12 Most Inspiring Fruit Trees Espaliers

While changing your lanscape into edible garden think about formed fruit trees that are hand formed and shaped to fit even small gardens.

Have a look at these 14 inspiring  photos hand pick by myself. Let me know if you enjoy it...  

Recommended further reading Espalier Fruit Trees For Wall, Hedge, and Pergola: Installation Shaping Care

 Photo by Sillydog

Photo by Dr Bjorn

Photo by Steeljam

Photo by Susan Reimer

 

Photo by JylCat

Photo by Damian Dude

Photo by Kate

Photo by Philip Bouchard

Photo by Nicholas Blake

Photo by She who must

Photo by JPMatth

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If you would like to improve your garden to a beautiful paradise, let me help you to design it. We can work online. Contact me at ewamariasz [at] gmail [dot] com.

Happy Gardening!

Ewa

Recommended further reading Espalier Fruit Trees For Wall, Hedge, and Pergola: Installation Shaping Care

Garden can change your life - story of the Reader

From my working station today :) I share this story.... One day an email poped up in my inbox....

Hi,

This might sound strange, but a garden changed my life.

My wife started a garden last year, and while I knew there were physical and mental benefits to the hobby, I never expected it to have such a wide positive impact on my entire family. Our diets have improved, we get plenty of exercise and sunshine from garden work, our collective stress is at an all-time low, and my kids are now actually excited about eating healthy. We’ve even inspired other neighbors to follow suit!

My hope is that I can inspire your audience, too. These are some great resources on gardening that I thought would look great here: 

Ewa in the Garden

10 BestGarden Crops for Beginners

Gardeningwith Kids: How It Affects Your Child’s Brain, Body and Soul

How toGet Your Children Excited About Gardening

The Guideto Garden Maintenance & Improvement

By Hookor By Crook: Gardening with Disabilities

How toStart Your Own Urban Garden

GrowingConnections: Gardening with Seniors

TheUltimate Guide to Turning Your Home’s Yard into a Community Garden

I hope you’ll consider adding these to your site, but I also don’t want to be a bother. If you’re not interested in this kind of outreach, please shoot me a quick email letting me know.

Thanks in advance,

Luke

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This was my answer:

Hello :) thank you very much for your message :) I am really happy to read it.

Its truly inspiring for me :)

Could I share your story with my audience?

Ewa

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Luke answer was following:

You are most welcome, Ewa! I'm glad that you appreciate the information I sent over!

Feel free to share the resources and my story with your audience so they can benefit from the list as well.  It is my sincere hope that the information gets out there for people to learn from.

Thank you!

*****************

THANK YOU Luke for sharing your story and resources that helped you.

In these days when the world is getting more and more anty-human, we gardeners need to stand firm by our soil maintaining tasks and helping the EARTH to protect our HEART.

There is no coincidence that HEART is anagram* of HEART

Have a great weekend!

*anagram - a word or phrase spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.

 

The Vegetable Free Breeding Award

The Vegetable Free Breeding Award 2015 was initiated by the Humane Earth Foundation to identify, reward and inform about the work of home gardeners or professional vegetable growers in original vegetable creation.

It is the vocation of the Humane Earth Foundation, a private Swiss Foundation to support the work of associations defending the environment, at European level, by awarding them grants. We are indeed convinced that the role of these associations is essential: very often, they are the only ones that raise the alarm, advocate the necessary changes, and put forward constructive alternatives. 

The Foundation's board of trustees decided to launch this Award, and to allocate the means necessary, as an extension to its activities in support of organic farming and the conservation of old vegetable and cereal varieties.

This contest, which will take place during the year 2015, at the European level, will be rewarded with:

* one 5,000 euros award for professional vegetable growers

* one 3,000 euros award for home gardeners

All details related to those awards and how to participate are available on the website http://freebreeding.org

*WE WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD PASS ON THIS CALL FOR APPLICATIONS AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR NETWORKS*

 

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Algarve - vegetable garden - Day 29

And on the hot and dusty day 29, my vegetable garden looked like this.

I was harvesting lettuce every, just for one person. Just waiting 4 weeks and you may have your own chlorophyll and other precious nutrients to heal your body.
Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and courgettes were flowering promising good produce.

