gardening. The Times carries a great article workers who swap a six-figure salary for digging and weeding. And if you've ever considered this move for yourself, it's hard not to be inspired by quotes such as "I was sipping a glass of wine, watching the sunset and decided that I wanted to be a gardener."

 And it may be a good idea to escape from the rat race before you fall from grace - the First Post reports that Conrad Black, the disgraced media baron will be paid just 40 cents an hour for the gardening duties that he undertakes in prison!

Now if that doesn't make you smile nothing will!

Homeward Bound

Back to 'Blighty' on a trip that hopefully will see my knee 'fixed' or at least patched up pending an operation. Having carried the injury for several months it has reached the point where something will have to give, though it will probably be my knee again.

Monday next, will see the arrival at our UK home of a furniture removal wagon. Our goods and chattels will be loaded onto the wagon which is destined for arrival in Spain on Wednesday. If things go according to plan, then my flight on Tuesday should deliver me in time to receive the booty. 

Bagged a bargain garden shredder today on eBay; keen to maximise our composting activity as we, are a shredder will enable us to speed up the composting process, and enriching our impoverished soil by the addition of fibrous organic matter.so that will be added to my 'boys toys' as Carol likes to think of them, though she also likes to think of the bigger equipment as, 'girls toys' hence I can not play with them unless she has had enough playtime. 

One eBay bargain that is headed out to the Finca is a brand new tractor mower, although the grass is slow growing there is a lot of it. Guaranteed to feature in the girls 'toys' list for the foreseeable future.

The picture at the top of this article is of a monument to the explorer Captain James Cook, and is placed on top of Easby moor near our home town of Guisborough. Cook is a forebearer of mine.

Guisborough Priory

 

Paradise Gardens

Of all the sprintime flowers it is the narcissus or daffodil that signifies thattells us that Spring is established. Not the first spring flower to bloom but the lenghening days towards the Spring Equinox prompt the bulbs to blossom. With three important occaisions around the flowering time; those of Valentines Day, Mothers day and Easter Sunday. The important Daffodil trade complements the rose trade and provides a huge boost for the flower industry early in the year.

If a man finds himself with bread in both hands, he should exchange one loaf for some flowers of narcissus, because the loaf feeds the body, but the flowers feed the soul.

Qur'an

Daffodils en-masse draw visitors in large numbers to gardens and parks from Tasmania to the English Lake District, which has wordsworths poem to thank for it's own popularity.

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud    

  That floats on high o'er vales and hills,    

When all at once I saw a crowd,   

  A host of golden daffodils,    

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,          

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze

W. Wordsworth

The transplantable garden

            

If you are considering moving plants from your home to another country it is always advisable to contact the customs authority to receive advice about allowed and prohibited materials. This is the advice from DEFRA about U.K. to Spain.

The only plants you may not take to Spain from the UK are
rhododendron/azaleas, viburnum or camellias (to prevent the spread of a
serious fungal disease to which these plants are hosts).

You may take as many other plants as you wish, including the soil they are growing in, without the need for any plant health documentation.

Please note that all plants entering another country are subject to
'random' inspection to ensure freedom from plant pests and disease.

Regards.Paul Kilby

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Plant Health & Seeds Inspectorate
Ground Floor, Foss House, Kings Pool
1-2 Peasholme Green, York, YO10 7PX
Telephone: 01904-455188
Fax: 01904-455199
Email: paul.j.kilby @ defra.gsi.gov.uk

A Mediterranean garden in the Languedoc

We would like to introduce our blog readers to a new blog about garden and horticulture in a Mediterranean climate. The blogger in this instance is chaiselonge who has written  this guest blog by way of introduction.

A Mediterranean garden in the Languedoc

I grew up in Mediterranean countries, in North Africa and in Turkey, among olive trees, eucalyptus, oleanders and hillsides covered in thyme and rosemary.  After spending many years in Wales I persuaded Lo Jardinièr (the gardener, in Occitan) that I need to live where olive trees grow.  So now we're learning to garden in a Mediterranean climate and we've planted two small olive trees which will probably look lovely in 100 years' time.  Last autumn we harvested 24 black olives.  I followed the recipe for preserving them given by Tomás Graves in his book, A Home in Majorca, soaked them in spring water for a few days, then layered them with herbs in an earthenware jar and covered them with brine.  Two months later on Christmas day our son and daughter were here and the four of us shared them with aperitifs in the garden in the sun.

