Jun 15, 2018
A few thoughts and the garden!
Thank to my readers who have taken the time to either comment or send an email. I appreciate knowing that you have read and enjoyed the posts about our trip. I do have have about 7 – 10 more to edit and write. It was the trip of a lifetime for us. We were only able to take this journey because the girls are no longer with us. We still think of them everyday.
Sadly we came home to a jungle.
For what we paid them to water for four weeks I had hoped that they might have done some weeding. Not!
If you look closely to the left you will see kale.
The beets are easier to see.
A bit of Swiss chard among the weeds.
Can you see carrots in the middle of those weeds?
There is supposed to be a tomato plant in there!
We actually put quite a bit of money into this garden plot what with the landscape guys digging it up to get rid of the grasses and weeds, paying to have it watered for four weeks and then the seeds and few additions we bought for the site. The worst was that our brand new $50.00 hose was ruined, likely by them not reducing the pressure after the hose was shut off or perhaps even not shutting off the water line. We are at around $250.00 in cost so obviously this was not a good idea. If you remember the site was overrun by weeds once we got it. I guess we can’t leave the plot for a vacation 🙁
With my stockings on for the next 12 days because of my vein treatments, I can’t be bending in the garden. That leaves it up to Colin. Our plan had been to plant a second row of seeds once we got back from Europe. We are going to forgo that idea. Hopefully we can clear enough weeds without pulling out the produce and get some benefit this summer. Certainly not enough to cover our expenses.
Our garden plot had not been used for a few years and in our ignorance we had no idea how the grasses and weeds could take over. So it is unlikely that we will continue with our garden plot but we may continue with planting on our RV site in pots as we do in Mexico. It was very disappointing to come home to such a mess but you can’t have traveling and gardening at the same time 😐 I was happy with the traveling and will just have to deal with the garden situation as is. We plan to travel next year for 3 – 4 weeks so keeping the garden is not logical.
Speaking of travel. We are open to your suggestions as to where to travel to next spring. We have enough Aeroplan points to head to Europe one more time. So should it be Portugal and Spain with a mini trip to Morocco or Turkey/Istanbul for a few days and then Croatia or Ireland or where do you suggest. We are really open to your suggestions.
Thanks for stopping by to read this post.
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I might be biased, but I suggest taking in some Balkan cities like Plovdiv, Sarajevo, and my favourite, Belgrade. Sofia is also lovely as are Kotor and Prizren. You could start in Turkey, then do a counter clockwise tour to finish in Greece.
Gardens and vacations do not go together. If you pull weeds by root you will eventually win. Start with a row a day. Get one of those carts you sit on and it has wheels. Scoot along the row. Or Make a raised bed. Colin could do that. Make it hip high and a foot or less of soil. Plant your fast growing leafy veg’s. Don’t give up.
I’m not a gardener but I do know that when I was little and my folks had a garden, they weeded it every day. But what I remember best about the garden was creamed peas and potatoes all fresh even the cream from the milkman. No kale though – thank goodness. LOL Wherever you decide to travel I know the pictures will be fabulous and I will love all of it.
Good morning Contessa,
We loved the pictures and the accompanying observations of your trip. Be it on the Isla or Europe it is great to follow your journey.
Alan
I absolutely loved Portugal, one of my top 3 countries (Egypt, Portugal and Mexico) all for different reasons and not in that order. Portugal doesn’t suffer from the terrible crowds the rest of Europe does. It is also supremely affordable in comparison. Just put in the word Portugal in my blog to see my old posts from that trip. I would go back there in a heart beat. We went to Lisbon which is a favorite small city. I really want to go back to Portugal and do the Porto side. You could easily do a combo of that with Spain which we also really loved (except Madrid, it was ok but much colder than the coast so go later in the year if you go to Madrid, we went in April)
Ireland! Israel, Vietnam but thinking you may be more interested in history of Europe.
Save that tomato plant – I see bloom on it! Your garden does look a bit sad but save the tomato plants!
Yes, you have a ton of weeds, but your plants look great! Just keep watering and weeding and you will have an excellent harvest, it looks like!
I’ve never been to Portugal or Spain, but would like to put in a plug for Turkey, a beautiful country with very hospitable people.
After your harvest, use a strong vegetation killer twice, and do it again in the spring. You should be able to plant by mid May next year.
No thoughts on the best places to travel next year, but I can give you tips on gardening. After weeding, or after planting, put about 3 inches of straw over the paths and around any plants that are at least 6 inches tall, and it will prevent most weeds from growing. Most garden centers and many farms sell bales of straw. It will also enrich the soil from year to year when dug in after the season is over. It will also save on watering because soil won’t dry as fast.