segunda-feira, 2 de junho de 2008

Na horta / In the vegetable garden

Na horta as coisas continuam a crescer às mil maravilhas (quando vista assim de cima fico com a impressão de que o espaço podia ser melhor aproveitado...no proximo ano teremos de tratar disso) e algumas culturas já precisam de ser colhidas.

Things are going well in the vegetable garden (from this upper view the space seems to be underused...something to keep in mind for next year's vegetable garden), and some crops need to be harvested.




As alfaces já estão com bom tamanho para serem colhidas. No entanto ando a experimentar colher apenas as folhas e deixar a planta no sitio. Novas folhas voltam a crescer e a mesma planta produz quase o dobro.

Letucces can be havasted already, but I'm trying the cut and come again technique. If it works the same plant will produce almost twice as much.


Os rabanetes estão quase bons para serem colhidos, entretanto já fiz nova sementeira.

Radishes are almost the right size to be croped. Meanwhile I already have some more growing.

No canteiro das couves as coisas também estão bem lançadas. As couves chinesas precisam de ser colhidas antes de começarem a grelar, as couves flor estão a começar a produzir cabeças, os repolhos estão cada vez maiores.

In the brassica patch things are starting to look good. I need to crop those chinese cabbages before they bolt, the collards are growing and the cauliflowers are producing heads.



Couve "Cavolo nero di Toscana", o legume mais bonito de toda a horta (a fotografia não lhe faz justiça)
"Cavolo nero di Toscana", the most beautiful vegetable in the vegetable garden (picture doesn't do justice to it's color)


As beterrabas também estão quase com um bom tamanho para serem apanhadas. Vou ter de as oferecer, uma vez que não gosto de beterrabas (semeei-as só para comer as folhas em saladas).

Beets are almost ready to be harvested, which means I will have to find someone who wants them since I don't eat beets, nor does anyone in my family ( I sowed them just for the leaves which taste great in salads)


As courgettes têm crescido imenso com as chuvas dos ultimos dias e já podem ser apanhadas.

I already started cropping some courgettes, they are growing like mad with these last days of rain.


Feijão verde, a começar a crescer. Atrasei-me um bocado com a sementeira dos feijões, por esta altura já deviam estar muito maiores.

Pole beans (green beans? The english classification of beans is too confuse to me...). I was a bit late with sowing beans so they aren't as big as they should by now.


Estes são feijões rasteiros que o Patrick me enviou. Não parecem estar a crescer tão bem quanto eu gostaria e muitos deles nem chegaram a germinar.

These are bush beans that Patrick was kind enough to send me. However they don't seem to be growing as well as expected (surely not as well as the pole beans) and lots of them didn't even germinate. Maybe my soil is not the best for them.


Os primeiros tomates. Estes são tomates cereja e como também não como tomate cru estou a pensar em secar e guardar em azeite a maior parte deles.

My first tomatoes. These are cherry tomatoes and I intend to sundry them and keep them in olive oil. This way I will be able to use them for cooking (in case you are wondering, I can't eat raw tomato)

As peras continuam a crescer, e afinal não tenho apenas uma como cheguei a pensar mas sim cinco.

Pears are growing steadily. As it turns out I don't have only one pear growing but five.


As groselhas já estão maduras (ou estavam...) e foram devoradas in situ logo após a fotografia.

Red currants were ripe and vanished immediately after this shot.


As nectarinas também crescem de dia para dia. Pena serem só duas...

Nectarines are also getting huge. Unfortunately there are only two of them...


E, adivinham o que é isto? É a primeira melancia que se está a desenvolver! Adoro melancia.

And can you guess what this is? It's my first watermelon growing. Boy, do I love watermelon!


E para terminar, esta especie rara de legume que fui encontrar à sombra das couves.

And to finish of this post I show you a rare species of vegetable I found between my cabbages.

16 comentários:

Anónimo disse...

