February

After a very mild winter and what looks to be an early spring, Al & I have decided to tackle both our terrace garden and sort out our veg patch up at our guesthouse ready for spring.  The seedlings have been sown, some plug plants bought from the local co-operativa and Al has been breaking his back digging me a brand new, bigger veg patch ready for all the main-stay Mediterranean fare to be planted up later.

The old veg patch has been planted with cauliflower and broccoli plug plants inter-weaved with pak choi, spring onions and radish seeds (hopefully these won't bolt otherwise I am giving up on radishes completely) some broad beans and sugar snap peas have been planted against the walls.

Our living room is now tastefully decorated with mini propagators containing various types of tomatoes, chillies, peppers, cucumbers,  more broccoli, various flowers - although mainly types of ipomoea and some mini sunflowers.  We just need to get some courgette and aubergine seeds, I didn't have massive success with locally bought plug plants last year so I've decided to order some from a UK seed catalogue.

A couple of weeks ago I went a big berserk with a pair of secateurs and decimated a lot of my plants, thankfully most seem to have survived and new growth is apparent, the jury is still out on the lantana but if it does recover from my impersonation of Edward Scissorhands then it will be a much better shape for it.  The lime tree has lots of new fruit on it and hopefully we'll be able to pick our first ripe lime in the next couple of months. The lemon tree has lots of new buds so I'm hoping for the perfumed citrus blossom air come May.

Tomorrow Al is building me a cold frame out of an old window pane we've discovered lying about, although if the weather continues along the same vein then we probably won't need it.  We're going off to a local quarry to buy some top soil and the chicken farm for some manure to put into the new veg patch.  Here's hoping to a bountiful year!