Friday, 23 November 2018

Winter draws in

It's now nearly time to go back to Scotland with our second stint of three months here complete. We will end the year in Drumnadrochit and have time to reflect on our experiences in order  to plan ahead for the next round and see where we can improve things and whether we can build something new and interesting. We have some ideas for a new construction but everything has to be weighed up carefully before we start. Considering the very unusual and record breaking weather (i.e. rain)  we have had, we can say that we have managed to enjoy the land, the sea side and 2 or 3 visits in different places. We have prepared partially the grounds ready for next March, and hopefully this preparation work will facilitate the spring planting of crops. A few crops did not perform as expected but everything was affected by the climate. Poor harvest of grapes and no harvest at all of olives. There is little we can do about it but we will try to adapt to the developing situation. We certainly can say that the paradise for vegetables has given us plentiful produce to enjoy and store.  Often there is too much of it.






We say goodbye to these lovely tomatoes

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And most of these lovely vegetables still growing as we write


At the front of our house there is now a surprise" lawn" growing where there would normally be bare earth. With a bit of sunshine the place might begin to look like the garden of a millionaire's villa!!!


Sunset colouring the Oliena mountain

And sunrise this morning 21/11/18


The wood shed now completed using various leftover materials and filled up with the wood and logs cut from Dule.


Our new experimental apple wine will mature when we are away...and be tested  next March

Quince tree still with lots of  fruit. We made some jam and puddings


In Santa Teresa you can buy wine from a pump: just take your container along and fill it up. This idea should be replicated  everywhere as millions of containers and bottles will be saved from landfill.

Some of the tiling work in the veranda in the seaside house is now finished.



And the little bedroom has now a wall wardrobe.







Traditional dish " Pane Frattau" made with 2 mm thin bread in layers with tomato sauce and grated cheese. Like lasagne  but without the need to put it in the oven.

New plants of spring onions recently planted
 
First lot of 4 rows of newly planted potatoes

First time planting lentils. Harvest should be done  next spring. Hopefully.


The very successful flower bed of nasturtiums. The size is probably three times of the ones we grow in Drum.

All in all the season of harvesting has not really turned out as we foresaw.  I (Lesley) had imagined warm late summer days, working hard in the fields, learning to whack down almonds, followed by a group effort picking the grapes and ending up with sticky, black hands and a sunburnt face.  Then discovering how they pick the olives from our numerous trees.  Somehow everything has been more disjointed, unpredictable and frustrating...... all on account of the weather. 

It seems that the farmers here can better survive drought conditions than days of rain at the wrong time.  It looks as if we are going to have to introduce some diversification and be more experimental with which crops to plant and when to plant/harvest them.














Thursday, 1 November 2018

Few pictures to end the October month

We are posting a series of pictures with a little note attached . Time is flying fast and it is only 23 days before we return to Scotland.

Enjoy

Lots of veg still growing but the beans have now finish

We are still planting lettuce, cabbage, fennel and for the first time lentils.

The goji berry plant  is now in full production

The two main vineyards in Locoe land and Dule land are going to be replaced with ( hopefully) new ones next year.

pomegranate are also very abundant this year . here is the flower of the plant.
Courgettes still producing flowers....and fruit

Aubergines still growing well. We will probably have some till the end of November.

Also the Fichi D'india better known in UK as prickly pears are still in production. My experimental wine will be a test in March to see if it was successful or a failure. The wild fruit is so abundant that we need to think how to use it as  most of it is left to rotten.

Our gold fish in the water pool. They keep water free from algae and fertilise the garden....

Same pool....frogs playing with the fish?


Praying  mantis. Very common here and of different colours. Depends on the way the want to camouflage themselves in the environment.

outside our house spiders are probably the most friendly creatures. They are everywhere and the variety is incredible. I lost counting the types. I know not everyone likes them, but in the country side here is an indication of an healthy environment. So we are happy to have them around.


Our visit to Esporlatu and the farm with many different chickens and not only...all with their little  (and  different) home.

This is for Uni. Polish chickens? They keep something like 7 different colour ones.

A seagull trying to be friendly with us when on the beach  on our visit to Marazzino. Asking for food and feeling lonely as the tourist are now away.

New job....or...more tiling in the house in Marazzino


Later on...some tiling done. We will be back there this week end as lesley is back from Scotland on the 3d of November.

Between tiling we did some walks ( not many). Decent weather in a season where all the best weather forecast expert are scratching their heads for what is going on  in the Med. They are now talking of a tropical Mediterranean era....

Our late project. A wood store area which was crying to be build for long time. Job done now.it














the growing season started

 We have been working hard in the last few weeks, especially looking after the vines. Pruning, weeding, trying to avoid the mild dew to occu...