In our medieval village there isn't room for gardens around the houses, so for centuries the villagers have gardened on the hillside, using water from the spring at the top.  We've bought a plot there and in this small space we're hoping to create a mixed garden of vegetables and ornamental drought-resistant Mediterranean plants and to enjoy eating the food that we grow there and I'll be blogging about our progress.  We've got a lot to learn, but we get help from our neighbours and benefit from the experience that has been passed on through the generations here.  And best of all, we've got the produce.  This winter we've been eating our way through 50 jars of preserved tomatoes, full of the taste of summer heat.  We need never buy a tin of tomatoes again!

 chaiselongue,

Please visit my garden -

Olives and Artichokes - in Languedoc region of France.

Zaragosa to host Expo 2008

Zaragosa will host the Expo 2008 exhibition, this years exhibition theme will be water.

Expo Zaragoza 2008 is to lead the world initiative to plant over 1,500 million trees in 2008

Zaragoza, the city that saves the most water in the whole of Spain

Asking someone from Zaragoza about the Ebro is comparable to asking someone from Argentina about Maradona. To start with, they will look concerned, and then they will clear their throats and answer that the river is the pride of the city, “the greatest”, the backbone of a land which is sometimes as dry as Cabo de Gata and the symbol of an entire civilization. “Did you know the Iberian Peninsula took its name from the Iber?” they will ask you. 

Asking someone from Zaragoza about the water issue is comparable to asking someone from Catalonia about autonomous financing. Firstly they will look at you with mistrust. Then they will explain: “If Levante has not got resources, despite being next to the sea, it should stop making golf courses, but they cannot take the water away from us”. 

Harvest Gold

Cooler days have been beneficial in respect of renewing our interest in making soup. If you have never tried your hand at making your own potion, try it and you will be amazed at just how good homemade soup can be. Many Mediterranean vegetables are ideal candidates for the soup pot. One recent addition to our menu has been the butternut squash; this vegetable a member of the gourd family grows well here but has often been overlooked by us.

 Only last night, I made a Butternut Squash soup that will become a regularly used recipe by us, if you would like to try it here is the method. 

Ingredients:

Large Butternut squash

Large onion

1 tsp ground cumin 

1 tsp ground corriander

Parsley

Thyme

Salt & Pepper    (to taste)

2 pints of stock (chicken or vegetable)

Dry white wine or fino sherry

Fresh Cream

Method:

Peel and de-seed the butternut squash, cut into large chunks (2") and place on a baking tray.

Sprinkle both the cumin and corriander over the squash. Place the tray into a hot oven 180C and roast the squash for 2o mins.

Sweat the chopped onion in a pan. Add the roasted squash and cook for 2 min's. on a high heat.

Add the stock, salt and pepper, and a splash of either dry white wine or 'Fino sherry', now add the parsley and thyme. Cook on a medium heat for 5 min's.

Place the vegetable mixture into a blender and blend until smooth. and then return to pan. Taste and season with  salt and pepper if required. (Tip: adding more parsley and thyme will reduce the need for salt).

Add more water if you desire a thinner soup. Passing the mixture through a sieve is another optional step

Warm the soup before adding a splash of cream. 

Savour the flavour of this soup.

Bay of Roses Costa Brava Spain

The Bay of Roses

      

It is a bright sunny day on the beach at the town of Roses in the northern Costa Brava, 

but the beach is all but deserted.

Stone Un henge

Stone in the landscape is a powerful element, and one which is used to great effect in Japanese gardens which are a particular favourite of mine.

I had three small pieces of stone which I salvaged from a waste site following road construction. (Though small the two larger pieces were about as much as I could lift uncomfortably!) I used the stone to set off small plants at the front of the house where they afforded a little shade to the roots of the young plants. Now that those plants are established I thought the stone could be used to greater effect if placed to break up larger areas of the gravel garden.

Watching the shadows cast by the stone, and how the sun illuminates the various facets of the material helps to select the best orientation for the rocky formation. Once the rock is in its final position the gravel around the stones will be raked to accentuate the design.

As the garden develops we hope to use larger pieces of local stone to add height and structure to the plot.  

Cometh the hour

Planting new shrubs and bulbs may be a bit precarious given the rain situation but the time is now if they are going to survive at all. Transition from cold dry winter to a hot humid spring is rather demanding on the new plants meagre resources, and the change is sudden and dramatic.

Seeking out plants that seem to do well in the neighbourhood is good general advice for the gardener. One of the plants that stands the hot dry summers and always produces a mass of tiny pink blooms is the Tamerisk. Though I have read that in some parts of the USA it is considered an invasive species that damages the local wild habitat.

In our hurry to establish a new garden it is often tempting to strive for an instant effect, and therefore plant larger specimens; though often stronger plants with good form are the result of planting smaller examples and growing them on. There is a particular satisfaction to be gained from watching a garden develop.