Phase 2 May 3rd to May 5th Buying and Planting

After all the manure spreading (see we're getting posh already ) of the previous week, we felt like we needed a little shopping therapy.   No not for us the posh boutiques and department stores  but  yep  the good ole garden centre.  The aim:  to purchase in small baby form   (no? not correct terminology   ok   puppy form... again no? OK bigger than seeds  smaller than edibles?) plants that would one day soon (perhaps even before Greece has a viable government) turn into delicious,  organic  and more importantly  quite cheap food!


So the rendezvous was set one Wednesday morning  Chez Marantos and the decision process started.

Decisions  decisions.  Is it to be  green or light green or red and round or red and flat  (Peppers)   or  Little or  oblong or round (tomatoes).  How many egg plants does one family need? Depends how may egg plants one family eats.  Well do you
stuff yours or not?

How big does parsley grow and how much do you use a year.  So this went on for a short while, somewhat like trying to predict the winner of the eurovision song contest we were faced with dilemmas involving local politics (red or green), location..  the (tomato block vote)  and stage presence (well marigolds look nice and they keep bugs away)


Decision however were made  quite quickly  being women the process was painless.  Perhaps that's also because wanting to stick to the healthy Mediterranean diet that we all  love, we know what we eat.

So to the list of what was purchased.  At this point you may beginning to realise the lack of expertise in some of us (me I'm a city gal) so in most cases Latin names have been avoided.


Veg n Stuff




17 Tomatoes
   10 Gali  (normal)
     3 Italian plum
     2 Cherry
     2 Beef




10 Peppers 
     1 light green thin-skinned for ye old stuffing of them
     3 dark green
     1 hot hot hot
     2 long green ones
     3 Florentinas
4 Cucumbers
    2 regular  and 2 mini
5 Egg Plants
    1 Tsakonis    (white and purple)
    2 long and purple
    2 round and hopefully also purple
3 Zucchini
    2 long and 1 round
Melons
3 Water Melons and 5 Honey Dew Melons


Bag of sulfur 5 Kg Organic Fertilizer and meters of plastic


 Total Spent    under 40 Euros

Then Herbs and Stuff

3 Parsley,  1 Sage  (I feel a song coming on here ),  1 Marjoram, 2 Oregano, 3  Dill, 7 Basil (including 2 kinds of pesto Basil) and 6 Marigolds


Total Cost  under 15 Euros

  Plants and Helena on their way to their new home,

















So arriving at the field  on Sunday afternoon we were ready to get stuck in and start planting.  It had been plowed over during the week by the intrepid Thannasis so all the lovely ripe manure would be at one with the rest of the soil  and we were amazed how it looked.

Our field,  neatly plowed.. and obvious pile of shit now really evenly spread.  But  the smell was still pretty potent even from a distance

















LET THE PLANTING BEGIN  AND THE FIRST BASIL GOES IN!!

 Fiona  being helpful as ever

A few herbs  looks like dill and basil

 the plastic sheeting going down

 or not   as it was a tad windy

 ah yes  we were also given 70 lettuces

the idea behind the plastic sheeting is to keep the weeds at bay .  sounds good in theory   there may be a slight question mark over whether the wind may get the better of it and carry everything off to Kingdom Come by next week  (Bit of suspense here folks  comparable to  the Who shot Bobby   or  not.... )

 Discussion over how far zucchini should be from other plants of their kind.  Evidently they are not nice chaps and at the drop of a hat will try to cross pollinate with other similar veg. Well I never!!!

 Nearly done 

 Tomatoes going in.  they are fairly friendly and don't seem to have problems with anyone  but I have been told they need a good stick later on.

Finished Stage 2

So  quite a difference from this time last week.  Look at last weeks picture again to compare.

A big thank you to Thannasis for his support, . inspiration,  use of the land  but mostly his tractor , water pipes and water 


Next week  ...stay tuned.  ...Have they grown,, have any fallen by the wayside, have pests been kept at bay
the stress  the tension  Oh my God the suspense..


TIP OF THE WEEK


1.  DONT FORGET THE BEER NEXT WEEK


2. MARIGOLDS


Were you paying attention when I said we bought marigolds... Why  why  why you ask

Yes they are pretty  but more importantly.   and here I quote   Marigolds - The marigold is probably the most well known plant for repelling insects. French marigolds repel whiteflies and kill bad nematodes. Mexican marigolds are said to offend a host of destructive insects and wild rabbits as well. If you choose marigolds for your garden they must be scented to work as a repellant. 


I quite like the idea of watching Mexican Marigolds grow and drinking Tequila  with our own lime.. Note to self  plant lime tree.


so now you know
til next week.. adieu