Monthly Archives: August 2015

My lazy August

summer_flowers

Well, this month has been a bit slow in terms of getting things done. It has been scorching hot since mid July but things have cooled down now. That's my excuse.

pumpkin, Algarve

pumpkin at last

Down by the swale, aka Seven Sisters Ditch, I finally got a pumpkin. I had almost given up as they have been flowering but nothing.

Melons were a bit of a let down they started of well with strong leaf growth and young melons but
then suddenly died back.

 

 

 

melon

last of the melons

This is the last melon plant in the same location as the pumpkin with  a decent sized melon.

 

 

 

 

young_figs

young fig trees

Nearby the young fig trees are growing vigorously thanks to the irrigation pipe my brother put in when he was here.

The tomatoes were amazing but the bushes have started to die back. There are still Sweet Million F1 cherry tomatoes coming online but the 'Alex' variety has all but died out.

plum_trees

young plum trees

The plum trees have been shooting away after I began some extra irrigation with the hosepipe.

 

 

 

 

young_carobUsing the hosepipe I have managed to keep about half of the carob seedlings I bought. I lost almost all where there was no irrigation.

carob_seedlings

carob seedlings

Managed to find a few self seeded carob seedlings which I transplanted into pots. A couple are growing quite well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

avocado

Avocado

The avocado that I grew from seed has also made it through the summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Been picking my almonds. It is a slow business as I have to pick them off the trees by hand as I can't see them on the ground.

almonds

almonds

 

 

 

 

DSC_0055

Olives

Processed the first olives of the season for pickling. This year is a good year for olives. Despite it being bone dry my three large olive trees are loaded. The dry conditions also seem to have deterred the mediterranean fruit fly as almost none of the olives I harvested, had the tell tale puncture marks.

 

 

 

 

 

lettuce

lettuce, Algarve

With a decent amount of irrigation and manure the  lettuce has been growing well. I swear a good amount of it is self seeded.

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earth bag build

The earthbag build is going slow but steady. I have to really step it up before the rains come.

The casinha itself is progressing slowly. I have yet to put in a hot water system and a kitchen. The UV filter I bought on Amazon literally burst into two... O_O

So all in all, plenty to do still.