More on Magnolias

Well after my post yesterday about the love of magnolias I am sat in Heathrow reading the latest gardeners world magazine and discover they evolved before the existence of bees. I find that absolutely amazing.

posted from Bloggeroid

It begins in earnest

It has taken me almost 3 months to write something here, which is appalling, but also due to the fact there has been a winter standing strong in my way from gardening which has been driving me crazy. I have realised how much the gardening gave me above and beyond the actual edibles. It kept me sane and was a much missed reliever of stress.

The last month I have been here in the UK working remotely and seeing family. It has been the most wonderful weather. Almost Icelandic summer weather and this has been somewhat torturous for someone absolutely itching to get gardening. With the temperature approximately 16-18 degrees C versus back home where it has been snowing almost the entire month of March.



My delusions of arriving back in Iceland and being able to get digging immediately have been shelved a little. But, but but but, this is not to say I have been doing nothing in the gardening arena. Oh no, I have been preparing as much as is humanly possible.

Before I left at the beginning of March, I took a risk and planted out half of each of my seed packets, of which there are very many varieties and types. This was a risk as the light wasn't entirely full enough which may risk very leggy seedlings which can be very weak and never recover. It was also risky as I was relying on Daníel watering them correctly. As it happens he did just fine.




I have not yet returned home - that is a journey for tomorrow - but I have seen the seedlings via the power of Skype and it seems that some have indeed suffered legginess but not all, and as I saved seeds I can sow a second lot when I return.

Since being in England I have been excited and inspired by spring and by the most english of english gardens both in Devon and in London (Notting Hill and Crouch End specifically). I now have a definite idea of my ideal garden in Iceland, one which merges a potager style with the old English Country manor yet obviously adpated for Icelandic climes.













My biggest non-vegetable challenge for adaptation I believe will be something to replace my two favourite floral tree type entities; Magnolia and Wisteria. I am fairly certain that neither of these would survive an Icelandic winter so I will have to spend some time researching what blossoms I can have. Specifically climbing blossoms. I crave ivy and long lived creeping pkants such as Wisteria which state history and grandeur.




This is all currently theoretical right now anyway as I rent where I live now, and true landscaping and lifelong plants are not until I know I will be settled somewhere more thoroughly. But now at least I know what I want to do, when that day comes.

For now, I am heavily concentrating on vegetables and meadowlike wild flowers. Meadow breeds as they will run riot all over my unplanned non functional areas of the garden and look pretty without need for maintenance.

Whilst here in ole blighty I purchased rather alot of temporary gardening materials which are a darn sight cheaper than in Iceland. Namely a full size plastic greenhouse made specifically to put up during the summer season and be stored during winter and I am itching to get back and erect this beast. Also to go with it is a smaller Tomato greenhouse which I plan to put inside the stolen glass greenhouse for extra tropical crops.




Additionally I purchased many many planters made of polythene. They are basically raised beds but made of the same fabric as ikea bags. They are durable and reuseable and for someone like me who is likely to move, it means I have the benefit of raised beds but I can take them with me.




So, when I return to Iceland I will begin transforming the area ready to set down the first crops as soon as possible. More reports will follow on if my leggy seedlings make it, if my plastic greenhouse was a false investment and if my indoor winter grown peppers are ripe for picking. There will be more here because during this last month I have decided I need less stress, and have to cut down some of my pastimes. As gardening dissolves my stress and feeds my family, it is currently a winner in what comes first.



For now, I will leave you with some glimpses of my mum and stepdad Mike's garden. Its my inspiration and where I learned much of what I know.

Patience not

After bursting at the seams I have given in and planted things. This might sound ridiculous but they are things which needed planting. Sort of.

First off I have set half of my various chili plant seeds off to germinate as they notoriously need a long season to produce. Initially I was concerned about lack of light but as my plants from last year are still merrily fruiting throughout the darkness we have had I figured i was worth the risk.

The other crops I have started are specifically for that oh so trendy word - mircogreens.

As specified on foodista.com

About Micro Greens
The smallest possible leaves of salad greens, herbs, edible flowers, and leafy vegetables.Common microgreens are micro arugula, celery, beet greens, daikon, radicchio and cress. They are the teeny, tender, first young leaves picked only weeks or a month after the seeds have been planted. Microgreens often have very strong, concentrated flavors. Chefs love using microgreens because the vibrant rainbow leaves that can add a boost of color to a dish or the concentrated flavors the leaves can provide to intensify a dish.

Physical Description
Microgreens are tender lettuce and mustard greens that are chopped off young, usually when they are only an inch or so high at the most and barely a few weeks old. They’re smaller and younger than baby greens, which tend to be harvested later when the plants have grown a good three inches tall or more.

My craving for bringing things to life like an obsessed Frankenstein has been sated within 48hours as 7 of the 9 types of veg appeared that quickly. I cannot wait to report back on the taste.

Radio Silence

Sadly there will be a pause in entries for a bit. One of the gardener's worst nightmares has happened. I have slipped a disc aka herniated my spine aka brjosklos.
More later when I am up and mobile!

