Stoking up the boiler

Alan Titchmarsh the television gardening presenter refers to the compost heap as the boiler house of the garden. Our particular boiler has in recent days been recharged with the shredded prunings from the Mulberry trees. 

Antonio down at the restaurant in Vilamala has been persuaded to supply me with the coffee grounds from the overworked machine in that establishment, they too have added into the heap.

 I thought I would ask Olga & Angel fellow restauranteurs, if they too would save their coffee grounds for our compost. Olga said she would but when I next visited the premises, she said that she had mentioned the arrangement to her father a fellow landowner, who had told Olga to forget about the coffee grounds as he would supply me with a sack of  ‘animal abono’ i.e. goat and horse manure. His gift was greatly appreciated, and he has promised that from time to time he will provide a sack of the same mix. The Manure provided a good heart for the heap and helped the composting process to fire up the heap.

 It was whilst on another trip to Banyoles to show the lake to our most recent visitors; that I saw another golden garden opportunity. On the edge of the lake, I saw glistening in the light of the setting sun a pile of recently deposited horse manure. I told my companions that if I had had a sack with me I would have claimed the heap as my own.

 After a walk along the shore of Lake Banyoles we returned to the car and again passed by the heap of ‘horse do’. Carol trying to be helpful said that if I really wanted the manure she would unpack the shopping and provide me with the carrier bags for that purpose. Using one bag as a glove I scooped up the manure and filled the second bag before returning to the car. As I reached the car my passengers all three, slammed their door shut to prevent me from asking them to hold the precious cargo on the return journey.

 On arrival at the Finca back at the pueblo I added the fuel to the ‘boiler house’ and considered it a job well done. That evening Carol and Joan stayed in to watch a television show. John and I visited Antonio’s bar and utilised the WiFi link on the premises to do a little route planning for their onward journey to Cadiz, and from there a ferry ride to the Canary Isles i.e. Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The journey having been planned I checked in to the Mediterranean Garden Spain web site.

John read a few pages from our blog and was surprised at the scale and distribution of garden blog readers around the world. 

John then said “I bet you daren’t tell your blog readers that you picked up horse crap, in the street”. 

I replied that, indeed I would dare to do so, and further more that if I did tell our readers about the dark and dreadful deed, I would be obliged to tell those same folk, that he John the builder from Castle Donnington shrieked like a young girl when I asked him to carry the bag. 

So John, ‘Me Duck’ consider the story told.

 

Lantana

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Begur our neighbours

Now that the summer tourists have left the area we have the opportunity to visit some of the attractive villages and towns of the Emporda region. ‘Begur’ is a small seaside town and is renowned for the local stone which is quarried and used for facings and ornamentation in the construction industry. The sand derived from that stone is also used in concrete render. The town boasts a ruined castle which is situated on a hill in the centre of the urban area, although it looks impressive from a distance little remains of the structure. The town is built on steep hillsides covered with pine trees and has several sandy coves and even a naturist beach for those who dare to bare all.

 It is rare to get a glimpse inside Spanish gardens which are often hidden behind high walls or fences; here and there though an open door allows you to see picture perfect courtyards and patios. This was the case with Begur, though an unexpected feeling of intrusion occurred when we visited the ‘mirador’ or viewpoint which provides the classic view of the town. That feeling was uncomfortable because immediately below the viewpoint is a private garden, the conifers which frame the view are grown in that same garden. It is a well tended green space that is bereft of privacy though it boasts the best panorama in town. If the owner had been present I would have asked their permission to show the garden to you here, but they were not present so you will have to imagine this overlooked paradise.

Pests by nature

So far we have managed to keep garden pests in check without resorting to chemical sprays. A healthy bird population has helped and we try to provide habitat for insects which are pest preditors. The lizards, toads and snakes help too. Picking off grubs and caterpillars by hand and dispatching them by hand is not for the faint hearted but you can always wear gloves. Beneficial insects like ladybirds, butterflies and moths and are fairly easy to recognise in their adult form whilst in their larvae or caterpillar form are not so easy to identify.

