Rural Spain

The Spanish landscape offers a rich and diverse natural habitats which the population view with much pride. They enjoy the wild rugged places for recreational activities and like to see arable land in full production.

Protected natural areas of Spain now amount to 28% of the land (6.3 million hectares) with 42% of the population living within those reserves. The marine ecosystems of the Mediterranean are less protected and the authorities are trying to bring coastal bio-diversity schemes up to the standards of neighbouring countries. A budget of €1,000,000 p.a is allocated to bio-diversity conservationism.

If you are contemplating a holiday this year try rural Spain it is a land full of delights. Every village in the country will be celebrating a fiesta or two, giving the artisans a chance to showcase their handicrafts and traditional food.

Tour Spain

The summer wind, came blowin in - from across the sea

Amongst the estimated eight thousand (8,000) endemic plants of the Iberian peninsular there are plants worthy of inclusion in the Mediterranean garden, but please do not collect those plants from the wild. Photograph what you see in it's natural habitat and then source your plants from reputable sources. If you can not identify a plant somebody on the Internet will be only too pleased to help you

Semi arid poor and stony soil can be easily washed away by the infrequent though often torrential rains that fall on the Spanish peninsula. Even on those hot summer days flash storms can wash away trees, embankments and street furniture. Watch the news broadcasts on Spanish television to see how wide spread and devastating the damage can be. Terraced walls can be undermined in an hour by the rains, and your carefully nurtured garden or orchard can wash away before your eyes. Try to use the rain running off the land by channelling it away from fragile areas to where you need it most if you can collect it for reuse so much the better.

If you dot your plants around your garden leaving vast tracts of bare soil, you will find that the soil will rapidly dry out making your plants weaker and therefore prone to the effects of plant disease or infestation by insect attacks. Plant your plants closer together and protect the exposed earth with a mulch of composted material or even stones and you will minimise water loss to the atmosphere. The shade afforded to the ground by the leaf canopy of the growing plants will create a micro-climate in your garden in which your plants will prosper. Look out for seedlings between the older plants, they will enable you to regenerate the older specimens and keep your garden fresh.

An important consideration to the land conservation in Spain is the clearing of debris from the land. Fire here can spread quickly with horrendous and sometimes fatal results. Endemic plants like the Cistus and those useful aromatic herbs are filled with flammable oils; those hot summer winds and the lightening strike are enough to start a wild fire. Barbecue and camp fires add to the risk of such events happening. I have seen wild fires burning on three sides of my property, even though the fire fighters and local authorities managed them well, acres of native forests were lost.

Much of the debris that you clear up around your plot can be composted in your own garden. Anything else that you feel you are unable to recycle, can be placed in the plant waste receptacle provided in each village for commercial composting.

Corn popped -Transgenic Maize

Transgenic maize otherwise referred to as genetically modified is the subject of much controversy across European lands. MON810 marketed as Yeildguard in the USA, is permitted as a foodstuff in Europe but has been rejected by both France and Greece.

Germany too has banned MON810 the countries representatives were lobbied by Greenpeace in what turned out to be an effective campaign. (see photograph).

Here in Spain Transgenic maize is authorised. If like many garden bloggers you grow your own vegetables you could still be exposed to the crop which is used as an animal feed in countries like Argentina.

World wide use of the product opens many paths for GM food to enter the food chain and is often not apparent to the end user.

Even South American countries who fight hard to maintain the integrity of their native maize varieties are at the mercy of the wind during pollination periods. If you save your own seed you too could be affected.

Ewe Tube from Wales

We spend our spring and summer watching the Catalan shepherds controlling 500 head of sheep using just two Gos Catalan (sheepdogs) so when we saw this Welsh sheep farmer use his flock to put on a display we thought other bloggers might appreciate the film.

Seismic Spain

Seismic activity is not unknown in Spain and the recent events in Italy will have many people wondering about the likely hood of experiencing the effects of an earthquake. We live close to a volcanic region near to the city of Olot.

Emilio Carreno, director of the National Seismic Network is quoted in today's El Mundo, he says that,

"The Mediterranean is an area of seismic importance" because it is a contact zone between the African and European plate, adds Mercedes Ferrer Gijón, the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain, 'but while Turkey, Greece and Italy have a risk seismic high in Spain is moderate or low. "

It is in the southeast, especially Grenada, Murcia and Alicante and in the Pyrenees where underground activity is most intense and where most earthquakes are recorded.

.

...His feet are shod with gauze,

His helmet is of gold;

His breast, a single onyx

With chrysoprase, inlaid.

His labor is a chant,

His idleness a tune;

Oh, for a bee's experience

Of clovers and of noon!

(Emily Dickenson - The Bee)

Cane and Able

Frustrating gardening has been my experience of late. Chronic arthritis in my right knee meant that I was unable to walk very, far let alone dig the garden or move anything other than myself. Surgery I was advised was the only solution for the condition, so I have had to have a total knee replacement operation back in the U.K.

Forbidden to fly for twelve weeks post operation it is impossible to reach our Spanish Mediterranean Garden whilst receiving treatment.

Physiotherapy strengthened the muscles around the joint enough for us to embark on a ferry journey from Newcastle up on Tyne to Eindhoven in the Netherlands (Holland) to see the bulb fields and Keukenhof gardens near to the town of Lisse. This is a garden venue we have wanted to visit for many years and this year celebrates the gardens 6Oth. anniversary.

Anna the Physiotherapist thought that my attempting to walk around the vast acres of parkland would serve as a useful substitute for the therapy session I would miss. I can still hear her laughing.

Four and half hours of walking left us both feeling tired, Carol often looked enviously at my chestnut walking stick.

The gardens were not at their best the cold weather throughout the European area has pushed back springtime and we were too early to see the fields of colour that the Netherlands are famous for. One of the plant and bulb growers thought that visitor numbers were down by several thousand this year representing a sizable drop in income this year for the growers.

Our visit took place on a bright spring day and the visit was pleasurable; though I would advise potential visitors to visit the gardens later in the season so that they enjoy the best of what Keukenhof has to offer.

British gardens have absorbed many horticultural ideas from other nations and enjoy a great reputation around the world, the British formal garden tradition owes a great deal to the skills of the Dutch horticulturalists who crossed the channel following King William of Orange on his ascension to the British throne.

I should mention the 'amazing' experience of getting lost in the Garden Maze and being led back to civilisation by small schoolchildren, though personally I blame Carol.

Needless to say we did buy some Tulip bulbs which will be shipped out to us in October ready for planting. Our choice of bulbs was collection D from Warmenhoven - Export B.V.

Often we have looked at the perfection of plants offered in the plant brochures thinking them to be unbelievable, having looked at the plants in the exhibition hall we now believe and would not hesitate to order from them.

Tool tips for Spring.

Many gardeners will be admiring the display of spring flowering shrubs in the coming weeks. Those blooms are the result of careful pruning of the shrub following the flowering period, and because the sap is rising at this time of year the tools you use to maintain the form of your shrub soon becomes sticky with sap which can spoil the cutting action.

Essential garden tools like pruning shears or secateurs benefit from frequent cleaning and sharpening which will prolong the life of the product; as well as ensuring that plant material is cut cleanly and therefore minimising the risk of disease affecting your plant. My own choice is the Felco Brand.

The company website produces a useful guide to dismantling and servicing their products which

can be found on the web site.

Felco