But then my doctor said no tomatoes and no peppers, as they are inflammatory for the body :( Can I say luckily I got yes to lettuce (lot's of it), cucumbers and courgettes? Yes, I think so.
I will be honest right now. I stopped eating tomatoes one year ago, and I must say I feel better. However I was hoping this cruel ban passed over... But no... So there will be lots of tomatoes and peppers for friends...

Previous stages of this small vegetable garden in Algarve:  
Algarve - vegetable garden - Day 1
Algarve - vegetable garden - Day 2
Algarve - vegetable garden - Day 15

#algarve #vegetablegarden #ewainthegarden

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Algarve - Vegetable garden - Day 15

This little vegetable garden in Algarve seems to be growing, but at its own pace. I am not sure how, in this heat, the veggies will be doing, but so far it seems that some of them do better, some of them not so excellent.

I see that tomatoes and peppers are adjusting longer than expected – probably because when I bought them they were pretty big in size, but roots were kept small. They were sown and growing in seeding trays, where the amount of soil is really little, so the roots had no chance to grow freely.  Nevertheless tomato plants seem to get thicker, which is a good sign. No opinion on pepper plants yet. Little bigger, but no real change.

Cucumbers –  seedlings planted on the top of the photo on the left will have their first flowers! Yipeee! I wonder if they will taste better than those from the shops. I think, that Portugese have no idea what is a great cucumber (sorry friends!). In about two weeks we will know.

Note to myself – maybe next time buy smaller tomato/pepper seedlings.


Seedlings vs sowing seeds

Look at the first row from the right. Two plants on the bottom are courgette “Diamond” sown from seeds, next plants in a row are melons planted as seedlings. In those two weeks melon seedlings didn’t grow that much, as they are still adjusting, while 2 of the 3 courgette’s seeds  sprouted and seem to be faster and already slightly bigger than melons.

New veggies

3rd row from the right – new broccoli seedlings planted.

2nd row from the left – new lettuce seedlings planted, for having constant supply, planting or sowing in 2 week periods would be enough, I think.

Rows in the middle – radishes “Malaga” and yellow string beans “Golden Saxa” starting from seeds.

Apart from that? I have already picked some lettuce twice, third one is on the photo below. Just in two weeks from planting seedlings.

Bon Appetit!

#algarve #vegetablegarden #ewainthegarden

Algarve - Vegetable Garden - Day 1
Algarve - Vegetable Garden - Day 2

Starting new vegetable garden in Algarve - Day 2

After making the plan of companion planting, I have decided to go two ways.

First, to buy ready seedlings to make the vegetable garden producing sooner.

Second, to use seeds in order to prolong the produce by at least 3 months and to grow vegetables that I haven't seen the seedlings on the market.  

As you have seen, the irrigation system was placed before planting. In the days like now, when the temperatures are at their 30-ies they are watered 3 time a day for a week, to make them established. After seedlings will get get used to new environment and their roots will firmly catch the soil, 2 times a day would be enough.
Current watering times: 6 am, 3 pm, 10 pm.    

Not all the rows are used yet, because I will be adding new seed sowing every 7 days in order to get the  produce ready for harvesting at different tomes. I don't want to have all the vegetables to be ready at the same time, because we would not be able to eat them all at the same time. Veggies will arrive when they are needed :) not when they want to be ready.
 

Starting new vegetable garden in Algarve - Day 1

I am staying for 6 weeks here in Algarve in friend's house, so I decided to establish experimental vegetable garden.
The space is not too big, just 23 m2 - which is enough for 2-3 people.
Look at the photo, this poor soil which looks like sand, but is hard as rock. It needs to get softened with organic matter to feed the veggies.

I have ordered 400 liters of  manure and it will be dug into the soil. Actually double amount is needed, but let's see what will happen. We will be improving the soil with time, season after season bringing it back to the proper culture. 

The irrigation system is already there - 11 lines, means 11 lines to grow. You can't grow vegetables here in the Algarve without it, because of  strong sun and high temperatures.   
I would prefer freestyle sowing, as this saves space, but if you don't have what you like, you like what you have - right?

