Gardening in Portugal. Sailing in Devon.

[nickdub]

Hi nick dub, yes indeed, I think this is definitely high on the priority. I'd planned a rainwater capture barrel system, but your 'dig a reservoir' idea seems far simpler and quicker...given that I'll be arriving right on the edge of the rainy season. Don't want to miss a drop of that precious rainwater!

Hope it goes brilliantly - I'm very envious as I fancied Portugal for a while now, but my wife is still working here in England. You might want to post a few queries on one of the ex-pat websites BTW to see what others have done on of water storage - I believe block built concrete sealed cisterns were quite widely used at one time, but it may be that a buried plastic container is more common now.

[sparrow100]

What a great set-up you have! My uncle has a sonata over in Cowes which he used to race. I'm a bit cack-handed so only good for unpressured daytrips, plus I get seasick, but I've had some nice potters around the coast in her.

I see you've got capers started for your garden. The only contribution for drought-tolerant crops I can add is to say look at the Italian/Spanish crops - I am guessing you would grow fantastic figs, carob, lemons, grapes, globe artichokes (once established) and, my personal favourite, saffron.

The saffron would be starting to show in September and cropping in October/November. It's dormant in summer so no water issues: all you have to worry about is voles finding the corms for snacking on.

A blog sounds like a really good idea too.

[Jay-ell]

We used to have a little boat, a Lysander. Kept it at the bottom of the Tyne - not the end, the bottom.

[simplesamen]

Welcome along.
Sounds like a fabulous life adventure...I have a perennial spinach that refuses to die.
Chives are fairly tough and there are plenty of herbs that like the dry..

Hi Tripmeup, and thank you kindly for the welcome
That's great news about chives. I have a big clump of chives in U.K. Would love to relocate them (or some of them) down to Portugal, but always thought they were a delicate crop! I'll give it a go now I discover they're tougher than I first thought!
I hope to have lots of herbs, some seedlings/cuttings I have so far and plan to introduce to the plot include : Rosemary, lemon balm, oregano, thyme, mint, bay....and now chives!

Would love to try yarrow, fennel and tarragon.

I read recently that plants have a better survival rate if started directly from seed, so I'm trying to source as many different varieties in seed form as possible.

Do you remember the name/variety of your 'never gonna die' perennial spinach?

[Jay-ell]

Chives are pretty resilient beasties. Give them enough room to grow and they will thicken out quite quickly. This is a much used photo (get's dusted off in conversations about chives) but started as a single clump which was split into individual chives a couple of times to bulk up and planted out 1 inch apart. For those doing square foot gardening that's 144 per square foot.

[simplesamen]

Another allium to think about might be Wild Garlic - aka Ramsons. It's in leaf early on in the year and has a garlic flavour which becomes a mild onion flavour when cooked. The leaves are the part eaten - the bulbs are small and best left to multiply.

For chives there's the standard Garden Chives, there's also a Giant variety, theres Black Isle Blush (Like rfegular chives but with two tome blink and mauve flowers), Chinese/Garlic chives, Nodding Onions and a few other chive like alliums out there.


Some of the plants are a bit elusive to track down.

I've gotten them off the internet - sites like Pennards, Poyntzfield, rareplants.eu, Sainte Marthe, Garden Supply Direct and some other places I can't remember but were in Belgium.

You're an amazing resource! Thank you, really appreciating the named varieties and the sourcing links. I'll check those out and add them to my googling session list

I used to live in Canada and loved gardening out there. I started a little seed/plant swap and met some lovely old dears who just wanted company and someone to share their gardening gems with. They'd call me up and say they had such and such. I'd go over and help thin out overgrown plants..we'd just garden together, have a cuppa, maybe some biccies, and then I'd come away with all these fabulous heritage varieties and heaps more knowledge about the plants. I'd love to start something like that in Portugal. There's so much knowledge out there. And amazing plants hiding in people's gardens!!

