Garden – Page 5 – the story of Casa Azul

A January to forget

January 21, 2013 richard Comments 7 comments

I know January is only two thirds over but we’ve had enough already! Although not as bad as the UK, we’ve had rain, rain, rain, culminating in storms this weekend which knocked the power and water out for three days. And there are more thunderstorms to come. Every cloud has a silver lining and I think we were lucky to escape much of the damage. We had an olive tree fatality and a tile off the roof but the polytunnel and the shed survived (thanks to a high quality build I reckon!) and the well is now full to the brim. And our chest freezers full of pork managed to avoid defrosting.

The local bus stop was not made of sterner stuff however…

However, our bees have once again absconded. They disappeared this time last year and it is just as perplexing this time around. Last week they were still out and about collecting pollen ( I posted photos here) and there is plenty of pollen and honey in the now empty hives. We think that living in rural Portugal we have ‘got away from it all’ but I guess even here we cannot escape man’s degradation of our natural resources. They are saying that the honey bees abscond because of pesticides and I have to say that the locals seem to use them indiscriminately here. Perhaps that is the cause, we just don’t know.

We also had a bit of a shock with Betty. Previously known as Lucky – as she was saved as a puppy wandering lost in the forest, she was very well named. She certainly has a wild spirit about her as she likes nothing better than to tear off out of the garden chasing after goodness knows what, only to come back three or four hours later covered in goodness knows what! However, she always comes back, eventually. Even if it is three in the morning when she announces her return by howling outside our bedroom window. This time was different. After she had been gone for two days we thought the worst. However, on the third day there was a scratching at the door. She was filthy and half starved but of more concern was a huge gash around her stomach. We think she had been caught in a javeli ( wild boar) trap, which is made of thin wire. We cleaned her up as best we could and took her to the vet. Suffice it to say, after a coarse of antibiotics (intravenously administered by our good selves!) and some tlc, she is already back to her worst.

Despite all the doom and gloom it’s not all bad. After all, during our electric-free nights, I managed to beat Jackie at scrabble and cribbage and we have our first daffodils of the year – in fact they’ve been in flower for over a week, as well as a clutch of pretty crocuses.

A tale of two herbs

January 16, 2013 Jackie Comments 3 comments

You’ll remember that I gave the humble leek the plant of the year award. While browsing through the seed catalogue I came across the plant that has to be given the thumbs down award, just looking at the pictures and reading about how wonderful it is fills me with a heavy heart, why or why can’t I grow it here? I’m talking about basil, my top favourite herb along with coriander. Three years I’ve been trying to grow it here in Portugal but each time something goes wrong. The plants themselves thrive, growing under the tomato plants they become enormous, taunting me with their huge leaves. The problem? The taste. I just can’t seem to grow basil any more that doesn’t have a horrid, bitter taste; even as tiny seedlings I can detect the bitterness long before there’s any hint of flowers. I grew basil in Jordan and we had loads of huge plants, both growing in pots and in the ground, that gave us wonderful salads (how can you eat a tomato without chopped basil?) and pesto galore. I used the same seed packet the first year here, and have bought numerous others, but without success. I have to confess at this point that I seem to be more sensitive to the taste than others but it is so bad for me that I have to spit out the offending leaves. If any one reading this can help – please do!

Back to the catalogue: I have decided to try some Thai holy basil, fingers crossed. And also, having gone through all my seed packets, I only need to replace two: buttercup squash and cucumbers. Which means that all the produce we get this year is ‘free’, well, that’s what it feels like! Mind you, many of the packets are out of date a touch but, so far, this hasn’t been a problem. I’ve even managed to get parsnips from seeds a few years old even though the ‘experts’ insist it should be bought new each year…

Meanwhile, the olive groves, vineyards and pastures are covered in white flowers. These I have always called ‘daisies’, which they are but after walking over a patch with the dogs I realised they were so much more than daisies. Reaching my nose was the heavy, unmistakeable scent of chamomile. It seems that chamomile is native to Iberia which is why they are thriving here. I have decided these are just what we need in our garden so I have been going out with a trowel and digging up little plants with the idea that, in a year or two, we too will have wonderful white patches of flowers. Plus there’s the added advantage of just popping outside to get the flowers (which can be used fresh as well as dried) for a cup of chamomile tea. Perfect!

Invasion of the bee-eating hornets!

October 23, 2012 richard Comments 2 comments

OK, not quite an invasion, but the other day while I was inspecting the hives, I noticed a large wasp and while I was watching, it swooped down and snatched one of my little ladies from outside the hive! I later found out that it was a large European hornet which is carnivorous and eats many insects including bees. I’ve only seen one so far and it is hardly decimating the colony (apparently up to 1000 bees can die per day at some times of the year!) and I’m hoping that it will disappear for winter. I didn’t get a photo of the snatch but here he is waiting for an opportunity and here are some bees returning home. You can see one of them with her little suitcases full of orange pollen. So they are still building up stores.