I will plant following veggies and herbs:
- different kinds of tomatoes,
- peppers,
- dill,
- cucumbers,
- cilantro,
- salvia,
- beans,
- lettuce,
- courgette,
- melons,
- basil green and red,
- chives,
- vine and maybe raspberries.

Now I need to seat down and make proper plan concerning companion planting, so each vegetable can benefit from the company of another nearby planted veggie.

Would you like to see my plan?  

Book Review: Tomatomania! A Fresh Approach to Celebrating Tomatoes in the Garden and in the Kitchen

In this book words are as important as the juicy pictures. One warning before you read now anyfurther. If you didn’t grow tomato yet, there is high possibility that after going through this book you will join the club of tomatomaniacs worldwide! If you are not afraid, give me your hand and let me tell you about ‘Tomatomania! A Fresh Approach to Celebrating Tomatoes in the Garden and in the Kitchen’

Red, green, orange, yellow orbs appearing on the plants from nowhere… from the light, water and soil… Well, growing tomatoes might really get obsessive. I know what I am talking about, I went through that phase myself. I wish I could have found a good information source at that time. You know how it is. In Internet information is scattered, you find piece here, piece there and before you put all the pieces together few seasons usually are passing by.

If you don’t want to lose any more tomato growing season and learn about tomatoes, tomato garden and different tomato varieties including heirloom tomato, as much as possible and as fast as possible, you need a book that covers all the aspects of tomato growing subject.

Today I am going to review for you a new book that was published in January 2015,  ‘Tomatomania!’ written by Scott Daigre and Jenn Garbee , so you can make conscious decision and choose the best tomato growing book.

What’s the best about this book? Whether you are tomatomaniac, tomato eater that dreams to turn to tomato gardener, or you already are tomato gardener, you will find interesting information in the book.

‘Gardening is not a rational act’ as Margaret Atwood said, which is cited in the foreword written by chef Claud Mann, host of Dinner&Movie on TBS.

This book presents also organic tomato growing techniques and lots of tips for only 29$. Actually I could make a challenge: find any useful tip about growing tomato that is not covered in “Tomatomania”. Then, all home-grown and talented investigators, ‘Agathas Christies’ and ‘Sherlocks’ unite! BTW, if you find anything let me know.

Tomatomania covers following categories:
- Finding best spot in the garden.
- How to choose best tomato varieties for your garden.
- Deciphering tomato seedlings labels.
- How to treat the seedlings from the very beginning to give them best start.
- Staking, tying, pinching or not pinching?
- Critters and other challenges.
- Best moment to harvest tomato.
- Recipes from tomato martini to tomato-vanilla bean marmalade.

The minus I personally find in the book is too long tomato recipe section, which is approximately  1/3 of the book, starts at 129 page. This is a minus for me, but might be advantage for you. But for that I skip one star in the rating. 

The book is especially useful by the folks living in California, warm US states, or in other Mediterranean climate regions of the globe. Just want to be clear on that. This doesn’t mean that the book is not useful for colder climate tomatomaniacs, you just need to know that if you live in colder climates you need to apply your local tomato maintaining tips as well, but you already know that, don’t you? For me this means one star less.

My rating: 8 out of 10 stars

The book is easy to read and contains lots of photos.

Get your copy of Tomatomania!: A Fresh Approach to Celebrating Tomatoes in the Garden and in the Kitchen

Have you read any great gardening books? Give your recommendations with your reasons why in comments below. Looking forward to discovering some great gardening books.

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, 2015
Pages: 210
Available here: Tomatomania!: A Fresh Approach to Celebrating Tomatoes in the Garden and in the Kitchen
ISBN-978-1-250-05728-0

Book Review: Organic Gardening

*Organic gardening* is a book written by Geoff Hamilton, one of the best British organic gardening experts. Perfect for beginning gardeners and veterans as well. If you are on either side of the experience lane or somewhere between and want to learn to garden without chemicals or pesticides, you want this book to be first hand information about organic gardening in your collection.

Definitely the best organic book you can find and that was ever published. Compact, clear information with lots of illustrations.