Aphid Attacks

It is November in Iceland.

This line above was going to be the start of a fresh blog entry a few days ago, with the following line 'and to my joy and amazement my tender fruiting plants are flowering again.' My aubergine and sweet pepper plants were blooming flowers and teasing that a very late second crop was on its way.




BUT, the inexorable but, last weekend I scurried over for my daily check of the plants and made a loud noise akin to that a makes cat when you accidentally stand on its tail. Literally overnight and out from, it seemed, nowhere - my plants were covered, absolutely swarming in aphids. Three different types of aphids - or quite possibly 3 different life stages of the same aphid.

The leaves of my aubergines were dense with green bodies and eggs. My peppers were infested with some white flies. In a panic I checked over my chilies which thankfully seemed to have escaped the attack as had my tomatoes.

In retrospect I wish I had photographed the enemy to properly identify them, but the overwhelming concern was to get rid of them. I tried google image searching aphids just now and only managed to make my skin crawl.

It pleases me to report that I am now aphid free. My actions were fairly brutal but I knew that if I was to successfully overwinter these plants I had to be vigorous. First I removed the most affected leaves and flowers and threw them away in a sealed bag. I literally stripped the plants. After that I manually squished any remaining bugs every morning and evening in addition to spraying the plants with my own home made bug spray. This contains a large amount of crushed garlic and washing up liquid. My living room smelt of fresh garlic and cleanliness which was actually not a terrible thing. The garlic burns (and does burn the plants leaves a little) and the soap disintegrates the aphids bodies. Lovely.



The tomato plants were sacrificed in the clear out. They didn't appear to be infected but I decided to reduce the risk and of all my tender crops, these are the easiest to raise here in Iceland. It was a shame however as I am still eating fruit from them. The remaining green fruit from the plants has been ripened on a windowsill with a long stalk attached. They will be eaten before the week is out. Sad, but to still be eating tomatoes in mid November shows it has certainly not been a bad season. Let's see if I manage to extend it next year.

Slow down

Not only did my blog posting slow down in the last month, any growth in the garden did so too. It has been snowing, and below minus nearly every day. The winter greens are still going strong, even after being completely covered in snow.





Inside the cold frame stolen greenhouse - which has had its temporary plastic patch up ripped off by the wind - the spinach is still going strong. I am nothing but pleased as punch about this.



At the weekend I crunched out into the snow just before a friend came for dinner and cut a cabbage. After shredding and blanching it for a few minutes I fried some fresh ginger and garlic and added the cabbage with a sloosh of oyster sauce. Served with sesame seeds this was the best tasting cabbage I have ever eaten. I am not entirely confident that the crops will survive the whole winter and lack of sun, but at half way through November even if they all die now I will feel in some way I have conquered the harshest of Icelandic season.

Garlic and frosts

The garden is full of surprises. The frost has come down so hard that its literally pushed the soil up. It looks like fingers of broken glass reaching up trying to strangle my winter brassicas. Still, so far they look unbothered by the changes in temperature, as does my perpetual spinach.



I popped into the greenhouse last week to pot up my garlic and found my strawberry runners were still producing. Little berries admittedly but they struck me as some sort of miracle, and yet more flowers still coming.



Anyway, garlic, yes. To get the best and earliest garlic you should plant it in Winter i.e. now. In this country this means playing a risky business with supermarket bought garlic as the garden centres do not cater for garlic sets until spring (which is incredibly frustrating). The idea is that the cloves get frozen along with the earth and then begin the growing process the second that the soil warms up enough. This speeds up the entire growing process and enables the plant to start germinating immediately.

I chose to plant my bulbs in individual pots in the greenhouse, this is purely from a practicality standpoint rather than a need of the garlic. I simply don't know exactly what I will put in which bed next year - nor if I will possibly change the layout entirely. It is still good if not better to plant the cloves directly into the soil about 15cm apart in rows and make sure you mark where you plant. If you decide to do as I have and pot them, simply wait for them to become well established before relocating them in Spring. Last year I planted my garlic too close to my potatoes which meant they were overshadowed and didn't reach their full potential. Even on the small side it tasted sweeter and more delicious than any supermarket long stored garlic you buy here.

There are not many problems you can have with garlic except for bolting. This happens when temperature fluctuates wildly - an occupational hazzard living in Iceland - but with garlic that does not mean a ruined crop. The garlic flowers can be eaten and are especially good chopped finely in salads providing a real garlicky tang.

Lemongrass

The fact I am growing this plant is one of the most surprising to people. True, its certainly not something you would imagine successfully grown here in Iceland but it is incredibly easy. The grass can get very tall, about a metre or more and the leaves are not the most attractive but it is one of those plants worth growing if you use it. Store bought lemongrass here in Iceland is expensive, but more than that - what you can get is very far from fresh and that is when you can get it at all. With the exception of the Thai store at Hlemmur (Mai Thai) all of the stalks in the supermarkets are dry and unappealing. I cook a massive amount of Thai food, in all honesty if I didn't have children I would cook it 6 days a week, and this is an ingredient I use frequently.