In better news when I opened up the hives, the ‘weedy’ bees seem finally to have made a fair amount of honey and the hard-working bees which produced all of this year’s honey crop have almost refilled all their frames! I could therefore take some more honey but as we’ve got enough and I want to make sure they have enough for winter, I’ll let them bee.

With the bees still collecting pollen you might suspect that it is still warm and sunny here (like October last year). Not at all. We’ve had a fair amount of rain and it’s been cold enough at night to have the wood buring stove on. And it has led to a reappearance of mushrooms after the absence of last year.

We have plenty of poisonous Jack O’lanterns around the base of the olive trees but also we’ve managed to pick quite a few field mushrooms. Together with our free range eggs, and home produced bacon (Yes!), we can have winter fry-ups – just the job!

One harvest which hasn’t been so good is the walnuts. However, it has to be said, there are more than enough for the two hairy ones, who love them and have no problem cracking the nuts with their teeth.

Now autumn has arrived with a bang a few typical seasonal photos:

A plum job

July 8, 2012 richard Comments 2 comments

I’ve been away for a couple of weeks and can’t quite believe the change to the garden. Despite Jackie telling me the weather has been ordinary and un-summer-like to say the least (Jackie’s last post, ‘Here comes the summer’ seems to have been a false dawn), we have still had very little rain and so the garden, especially the grass, is looking very parched. However, the lavender, oleander and roses are thriving, so it’s great to have some colour.

Jackie has also been extremely busy coping with the annual glut of plums. This time the red ones were first and so we have plenty of plum crumble, plum cordial, plum vodka and plum jam. However, that’s just one red plum tree. Now the yellow plums are coming on stream, which will be shortly followed by the green plums and greengages.

Talking of fruit trees, after a few barren years we will finally get some apples.

Things are moving fast in the veg plot. We have had our first tomatoes, corn on the cobs and courgettes and as I type, Jackie is busy making green tomato chutney – horror of horrors we have exhausted last year’s stock of all types of chutney.

On the livestock front, the pigs are doing well – they love the excess plums, and are fattening up nicely, I dispatched the last of the roasties yesterday and I can hear the bees busy about their work. The hens are also fine, despite the fact that Jackie recently caught Betty with one of them in her mouth! It was rather shaken but resumed egg laying duty the following day. I suppose that will teach her for flying out of the chicken run. Meanwhile, the dogs are taking it easy. Enjoying the cool weather while it lasts. Betty looking like ‘butter wouldn’t melt’. If only…

Blooming

June 3, 2012 richard Comments 2 comments

End of May, beginning of June is the most colourful time of year at Casa Azul. The flowers are having a last hurrah before the heat of the summer kills everything. Strangely enough roses are really popular round these parts and everyone seems to have at least one in their garden. We are no different and they look great at the moment.

We have also been cultivating some wonderful bright yellow flowers – I believe they are called dandelions. Here they are in all their glory before they were strimmed to death.

The long hot summer is great for lavender though and we have plenty of it. We had a bit of a worry with piggy number one recently – she had a nasty abscess on her neck. When it burst it was even worse. I’ll spare you the details. I had to rub in some cream and attempt to keep it relatively clean which wasn’t the easiest of things to do but it seems to have healed remarkably quickly. Apparently they are quite common but I don’t fancy nursing the pigs through any more.

On the roastie front, the last lot have met their maker and we’ve already had the first for supper. Needless to say it was really delicious. I look forward to the rest of them. We don’t hang about though. No sooner had one lot been dispatched than we got another lot. They’ll be ready in a couple of months.

It’s been a month..

May 21, 2012 richard Comments 0 Comment

…since my last confession post. Plenty has happened in that time. We’ve had lots of rain followed by a bit of sun and then more recently, even more rain. This has been excellent for the garden. Fortunately the rain stopped long enough for me to attack the undergrowth. Two days of strimming later the grass was back to a more manageable level and we could actually see some of the new plants and trees we had put in. Plenty of flowers are now in bloom including the roses and the poppies which are appearing out of the cracks in the threshing square.

Of course the pigs love the wet weather and are thriving.

Only downside is that they are much keener on the expensive pig food rather than the cheaper vegetable peelings. Those pork chops may turn out quite expensive in the end. Meanwhile the roasties are doing very well. So well in fact that they are already living on borrowed time.

The veggie patch is also doing well. The asparagus has been and gone, we’ve dug up the onions and the garlic, and had some cauliflowers in addition to some rhubarb. The potatoes will be ready soon.

After an intensive course in animal husbandry for Jackie’s dad (practice in feeding and watering the hens and pigs), we (me, Jackie and the hairy ones) managed to leave the house for a few days and headed off to the Algarve where the hairy ones learned to swim in the sea.

