Gardening is a bit like magic, especially in Spring. Long forgotten plants appear from nowhere! Join us as we look back at the vegetables and flowers that we’ve been planting and veggies harvested over the last few weeks.
We also share future plans for the courtyard in front of the veranda
Meraid and Dan
Thanks to SiegfriedundJoy for the magic 🪄 inspiration
Gardening is a little bit like magic, don’t you think. One minute you plant something, you forget about it, and all of a sudden it appears like magic. Tada! Do you remember back in I don’t know was it October when I planted these narcissis. I planted these. I planted some over there, some there, some on the berm and I kind of forgot about them, and now they’ve opened up in all their Glory. So this week I thought I’d do a little bit of a Roundup of all the things we’ve been doing in the garden over the last few weeks of the build. I just thought it might be nice to show you what we’ve been doing because even though it’s been raining that hasn’t stopped us either. But even though it’s raining I’m going to get on with planting a few little bits and pieces. Well these lettuces in front of me are coming to the end of their life, and that’s why I’m going to going to plant another batch. so 15 starts for a Euro and I’ll get them in just in this bed in this bed that’s planted behind me. I got a nice mixture. I have to use the advantage of the wetness, get these in the ground. Nice and wet. It’s going to keep on raining, which means I don’t have to water anything in. So when I lived in the UK and Ireland I never ate salad in the cold months, but for some reason, here it seems it feels normal. That’s the whole lot planted so €1 – cheaper than a bag of seeds. Usually what I find is I plant seeds and of course I’m not going to use the whole packet, so it’s just going to languish about in the bottom of a box of seeds. In,,, in that sort of section where you go – Oh I must plant those sometime! And you never get round to them, and then you discover a packet and realize that it’s 15 years out of date. Now that the evenings have a bit more light I can get over and do an hour after I’ve done my office work. I’ve got to get this done this week because I’ve got to go for another two weeks of traveling. If I leave it until I come back it’s going to be rather overgrown. it’s getting dark and I can hardly see what I’m doing so it’s time to go home and make some dinner for Meraid and I might come back tomorrow and do a bit more if it’s not raining. Well it’s getting towards the end of February now so it’s time to plant some ‘Grao de bico’ or chickpeas. I’ve got a prepared bed that we weeded out and manured last week, so I’m going to plant these into this bed. We kind of like this area for tomatoes and chilies and aubergines but they’re a bit in front and they don’t grow particularly high so other things should be able to grow nicely behind them. Just going to poke them into the ground. We got some rain coming so we don’t need to water them in. Definitely time to plant potatoes we got a prepared bed here with some straw to mulch it all with so this is where they’re going Tin. these nicely chitted potatoes are going to go straight in here. well I didn’t film any of the making of some more beds. Basically moving the compost pile to create space for more growing beds. It’s getting that time of year where we need to start planting things and we always want a bit more space. [Music] 0:07:29.520,1193:02:47.295 [Music] A wee bit of broccoli. Where’s the broccoli gone? Over here. that’s just nice. All looks good with a bit of extra uh wood or bark on it as well. Right, come on. Do you know what we’re going to do now. Well we’re going to go and check the asparagus. Well there might be enough just to try. You know we’re definitely known for our patience but when it comes to asparagus asparagi we have none. We’re supposed to wait another year but who’s checking up. Here. There’s a nice batch of them. I was sort of thinking that if we could find seven or eight that we could snuck a little meal, but really there’s not enough small ones, so I think that’s Nature’s way of telling us we need to wait. Dan left me alone again. Well this hose has been draining Under The Veranda all weekend as you can see here and it’s almost empty. Over here behind me this is full. So I’m going to get a little bit of extra pipe and use another siphon to take it from this one down into the other hole. So there was some pipe I eventually found up here in the Loft. Scissors aren’t ideal. So here goes. It’s got this um it’s got this sort of end on it I’m going to leave that on and see how that goes first. That’s almost full. See it’s full. Right, now for the Moment of Truth. You see how it’s working. so always something to do. What are we going to do with this wall? This wall surrounds the courtyard on three sides and I agree it’s not the prettiest of things however it does serve a purpose. It keeps the area enclosed and you know somewhere for the gates to be attached to. We don’t like it. We never liked it, and in what has it been 3 years since we first looked at this property, we don’t know what to do with it. Do you remember when we were on The Veranda last week and we looked out I didn’t try and hide it because it’s there it’s a reality. so so our idea