Considering our location this is a plant for indoors, not in the greenhouse (unless you have a fully insulated heated one). Mine are happily living on the windowsills.



The plant is a slow grower, or at least has to grow for almost a year before the first harvest so patience is prime. I planted mine in late March and harvested for the first time a month ago. I decided to take only a small amount for use and split the rest apart to propagate.

This was as simple as growing the plant - which has literally been sown and watered well as the heat increased. Once the seedlings were strong enough to move I put them in their separate pots to grown on until now. I harvested some stalks, because they resembled the size you buy in the stores, by simply twisting the base until it came away. These I used and also froze a few.

The remaining stems I split into individuals with the roots attached and re-potted them. The idea is that by next Summer I will be harvesting off of each one continuously. The plant is renowned for its sturdiness and once established, it grows quickly and should be able to keep cropping for some years.

We reap what we sow

And we need seeds to sow. Of course I along with most people tend to buy my seed at the garden centres. But if a plant is easy to collect seed from, why not? The majority of the plants in my garden are from seeds purchased in the UK, either because it is infinitely cheaper or because you cannot purchase the variety or type of plant here at all and this increases the benefit of seed saving.

Not being a true expert at seed saving I have opted to go for the plants which have obvious seed pods and am leaving the fleshy stuff (like tomatoes etc) for another year as they require soaking and separating from the pith etc. The process is easy peasy for the seed pods.



Leave the pods to dry on the plant as long as possible, ideally in a cold frame or greenhouse so the light dries them without rain. Pick them, pop them in a paper envelope or if you like your wine as I do, use the brown paper wine bottle bags from Vinbuð, and hang for a while indoors. Preferably somewhere warm, but not the kitchen as the air is moist and will kick off germination, I have chose a windowsill above a radiator. Once you are sure they are completely dry, crack the seed pods and shake the seeds free.

Its best to store them somewhere cool and moisture free. I have wrapped the seeds in marked brown paper bags and placed this inside a tupperware container with some uncooked rice (which absorbs any hint of moisture) and put it in the freezer. We shall see results next season.

Plant Sex and the Busy Bee

"The birds and the bees" is a common phrase to cuteify the act of doing It. But that is literally the case when it comes to your garden. The pollen from the male and female flowers need to mix. In normality most of this is carried out by bees, insects and birds which why there is great concern - and should be your concern - that the global honey bee population is under threat.

When you are growing vegetables indoors and in greenhouses you might need to manually help the process along. With larger flowers on greenhouse plants you simply take the male flower and insert the stamen into the female and allow the pollen to mix. The female flower usually has the beginning of a fruit behind it, but if you are unsure, touch all to all and you've covered the ground. As a general rule when plants first start flowering only male flowers appear, so be patient and don't think something is wrong if you can't instantly find female flowers. Plants most commonly needing this help in your greenhouse include cucumbers, courgettes, squashes, pumpkins etc.



Plants you keep on windowsills indoors will definitely need a hand in this department and often these have smaller flowers. Chilies, peppers and tomatoes all being in this category. For these either take a q-tip and touch the pollen on each flower which will spread it around nicely. Alternatively a common way of doing this with tomatoes is simply give the plant a shake. The pollen puffs off and resettles doing the job just as well.

Even though its against most Icelanders natural instinct, the best thing you can do is encourage bees and other insects to be in your garden and greenhouse. Honestly, I have never seen so many grown (sorry to say it but) women run hysterically screaming around the place as much as when bees are nearby. Fair enough, one is not overly fond of wasps, but the Icelandic population simply isn't used to the number of insects increasingly appearing these days. Global warming has made it easier to grow things here, but as also enabled bugs to exist where they once couldn't.

Wasps are likely to be more aggressive, and can be a garden pest if you are growing fruit, but there are very very few Icelanders currently growing more than redcurrants here. In general its bees which hang around our gardens. In particular bumble bees, and my garden is simply seething with them.

The 'wild' aspect of my garden is rammed with what I assume to be Californian poppies. I let these run wild and they behave like invasive weeds, prolifically self seeding all over the place. They are relatively easy to uproot so they do not bother me if they spread into the veg patch. They have a cottage garden feel about them - a feel I would dearly love to pursue when I own my own property.




During summer nearly every poppy head has a bumble bee in it. It is perfectly normal for me to see over 30 within one glance. I have purposefully spread seeds around my stolen greenhouse to encourage the bees. In addition there is another invasive weed overtaking the area around the greenhouse - Mint. Its about as high as my shoulder, wafts its scent across the garden and its amazing.

Mint is a lethal plant to let lose in your garden if you like it to look well kept. It spreads like wildfire. For my purposes this has been brilliant. The broken lower glass panes of the greenhouse have been covered with the forest of mint growing there, protecting from wind blowing in. In summer whilst it is flowering it's attractive purple blooms they poke through some of the gaps and attract incredible numbers of bees to find their way into the greenhouse and enjoy the rest of the flowering vegetable plants and help them get jiggy at the same time.