 In the two photographs shown here one bug is feeding on a morning glory vine, a plant we are now eradicating from our displays and therefore not really much of a pest. The second creature is munching though the leaves of a much wanted Brugmansia (Datura) and had to be removed though it did not give up without a struggle. Where possible it is important to allow wild flowers (weeds) to bloom where they are food crops for the native insect population. In springtime it is our borage and other self seeded flowers which give a much needed boost to those much needed pollinating insects.  

      

Supply and Demand

Jenna who is moving from the USA to Barcelona soon had some common concerns about gardening supplies in the old world. I will email you directly, but thought I would post this information about our experience and try to help others.

 Seed sourcing for our Mediterranean Garden was a concern for us in the early days of our project. We knew that Spanish people had a passion for vegetable gardening and liked to see their land under cultivation. Balconies too were often adorned with beautiful flowers and foliage. Cut flowers and bedding plants were often plentiful. The few gardens it was possible to see into behind high walls or fences seemed to be well tended with specimen trees and shrubs. In a land less known, the availability of seeds from familiar and desired plants was an unknown quantity. 

Our fear of not being able to find suitable seeds led us to begin by collecting seeds to bring with us; those seeds were purchased, or saved from our own garden in England. I even took to knocking on the doors of strangers and telling them of our proposed move, before asking me to take a sample of seeds from their gardens under their supervision. I did not get a single refusal, most of the people I spoke to were amused and generally delighted that they were able to help: ‘A corner of a foreign field that will be forever England’, perhaps. Once the garden project was underway, we started you may have read, with the blankest of blank canvases, I ordered some varieties from Thompson and Morgan who shipped to Spain. 

Locally I found that DIY stores tended to stock a limited range of flowers and a choice of popular vegetable seeds. Like everywhere else if there is a demand there will be a supplier it is just a case of finding that supplier. In the centre of Figueres there is a small family run shop selling an extensive range of seeds and sundries, their staff are quite friendly and they are eager to help the customer. There are other agricultural retailers who supply plug plants for vegetable growers. In a hot country a greenhouse would be impractical and unnecessary for most of the year, so possibly raising tender plants is best left to professional growers. Though if you enjoy raising your own crops and flowers as we do you will always find a way grow your own plants even if it means finding shade for the less robust vegetation.

 I remember meeting a Welsh man in Ibiza some years back, he told me that the best garden advice he had ever been given was that, if you are enjoying eating a particular tomato then save a little seed from the fruit by drying in the sun, and use that seed to raise your own plants. Likewise many crops provide seeds quite readily, beans are a good example; even those expensive organic ones.

Life Cycling

Autumn has arrived; its arrival is marked as usual by seasonal tints forming in the leaves on the trees and the ripening of their seeds, nuts and berries. A season bringing with it cool evenings but those bright sunshine days remain. 

Rainfall was abundant across Spain last week, when the south of the peninsular received over 137 litres per square meter, which fell in less than 40 minutes. Here as ever, clouds promised thunder storms but they were chased away by the, seemingly ever present, stronger afternoon winds blowing down from the mountains tops. The higher peaks have received their first snowfall and Ski resorts report 12” of snow on the slopes. The fields around us have been ploughed, enriched with farmyard manure which was in turn mixed into the rocky soil by the returning plough.

 Autumn in the northern hemisphere is the time for harvest, and industrious African boys are labouring in the orchards picking the fruit for which this region is famous. Likewise, the shepherds have now completed their years work and the flock has gone to slaughter. The sight of 500 sheep or Xai (as they are called locally) grazing our Finca never fails to impress visitors. The flock owned by Francisco, has in recent times been managed by Ubacca another African man and his three dogs. They led or guided the sheep across many kilometres of land each day grazing on grasses and fine weeds.

 

Banyoles

Lake Banyoles was the setting for the rowing competition during the 1992 Olympic Games hosted by the city of Barcelona.

 

It is a natural lake formed by six basins fed by springs, some of the water sources are salt water though Banyoles is a fresh water lake. The crystal clear waters are a magnet for recreational activities both on the lake and on the shore.

 

Autumnal tints of the mature trees viewed in the reflective waters also attract artists in large numbers, to the town of Banyoles.

 

The parkland which surrounds the lake has areas of trees planted to great effect, particularly Silver Birches and Poplars.