Of course by the time we got back, more sun and rain had done its work leaving us with even more things to do in the garden…

Proper rain and pigs

April 21, 2012 richard Comments 13 comments

Two big events recently. We’ve finally got the pigs and it’s started raining (and still not stopped!). Pigs first. The bloke from the pig farm came round in his truck and said take your pick:

Between him, Luis our next door neighbour, and us, we decided on two little red heads. Or to be more technical, two Durocs. The pig farmer reckoned they would be the best as they are good for keeping outdoors and are delicious! Wikipedia wrongly stated that they are originally from USA – they are actually from Spain/Portugal and we hope that wikipedia also got it wrong when it said they tend to be one of the most aggressive of all the swine breeds!

Here they are settled into their new home. Received wisdom says it is better to restrict their movement to their hut first and then let them out into the bigger field in a few days.

And the rain has finally come. After almost two weeks of continuous drizzle, it is starting to get a bit tiresome (that’s why we don’t live in the British Isles) however we are fortified by the knowledge that we really need it (and a lot more) for our plants now and into the summer. And we can see the benefits already. The fruit is plumping up nicely. Last year we hardly had any peaches but this year promises to be a bumper crop judging by the progress of these little beauties. Maybe even the apples will be big enough to eat!

Here are some birds who love the rain and are still pumping out a regular four-a-day!

The dogs, however, have decided they prefer it indoors and now there isn’t even room for me on the sofa. Just as well Jackie is in Madrid for the weekend.

Blossoming

April 2, 2012 richard Comments 0 Comment

We’ve been a bit quiet on the posts for the last few weeks as we’ve had some guests. First Jackie’s sister Jemma and husband Simon were here and more recently we’ve just said goodbye to Matt, whom we hadn’t seen for ten years when we were teachers in Vietnam.

However, the garden doesn’t stop and in the last few weeks everything has burst into life. We’ve eaten all the oranges and now the trees are full of small white blossoms about to burst open – as is the lime. The plum and peach blossoms have come and gone, and actually we have quite a few peaches growing already – let’s hope the harvest is better than last year. It should be as we now have four trees, mainly older ones which we renovated last year. Also the quinces, apples and pears are in flower. So fingers crossed we get some rain and our fruit harvest will be a bumper one.

We also planted some cacti and agaves in the winter – not surprisingly, they seem to be doing alright with the lack of rain and will go great guns this summer. And the fig tree has actually started sprouting figs!

We’ve also got some more fauna to go with the flora – two bee hives (let’s hope they hang around for more than one season this time) and also seven more little roasties which will be ready for the oven in a couple of months.

Meanwhile our other recent addition, Betty, is doing rather well and continues to be a joy and terror in equal proportions – a terror while awake and a joy while asleep!

So that was winter

February 28, 2012 richard Comments 1 comment

I had a quick look back at last year’s February posts and it was all storms and rain. How different this February. It’s been starry nights and blue skies every day, which has meant icy frosts followed by sunburny days. Frosts and no rain is the worst possible combination for the plants and many have struggled.

Spring is now definitely on the way with warmer nights and hopefully some rain in the near future. The trees are emerging from hibernation and the blossoms are already out on the apricot and the plums are not far behind.

The daffodils have been up for a while as have these crocuses.

The wild spring flowers are also on their way and we even saw some orchids on a recent walk. We planted quite a few bulbs this winter so hopefully a bit of rain will set them off.

The biggest news of the week, however, has been the new addition to the family. Betty was rescued as a tiny puppy by some friends of friends but she didn’t get on with their other dogs so we decided to take her on. Despite her naughty puppy habits – chewing, yapping and occasional loss of bladder control, she has been fantastic. The big hairy one has already taken to her and no doubt they will soon be inseparable. Here is the new addition modelling the bench, now sanded and painted.

As it happens we were sitting on the bench the other day and saw a hoopoe in the garden, which is quite a rarity especially as it is only ever a summer visitor, and blue tits checking out the birdbox. We’ve also seen a wren looking for nesting sites near the barn, so hopefully we’ll have some more wildlife in the garden.

As the bench has now moved out of the courtyard, there is more room for another product of my recently acquired woodworking skills – a small table. And Jackie has been honing her skills by painting it blue and another small table of ours purple. Time for yet another alfresco lunch?

Mr. Chippy

February 9, 2012 richard Comments 2 comments

Fences and gates done, I now moved onto a more demanding task – making a garden bench. I chose the simplest looking design off the web and so it proved not too demanding, although I must admit the measurements I followed made it rather chunky to say the least. It’s certainly not going to collapse but it may need an army of helpers to move it. It’s in the courtyard at the moment which suits us for now as it’s a real suntrap.

I don’t have a proper workbench so the back of the truck had to suffice.

…and here it is – ready to be sanded and painted.

I did need to get a couple of extra toys to complete the job – a sander and also as the wood was so so chunky, an extra long drill bit (seen below).

We’ve had daffodils in the garden for a couple of weeks now and they are being joined by crocuses. Can’t wait for a bit of rain then the rest of the spring flowers.

I had time to renovate the chicken run gates as well!

the story of Casa Azul

and a new life in deepest Portugal

Browsed by
Category: Garden