After reading this book and – which is far more important - using it in the garden for at least one season, you will love to spread the news among your friends. It is full of easy to use  information that will keep your garden healthy and beautiful. I am sure it will answer all of your questions and doubts you may have.

This is one of those good balanced books – great reading stuffed with myriad of information, well illustrated, and with a clear, well organized index.

Information in the book is all ‘practical’. You don’t have a feeling, that weeds magically will  spare your garden or that organic garden is a carefree wonder. Geoff Hamilton talks about real mundane world and shares advice that answers all issues the organic gardener may encounter. And what feels best, he is doing it without preaching and grumbling about chemical gardening – dark side of the gardening coin.

The book covers: soil management and improvement, fertilizers, organic pest and disease control, organic weed control, planning the garden (ornamental, vegetable, fruit, herb, greenhouse, container), basic techniques, propagation techniques and organic gardener chores in 4 different seasons of the year, raised bed, square foot and organic gardening. All is well illustrated, easy to understand, so anyone can garden on an Earth-friendly basis.

The chapter "The Gardening Year" is a must-know guide to how to schedule your garden activities according to your US location. I think also that many may truly appreciate  instructions for DIY tools, containers and fertilizers.

If you are into vegetable gardening, organic ways are especially important, as using chemical fertilizers means your veggies are not so healthy. “Organic Gardening” by Geoff Hamilton shares a lot of tips on preparing the soil and describes vegetable by vegetable on care, needs, bugs etc.

My rating: 10 out of 10 stars

This book is one of the best gardening books ever – and for good reason. It’s a must read for those switching to organic gardening or looking for good source information and expanding knowledge from best ever born practitioner.

Get your copy of Organic Gardening

Have you read any great gardening books? Give your recommendations with your reasons why in comments below. Looking forward to discovering some great gardening books.

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: DK Publishing, New Rev Up edition (February 21, 2011)
Available here:  Organic Gardening
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0756671795
ISBN-13: 978-0756671792

Chemtrails in Algarve, Portugal

- Come out, I show you something - the Doctor said. It was calm and sunny morning in the Algarvian countryside, 7 km from The Atlantic Ocean and 24 km from Faro (Portugal). The Doctor is living and practicing in Algarve for many years already.

- Look in the sky and don’t think these are the regular trails left by the planes. They started it again, because the vacation season has ended and the tourists left. They don’t do it in the summer, there is too many people from different countries, some may be aware what’s going on...

Do not think ‘it doesn’t concern me’, because after you start to watch your sky and realize the difference, it may concern you as much as I am concerned about the chemical trails (chemtrails) spotted first in Portugal at the beginning of September 2014. Until that day I was not aware about the issue. It was being addressed even at the United Nations gathering. You may watch it here:



Do not mistake chemical trails (chemtrails) with regular condensation trails left by planes that you may see on your sky. This is what majority of people usually think, that all white trails on the sky are ‘normal’ trails left by the planes, as we are used to them. If you start to watch sky over your head, you will recognize the difference.

How to tell the difference between chemtrails and regular trails?

1. Chemtrails stay much longer in the sky. 

Regular, let say ‘normal’ condensation trails  usually disappear in few minutes. Chemical trails are staying in the sky for 16-20 hours and they don’t disappear, they slowly disperse in the sky looking similar to clouds after few hours. See on the photo how they look. On the right side you see newly made chemtrails, the rest that resembles the regular, normal clouds are the chemtrails dispersed in the air, after few hours.

2. Chemtrails are getting broader with the time

Because they disperse and don’t disappear. If you see on your sky broad white line that keeps staying for hours, start to watch your sky. This is what I did and realized that with the time that definitely they look different. You will realize it too. On the photo below you see different stages of chemtrails, from the oldest ones (under the metal wires) via those made 1-2 hors before, to the ones made 20 minutes before. 

It needs to be brought to the public attention in Portugal that their country is being sprayed.
Spraying is made for weather modification purposes. Maybe it wouldn’t be something to worry about if they wouldn’t spray using different dangerous chemical elements which are affecting our health.
The Doctor who brought this subject to my attention said that there is a correlation between the spraying and the number of patients coming to him with health issues.