initially was that we would wait until the house was built, and then decide what we’re going to do with it. The reason for that is – number one, because this whole area which seemed like a really lovely place at the start when we first came, and I’ll not deny it. I put cardboard and woodchip here for weeks trying to make this look better. And then I thought, what is the point! This is going to be a building site in 6 months. Well as we all know it took a lot longer than that, but I am so glad we didn’t do anything to it, because can you imagine how mature things would be at this stage and and then we would have to face this. This wall also goes into the vegetable garden which is just here so on that side we haven’t done anything either and again it’s for the same reason because we haven’t really decided if this wall is going to be coming down, if we’re going to face it in schist, or if we’re just going to render it. We also have another wall here which is the inside wall of the barn with a similar aesthetic. However uh almost two years ago now we planted this passion fruit as a fix to kind of cover the wall and hide it did with something useful. This passion fruit provided us with about 12 kilos of passion fruit last year so that was a really instant fix. So to answer the question. the question has two answers number one we’re not doing anything to it right away. We are going to wait but we do have big plans. A neighbor has a grapefruit tree growing in a similar kind of Courtyard. The grapefruit trees are a little bit more tender. Grapefruit brings back tremendous memories for me. Mid 70s, every Sunday morning my mom would cut a grapefruit in half, sprinkle it with sugar and put a glace cherry on the top and I thought it was so sophisticated. And possibly a couple of avocados cuz they also need a little bit more protection. But where – the ins and outs of it, or the seating areas, we haven’t really come up with a plan for that yet. We expect to be sitting on the veranda a lot with an outside table but there may be times we want to sit outside as well you know just down here. Maybe paths. Who knows! Lots and lots of ideas. But to be honest I don’t want to put too much energy into thinking about that until the time is closer. And like I said, until we really feel how we’re using this place. Because, if you remember we’re also moving the steps that were over there to there. So we’re not sure, will we take some of this wall down, will we leave it as it is, and like I said earlier cover it in schist and or render of some type. I don’t know. Thank you so much for your interest and asking about these things. You’re Absol absolutely right it is not pretty. This is the donut Peach that Dan planted just over a year ago 14 months ago from a stick and look at it, Blossom. And you can probably tell he’s very fond of favas or as we call them in Ireland and the UK broad beans. I’m a bit high maintenance when it comes to broad beans I either like them very young or when they’re mature I have to double shell them. [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] If you remember back in last spring when we had the huge amount of rain Dan dug a trench and Swale and berm over here. And what I did was I threw all vegetation and all seed heads and and just to allow plants to grow and help support the berm and keep it in place. Under the daffodils I’ve managed to get some coriander. Totally unexpected. Most of the coriander heads or seed heads that I saved and then there was just like the scrappy bits so I threw them over here as well and wait till you see what happened. They’ve all grown, coriander everywhere. The garden’s doing really really well at the moment we’ve got plenty of food we’ve got broccoli lettuce Kale and cabbages. Well it’s been a few days since Dan and I looked at the asparagus, and you know what, he’s not here today. I’ve made a fish pie for tonight’s dinner and I think it would be nice with a bit of asparagus. Lovely. I think I’ll pick three. There we go. Oh that’ll be nice. Three aspargus for me. See you back at the dinner table for one. Proud moment. Well that’s it for me for this week but we’ll see you next time bye our first Portuguese grown asparagus. Cheers Dan, see you soon.
30 Comments
Your olive trees are so lush!
So my suggestion for the wall is as you concluded. Wait. Once the house is built and you enjoy it for a few months, then decide about the wall. One other thing to consider is just cutting out a doorway or pathway out to the garden maybe with a lovely trellis. And there are so many fruiting options for things that can be grown against a wall. Kiwi, raspberries, blackberries, other varieties of passion fruit and more
Fresh oranges are the best!
A walled garden would serve lots of purposes. Fire break…lots of fires in Portugal. I would stucco it. Put a beautiful fountain or koi pond in it. Put some lovely plants and a nice spot to sit. Comes in handy on windy days to.
My suggestion for your wall; Take the top course of block off. Then it will be 3 blocks high or about 24"s, When the plasterers are on site, have them put a simple smooth (white quartz sand) coat of render on the wall (inside, outside and on the the top (no coping). Just a very simple low wall of monolithic color (whatever the natural color of the plaster may be).
