Category: Potager
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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…
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Lettuce Tips & Tricks
In this Mediterranean garden I plant lettuce between September and May. The mild winters are wonderful for growing lettuce and lots of other hardy greens and vegetables like cabbages and beets. Summers are definitely too hot – even when grown under a shade canopy, lettuces won’t thrive, will suffer from pests, and will taste bitter.…
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The Potager in Winter: Cabbage & Co.
Cabbages work well here – at least if planted as late as possible in the fall to grow over the winter. That way they avoid most of the bugs, flies, caterpillars, and slugs that make them look like Swiss cheese otherwise. Of course without freezing temperatures you still have to regularly check the underside of…
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Rheum – Rhubarb
Planting Rhubarb in this Mediterranean garden turned out to be a successful experiment. In August 2022 I planted a “Frambozen Rood” in half-shade. Despite regular watering it did suffer a lot from the heat. During the garden re-ordering in December 2023 I moved it next to the wall of the garden shed where the soil…
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The Orchard 2024
It’s been a year since the last orchard “status report” in February of 2024. Time for an update: The pear tree bore a bumper crop of wonderfully juicy and aromatic pears – yellow with reddish cheeks, probably “Clapp’s Favorite”. What I had thought to be a “cherry tree” turned out to be a reineclaude tree…
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Goji – the Berry from Hell
It’s very difficult to cultivate small soft berry fruit here – too hot, too dry. Goji berries however aren’t scared of anything. Heat? Drought? No problem. Along with their dainty little flowers and pretty berries, they have the personality of a Mongolian conqueror and start spreading everywhere underground. I found that I didn’t really like…