Still warm and sunny, but nature fades and sounds sharp. Days got shorter and nights colder - winter soon? - no, please, nooo! Tomatoes smile.

This season was hot and dry. Our plants sow a lot of sun and only rain water. Many of them did not get through the heat alive. Tomatoes made it, most of them! And they do taste! They taste sun! Well, they took steps to conserve the little water they could get through the summer and have grown up thick-skinned. But they look healthy and taste very sweet. They are many.

The seed of the earliest, biggest and tastiest tomatoes definitely to be collected for the next season:

Something preserved for the winter, Italian style.

The year of apples as well - huge this time and intensively aromatic.

Some potatoes:

Cucumbers. Those were seeded directly into the soil in spring while all transplants died out - too weak. Will never do this winter work again. Direct seedlings are much more stronger and robust.

Grapes are on the way - many:

The beginning of seeds harvest:



Unclaimed Mirabelle are juicy bursting underfoot. May be, some jam with ginger and cinnamon..:
























The full moon was also harvested many times during the season..

GARDENING SEASON is upon us again. March 11-13, 2015

Off-season. Everything is half asleep. Such a cold spring compared to the previous year.

Accidentally dug up lizard - not moving - still in winter paralysis.

Sap-flow has not started yet, grafting experiments can be done.

Did not plan, but pruned a grapes this year again.

The deposits of old woody scrap finally burned out. Now there is enough of ash for the spring fertilizing.



The rain water-collector got lifted up.

Garlic is surfacing

New life is on the way - cheers!

NEW GREEN-GROWING SEOSON STARTS!

The first tomatoes started from seeds in the mid. of February are showing up - welcome to the world babies(! Many of them are saved from our Tangential gardening seasons 2013, 2014.

O-O, and what is that? Cedar nuts are sprouting! I found them at Porto's botanical garden, placed them in the pot with the soil on my return home in January and did not water since then. Now I'll care!

Hope they will tolerate the transplantation(?)

TANGENTIAL GARDENING. Visit 27.07-02.08.2014

We were not around the garden for about 3 weeks. The hot weather is welcome, but when it's too much for too long without any rainfall.., ah let's see what has survived. Things like weather are out of our control. We just have to be patient and wait for conditions to correct themselves.

Only the strongest tomato-plants left.. although some blossoms and fruits were automatically aborted due to the lack of water, high temperature and competition for the limited food supplied by the plant.

 

2 little Fig trees transplanted in the beginning of July look happy.
One of them even carries 2 figs, yuppie!:

2 Mulberries transplanted in the beginning of July also somehow managed the shock:

It seems to be a great year for blackberries:

Apples. A lot this year again, but very small and with black spots. Many are lying on the ground. Would be nice to remove excess fruit to allow space for remaining to grow large, allow flower initiation and development for the following year. I have read that thinning also might promote improved fruit uniformity, color, flavour, and reduces limb stress and breakage. 

Pumpkinballs:

Even few cucumbers – small, but very sweet:

Lots of Cherry plum/Kirschpflaume (Prunus cerasifera):

Reading: "Young, sour plums have traditionally been enjoyed in the Middle East and Asia, where they may be eaten raw or preserved. They're known as goje sabz in Iran, jarareng in Lebanon, erik in Turkey, mei in China, and ume in Japan. Although these are not all the same variety of plum, they may be used in similar ways."

Next year then: 

"For every pound of fruit -- pitted and halved -- toss in a few tablespoons of fine sea salt or no-additive kosher salt. Adding some heat via pepper -- Aleppo, Chipotle or foraged California red pepper -- is never a bad idea. Set aside for 12 hours in a clean, closed container (glass canning jars are ideal) and then rinse and refrigerate. The pickled plums will keep for a month and are especially delectable when served drizzled with a little honey."

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-umeshu-japanese-pl-118396

A lot of sunny colours: Yellow zucchini, Carrots, Calendula officinalis

Mushroom-logs are well colonised with the mycelium:

 

Lettuce is flowering:

In the morning have found Chicory-like flower, in the afternoon they are gone. Next day the same story - Cichorium endivia is a member of the sunflower family Asteraceae, and it gives its name to a distinctive subfamily of that family, the Cichorioideae. Within Cichorioideae it belongs in the lettuce tribe, Lactuceae.

It's used as leaf vegetable under the common names radicchio or radicchio lettuce. This chicory can be cooked or used in salads.

Grapes:

Seeds:

Leaves for the fermentation:

 

Bad luck:

-Dill (did not come at all),  

-Radish (mutated, eattent by some buggers leaving maggots tunnel on the surface (radish maggots). http://homeguides.sfgate.com/put-garden-prevent-worms-radishes-26137.html

-All kinds of cabbage

-Black and red currant are stolen by someone.

-Sweet charry "harvested" by birds