[simplesamen]

By the way how big is the plot of land you have? Is it land only or is there some place to stay as well?

It's land only. In the 'rustic' part of town...so lots of bird song, wild spaces, fresh air and few people My ideal! The land ends at the river, with Spain just over the other side! Small road to the front of the property...although for me, I see the water access side as the 'front' No dwelling yet, but possibility to build low impact dwelling. It's a sweet little spot...bit of a secret still! My plot is 0,112000(ha)...whatever that equates to. It's approx 25ft wide by about 200ft long. Kind of a long and thin allotment in paradise

[Jay-ell]

25 by 200 foot is a little more than one tenth of an acre - nice size for an allotment. My 2 plots total a little less than yours. You should be able to get a nice mix of fruit trees/bushes and perennial veg with space for annual beds in that.

River at the end - is it deep enough for a mooring? OK, you might not be able to get your main boat up the river but how about a floating shed/cabin on something like an unpowered barge hull or even a little 2 berth runabout for the holidays?

Are you allowed to extract water from the river? If so you might look at a solar powered set up to pump water either for direct irrigation of the charge up some IBCs.

What's along the other edges of the property, fences, hedges, etc? What are the properties either side like - small holdings, wilderness, caravan park?

[simplesamen]

Hope it goes brilliantly - I'm very envious as I fancied Portugal for a while now, but my wife is still working here in England. You might want to post a few queries on one of the ex-pat websites BTW to see what others have done on of water storage - I believe block built concrete sealed cisterns were quite widely used at one time, but it may be that a buried plastic container is more common now.

Thank you! Must admit I'm rather excited by it all. Visitors wielding trees or cuttings or seeds or just general advise on digging holes and building soil quality are always welcome if you or your wife ever want to come out and see if it's something you might like for your non working future!!

Great idea about connecting into the expat community. I'll explore that avenue, always better to ask those who have worked it all out already!!

[simplesamen]

What a great set-up you have! My uncle has a sonata over in Cowes which he used to race. I'm a bit cack-handed so only good for unpressured daytrips, plus I get seasick, but I've had some nice potters around the coast in her.

I see you've got capers started for your garden. The only contribution for drought-tolerant crops I can add is to say look at the Italian/Spanish crops - I am guessing you would grow fantastic figs, carob, lemons, grapes, globe artichokes (once established) and, my personal favourite, saffron.

The saffron would be starting to show in September and cropping in October/November. It's dormant in summer so no water issues: all you have to worry about is voles finding the corms for snacking on.

A blog sounds like a really good idea too.

Hi sparrow100, thanks! Yeah, it's all teetering on the edge of being fabulous at the moment...if I can get my portugal garden established, I'll be very happy

Wow, a sonata is a fun little boat to race! Much lighter than mine so you would definitely get to feel the waves a bit more!

Yes, I ordered 50 caper seeds online a couple of months ago and started 25 off. So far have about four that have sprouted, although they don't (at the moment) look like caper seedlings so I'm hoping that they are what they were supposed to be! Excited about getting capers established, but I do hear they are notoriously difficult to get going. I might try and forage some plants locally when I get out there. It's always fun going on long walks with a pair of snippers and a foraging bag!

I have a GIANT overgrown fig tree on the plot which I'm planning to prune back. I think the neighbour has a carob so I'll try and take seeds/cuttings from that. Another friend has lemons and oranges. And I definitely want to get some grapes in. I heard muscadines were a good choice.

I LOVE the idea of growing saffron...have you grown it?

Thanks for the prompt...a blog would be a great way for me to keep track of everything!

[simplesamen]

We used to have a little boat, a Lysander. Kept it at the bottom of the Tyne - not the end, the bottom.

A little bilge keeler eh? Pretty cool being able to sail up, then step ashore! Beaching legs are on my boaty wish list!