The word “chemtrails”  comes from chemical trail, which means that there are chemical elements in the sprays they make.

You may ask who are “they” I am referring to. These are private companies, government agencies.
If photos are not convincing enough, watch the film from UN gathering where the issue was addressed.

Further recommended reading Chemtrails, HAARP, and the Full Spectrum Dominance of Planet Earth

Vegetable Market at the Ocean in Olhao, Algarve, Portugal

Prices are in euro.

I love those diiferent varieties of hot pepper and plants that flower in the winter time. 

Fresh seedlings for the next coming crop.

The vegetable market in Olhao has something special to offer. Beside delicious fruits, vegetables and other stuff, it offers direct view to the ocean. The salty breeze and unique scent of ocean are embracing the produce of the rough life on this very fertile red soil.
Visiting local vegetable market is always great fun. In Olhao recently I have discovered absolutely delicious small bananas grown in Madeira and the big variety of different melons. But in general its possible to buy everything there.

The vegetable and fish market in Olhao is 'must see' in Algarve. Every Saturday until 1 pm. I hope to see you there one day :) and have a drink!
The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks

25 Photos of Organic Vegetable Garden in Moncarapacho, Algarve, Portugal

Today I’d love to share with you 25 photos taken in the vegetable organic garden located in picturesque area of agricultural and horticultural Eastern Algarve in Portugal. While driving the almost empty roads, I was discovering new views, catching the scent of orange orchards caressing the senses and feeding my soul.  

This is a splendid example of organic vegetable garden. The owner doctor Barrie Oldham is gardening organically here, in this red tough Portugese soil, following the valuable permaculture path.

Some parts of the garden are still a working project like integrating fish into permaculture green-house gardening – hope to see it working already while visiting next time.

Thank you doctor Barrie for permission to share your garden with the readers of this blog!  

Finding Casa Nirvana for the first time is kind of miracle. Frankly, I don’t know how I got here, must have been some help involved not only from friendly lady working in the cafeteria in Moncarapacho. Making sure about the right direction, was the most important challenge, then following the intuition was the second one. The closer I was, the narrower the road was, at the end just one car can pass.

Before we get to the vegetable garden you need to see the lush plantings around the house and clinic to establish the feeling how the place looks like.  
Backyard garden with two Bougainvilleas, Brugmansia and the softest Agave attenuata.

Dry land requires true survivors - here they are. I wish they could grow in my garden, but in this cold and wet climate of Poland, I can only grow them indoor.
In Algarve it rarely rains, there is average rainfall from min. 1 to max. 12 mm/monthly.
As for comparison rainfall in Poland is min. 7 to max 20 mm/monthly, UK 40 to 80 mm/monthly

You have seen these fascinating in shape Aeoniums Black Rose in the previous post.

Koi pond with grand koi living there. I love the idea of planting different aloes species around the pond.

And when aloes flowers it looks like being in flame! Splendid!

They are also self-seeding a lot.

And yes, this is what I was mentioning at the begining of the post. The color of the soil in it's full glory. Red. Ochre red. The photo gives full justice.

Kitty watching the vineyard, so nobody can trespass.

Persimmon tree.

Grapes slowly getting ready.

In the raised bed there are carrots popping up - they need raised beds to surely grow their strong long root. The red soil has to be enriched with organic matter to be soft enough.

Melons getting ready...

Cucurbita pepo var. patisoniana.

Brassica rapa chinensis called also bok choy - the chinese cabbage.

Brassica rapa var. parachinensis called choy sum.

Rucola seedlings waiting to be transplanted.

Many yummie and proud looking veggies here....

Basil scent around...

Cosmos flowering I know from my country as well :) Constantly I can't escape comparisons, ehe... why?

Almond tree...

Banana fruits soon to be ready.

Chickens too. There is little duckling under the chickens, but we can't see it now. It appeard suddendly after I took the photo.

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Cheers,
Xoxo,
Ewa

Ewa Szulc is the garden designer and founder of the page EwaintheGarden.blogspot.com. She offers online garden coaching lessons and garden design to help you to beautify your garden, make it healthier and organic. You can contact her at  http://EwaintheGarden.blogspot.com