That's a low cost solution and it will transform the block wall from an eyesore into an architectural element that defines a delightful patio & formal garden space. 😊👍
The Garden& patio space has a slope – so you can correct the slope with fill so the the inside height of the wall is ~24"s. At this height, you will be able to easily see over the wall for countryside viewing.
Another feature for this spot is an almost fully inground soaking pool. Same render as the wall and barn with an 8" curb. Big enough for 4 adults to lounge on those scorching summer days with room to spare. 👍
I say no to a schist veneer. Stone will add mass and make the wall a distraction. Keep it simple. Render the barn wall too. Same color, same texture – no maintenance. Taking a simple approach will help the wall "disappear". Visually, there is enough texture going on with the house. The eye will be happy to take a break.
Espalier vines or fruit trees on the wall after it has been stuccoed or rendered
What did you do with so many kilos of passion fruit?
The ground looks excellent, just waiting for planting delicious items, you certainly are creating a quality of life worth while. Thank you both for sharing
If that wall has a portion that gets the southern sun, why not attempt to esplanade avocado trees. If anyone can do it, you can! By being esplanaded you would not have to worry about the height and it would be easier to protect them during the colder weather.
The first thought that came to mind when you showed the wall was render and paint. I think it would look very good.
loving the music you guys have been using lately :0)
Love your channel, your passion for growing your food and knowledge on planting is great.
The wall would look amazing covered with schist. 💚
I have a wall that's not pretty and have espalierd fruit trees along it
Lady Banks Rose or any type of climbing rose would be very nice I think .
Great to see your garden: it's wonderful! It's like in paradise to have such an orange tree, lovely! Thank you for sharing.
Waiting till the veranda is done and you and Dan have your chairs there will inspire you I’m sure on what to do with your wall. Maybe even a water feature🤷🏻♀️
Sorry, But you have to clean your skillet. I know you're busy, BUT.
If you are thinking of avocados, I would start them in pots now as it can take 7 years for them to bear fruit.
Fifteen starts for a €. In Canada we pay 10 times that.
Hi Meraid, I see those walls as a wonderful opportunity to do a central fountain. A serene space – can you imagine sitting on your veranda hearing the sound of water😍. Maybe a beautiful rose, lavender & gaura garden🙌🏻
I did one in my garden with an oval shape around the fountain. 8 sections filled with different roses 🌹
Lavender along my walls and gaura, ice cream bushes and shell/snail vines & wisteria up my pergola legs.
I also have some fruit trees to the one side and olive trees in between the lavender on the longest wall.
Just a thought and if you would like I could share some pictures with you of what I did – my walls are plastered with some detail (band & coping).
You and Dan are such inspirations to me with your food gardens 💜💜💜
I'd give that block wall a rustic look. Neatly re-point the mortar joints for strength and then color with oxide stains for concrete to give it a more stone-like appearance – and then look into doing some espalier fruit trees (citrus, avocado, etc.) on wood grid mounted to the block. Showy and green in the warm months, and sculptural in the cold months. 🙂
I would take that wall down, it has no purpose and spoils the view
Wouldn't it be great for everyone to have a Meraid in their lives. What a joyous person.
Dan/Merida,
WRT to the block wall. I suggest that you render it and do a small amount of customization by interspersing some tile work along the face. I did this to a wall along the back of our property and used to 5-four inch tiles to make a cross shape. I did this in six places and it gave it a nice custom look.
Jim
Cheguei agora no canal! Eu amei vida de vocês ! Maravilhoso 😘🌻🌻🇧🇷
Can you tell us where Dan goes and what type of work he does? Love the videos
Yes, I would also keep that wall. Always nice to have a, maybe, windless spot to sit in and I would also render or just paint it in stucco shades. Also lovely to have tender fruit planted there. I can think of cape gooseberries, maybe youngberries and buckets full of strawberries or other climbers that bears fruit. Oh and some containers full of fuchsias, dahlias and petunias! What a joyful place to have on any day of the year!
The land is looking great. Hope the asparagus was tasty 😊
How would you describe your gardening approach? Is it companion, cottage, food forest?
Hi. How are you. Donna from long Island ny here. We spoke last summer about m6 dogwood tree not blooming? You had advised me to prune early this spring…..i decided not to do that because in the spot its in we get alot of wind so if i prune the bottom branches off of it it would be top heavy….not good for the trees sturdiness. Its starting to bud now🎉…hopefully it'll bud flowers this year..😂 ill keep in touch. Thnkx. Donna