Olá, é a primeira vez que escrevo, mas sempre passo por aqui.
Vi sua rara espécie de legume e não resisti: é mesmo uma beleza.
Parabéns pelo blog, é sempre um alento para os olhos descansá-los no seu jardim e principalmente nos bichos.
abraços,
Satie

ameixa seca disse...

Adorei a espécie rara... de que maneira pode ser cozinhado? ;) Tadinho...
Gintoino vou fazer uma perguntinha, não me leves a mal: o que é que vais fazer a tanto legume e fruta? É para consumo próprio ou vais vender também? Tenho tanta inveja (saudável) deste teu quintal... também queria umas hortaliças e frutas para a minha cozinha...

Ana Ramon disse...

Olá amigo. É realmente muito agradável ver a evolução da tua horta. Sei que há umas alfaces que são precisamente para serem desfolhadas. Desconhecia que se podia fazer o mesmo com as que aqui mostras. As minhas grelam num instante aasim que os dias se tornarem mais quentes. As beterrabas que ralo cruas e tempero com sal, azeite e alho, nunca me lembrei de comer as folhas em salada. O nosso feijão verde também está a desenvolver-se com dificuldade, excepto as feijocas da Bulgária que estão a crescer vigorosamente. Este ano não temos quase peras. As cerejas estão a desaparecer levadas em verde pelos pássaros. As maças estão a aparecer com pedrado ainda que as esteja a curar sempre que terminam as chuvas. Os enxertos nas videiras não vingaram. Por aqui, o quadro é tão desmotivador que ver as tuas fotos serve para dar algum consolo.
Beijinhos

chuck b. disse...

Absolutely beautiful. I can only fantasize harvesting vegetables from a sunny garden like this and cooking up some delicious portuguese delicacy.

You don't eat beets? Sliced beets tossed with chopped apples and a little vinaigrette makes one of my favorite salads.

LadyLuz disse...

Hola Gintoina

First chance I've had in a while to visit you and what a lot is going on in your garden. I love the new steps with the railway sleepers and the gravel paths and area. The compost is going to work wonders on your veg patch and that new ginger-coloured variety hiding in the greenery is a sweetie.

Paulo disse...

A tua horta continua uma alegria. Não admira que apareçam legumes estranhos a aproveitarem a sombra.

Anónimo disse...

Sorry the beans aren't doing better. The seeds are a few years old, which is probably why some of them aren't germinating. I'm having the same problem with them in my garden right now. They should be a lot better if you save seeds and replant them.

Pole beans are normally faster growing that bush beans, so I don't think this is really anything wrong with the plants or your ground.

If you save the seeds and regrow them for a few years, they will become more acclimated to your garden and probably grow faster and stronger.

If you like beet greens in salads, you might like growing swiss chard. Chard and beets are exactly the same plants, only the chard has been breed to have nicer leaves and the beets nicer roots. You might have a look for 5-color swiss chard (like 'Bright Lights' or a similar name). This kind of chard is a grex or genepool mix, and the plants come up different colors.

gintoino disse...

Satie, obrigado pela(s) visita(s), e pelo comentário. É sempre bom saber que "existe vida" desse lado ;-)

ameixa seca, os legumes e frutos são para consumo próprio. Claro q tb irão parar a casa da familia e de alguns amigos caso a produção seja excessiva. Cá em casa consomem-se mtos legumes e frutas.

ana ramon, estas alfaces não são de nenhuma variedade própria para desfolhar, mas lembrei-me de tentar. O q é certo é q elas continuam a produzir folhas e assim não tenho de semear novamente. Existem no mercado algumas alfaces q grelam menos ou com mais dificuldade, mais adequadas a climas quentes (vou ver se encontro alguma info sobre isso). Pena q por aí as coisas não estajam a correr tão bem. Por aqui estas chuvas intermitentes foram bastante benéficas. (vou ter de experimentar as beterrabas raladas com sal azeite e alho)

chuck b., no, every time I tried beets they always taste like dirt (as in soil). Since I'm growing them I'll give them another go in a a aple/beet salad, who knows maybe I acquire the taste for beets.

ladyluz, yes, things have been busy around here. How are things in southern Spain?

paulo, é verdade, esta variedade está a tornar-se mais frequente na horta hehehe. O Pascoal adora seguir-me pela horta enquanto trabalho e agora parece q descobriu um novo "poiso" de onde pode vigiar as minhas actividades.

patrick, I'm glad that its the seeds that aren't fresh. I was thinking that maybe I was doing something wrong. I intend to keep seeds for next year and see if they will do better. These are the dog beans. The other ones didn't even germinate. I kept a few left and maybe I will give them another try.

