Category: Potager
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Rubus idaeus and fruticosus: Raspberries, Blackberries & Friends
Taking a bowl into the late summer garden and picking through the raspberries and blackberries was a lovely reality back in Switzerland. I had planted fall raspberries and thornless blackberries that grew into vigorous shrubs intent on taking over the world and delivering countless luscious berries from late summer well into December. Down here, so…
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Oh My Darling Clementine…
I was hankering after a citrus tree and I needed to have something vertical on the terrace… so I planted a clementine tree in a large pot. At the moment I’m not sure whether that was really a good idea or more a bit of plant abuse. I planted this “Clemenules” (Citrus reticulata, Clementina fina)…
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Zucchini
Zucchini work reasonable well here, although I haven’t had anything like the bumper crops we had in Switzerland. Which is partly a good thing, because we can’t get quite as sick of them as we did there. In this Mediterranean garden, Zucchini plants always grow big but most fruit grow unevenly – big on one…
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Growing Potatoes
Potatoes work rather well in the Mediterranean garden if planted early enough and in good soil. When to Plant I planted some in September of 2022 as an experiment to see if I could get new potatoes for Christmas. Sadly, a slight winter frost early in December killed them all off – despite a thick…
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Morus albus – Mulberry
Small fruit like blackberries, raspberries, strawberries etc. are difficult in this Mediterranean garden at 50masl. It is simply too hot and dry and even mulched and in half-shade it’s almost impossible to keep them watered enough for them to truly thrive. One small fruit will do famously though: mulberries. Though originally native to China and…
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Mediterranean Strawberries?
Stepping out into the dewy garden on a summer morning and gathering a handful of strawberries for breakfast – a gardener’s reality in Switzerland and other Northern regions. Down here, for me, alas, it remains a dream. It may be different in the nearby hills but at 50 masI it is simply too hot and…