Ezequiel Coelho disse...

Nem sempre a quantidade (quase nunca) significa qualidade!! ;)
Tens poucos frutos... mas MUITO variados!! Parabéns pela futura colheita! :D

Curmudgeon disse...

Ha! What a furry orange vegetable, a mutant cabbage with 4 paws and a tail??? Is this the kitty that had to stay inside for so long? How is he doing? The gravel paths look great and the compost harvest is very very exciting news. What a harvest from your veggie patch. Our tomatoes are probably going to jump ship and head on over to your place! It's a bit chilly here. As for beets, have you tried roasting them in the oven? This brings out their sweetness--so they don't taste so much like dirt. Also, the golden (yellow) beets and the chioggia (red and white circles inside) are much sweeter than the traditional red ones--we grow the 'bull's blood' variety mainly for it's gorgeous merlot colored leaves. Yes, I second the comment about chard. It grows fairly easily from seed--though we are having problems with slugs right now eating ours. Rosemary branches placed between the rows seems to be working as a deterrant.
Oh, one more thing. Guess what! My purple oxalis has come back!!! I remember being very jealous of your beautiful oxalis a while back. I'll take pics of mine and post soon. --Curmudgeon

Lisa at Greenbow disse...

Your vegetable garden looks so good. I especially like the way your furry vegetable is framed in the last picture.

Unknown disse...

Lol! Your rare species of vegetable is very cute. Looks like a good, cool spot for that one to, um, grow. :)

I have to confess, I planted a couple of redcurrent plants this year because I had a space where they would be useful... but I have no idea what to do with them except make jelly. Any advice?

As far as the beets go, have you ever tried them roasted in olive oil? I think that they are wonderful that way. I could also send you some seeds next year (I think--am I allowed to send seeds to you in Portugal from here?) for golden beets if you want to try those. The leaves are still delicious, but the roots are literally golden instead of red, and they have a much sweeter taste. More like sweet potatoes than like red beets.

Unknown disse...

I just read your comment to chuck b. If you peel the beets instead of just scrub them really well, that makes a huge difference in the "earthiness" I think. You can either roast them whole and then run them under cold water to slip the skins off after roasting, or peel them individually before you slice and eat them, cube and roast them, etc.

gintoino disse...

ez, Por enquanto só tenho a variedade, daqui a um ano ou dois conto ter a quantidade tb. Tudo isto associado à qualidade, claro!

Weed Whackin' Wenches, yes, it is the same cat that had the urinary problem. He is fine, thank you for asking. My purple oxalis(which was beautiful) had a litle "dog accident" and it looks miserable now. I hope it recovers soon.

lisa at greenbow, he looked adorable among the cabbages, didn't he? He loves laying around in the vegetable garden while I'm there.

blackswamp_girl, redcurrants are a novelty to me too. I like to eat the fresh fruit and was thinking about jam too. I'll have to look around for other ideas.
I will give beets a try (maybe this weekend) and if all goes well I will start liking them (I hate to hate any fruit or vegetable, and I always give them another try. Except for tomatoes, I really can't eat them raw!)Yes, I would love those golden beet seeds. I will email you about them.

Dama do Lago disse...

Fartei-me de rir com a tua espécie rara de legume :)! Tão fofo!! E a tua horta está muito fixe, bem podes estar contente :)!

Anónimo disse...

Essas couves não são cavolo nero, a cavolo nero tem uma folha comprida vertical e frizada como a a lombarda. Essas são galegas roxas.