[simplesamen]

Chives are pretty resilient beasties. Give them enough room to grow and they will thicken out quite quickly. This is a much used photo (get's dusted off in conversations about chives) but started as a single clump which was split into individual chives a couple of times to bulk up and planted out 1 inch apart. For those doing square foot gardening that's 144 per square foot.

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Holy smokes!! Serious chive envy! They look great. I'm at my parents house at the mo helping them with their garden (read...raiding their garden!) And have just split a massive clump of chives into four to take down to Portugal, so I'm hoping they survive the cut and will come back blooming just like yours!

[Jay-ell]

A little bilge keeler eh? Pretty cool being able to sail up, then step ashore! Beaching legs are on my boaty wish list!

And the only submersible one in the Tyne. The rats had SCUBA gear. It was moored in the tidal part of the river and we got to it via a fibre glass tender (which also sank. Then it got stolen from our back garden before we repaired it) and one very low tide it went down, hit a stump which went through the keel and never came up (OK it got hauled out and fell to bits).

Mind you we got more for the mast than we paid for the whole lot (the mast was too big for the boat but it all came as a package)

Holy smokes!! Serious chive envy! They look great. I'm at my parents house at the mo helping them with their garden (read...raiding their garden!) And have just split a massive clump of chives into four to take down to Portugal, so I'm hoping they survive the cut and will come back blooming just like yours!

As long as the root plate of the bulbs are intact they should spring back. You might want to trim down the leaves so the plants aren't stressed too much after root loss.

[sparrow100]

I LOVE the idea of growing saffron...have you grown it?

Yes - this will be my 4th season. It's stronger and sweeter than the versions you buy in shops. Plus it's really undemanding though it needs its own space. Multiplies like rabbits too so make sure you have lots of space. I got 3g (dried weight) from two 1x5m beds last year, which sounds like nothing but that's enough for me all year.

My carob is only 2. 6 more years till I find out whether I've grown any female plants or whether they are all boys. 50/50 chance with each seed...

[simplesamen]

25 by 200 foot is a little more than one tenth of an acre - nice size for an allotment. My 2 plots total a little less than yours. You should be able to get a nice mix of fruit trees/bushes and perennial veg with space for annual beds in that.

River at the end - is it deep enough for a mooring? OK, you might not be able to get your main boat up the river but how about a floating shed/cabin on something like an unpowered barge hull or even a little 2 berth runabout for the holidays?

Are you allowed to extract water from the river? If so you might look at a solar powered set up to pump water either for direct irrigation of the charge up some IBCs.

What's along the other edges of the property, fences, hedges, etc? What are the properties either side like - small holdings, wilderness, caravan park?

How long have you had yours? Do you grow fruit trees?

The river is navigable for another 30 or so kms upstream, and deep enough for a mooring for my main boat, which was one of the selling points for me I'm hoping to get a mooring laid at some point. I love the idea of a floating shed, or a barge tho. Would be really sweet to have a floating sauna!!!

Many of the locals do use the river to irrigate. When researching irrigation possibilities, I'd discovered a thing called a Ram Pump, which is a gravity fed unpowered pump. Still trying to work out how to get this to work on the land. But I think you're right, some kind of solar powered pump would be ideal. I've got a spare solar panel (100watt) from the boat which would be a start. There's a slight slope to the land. I think it's approx a 4% slope, so if I can get the water high enough - into IBCs, or a pond - I might be able to let it gravity feed down the plot and through the 'garden'.

The plot is in a rustic area, there's a small vehicular track to the west, undeveloped/old farm land (olives, figs, pomegranate, carob etc), unfenced to the north and south boundaries, and the river is to the east. I have a neighbour with a small holding (an english couple) a little to the south, and another neighbour with a small holding a little further to the north. The land on either side of me (north and south) is unsold plots/wilderness (unfenced). I'd probably look at buying the plot to the north of me if things work out with this one.

In Portugal, a prospective buyer needs to ask the adjacent neighbours if they can buy the land, so I should get asked if someone wants to buy the adjacent plot to mine. One couple here, who have been here a while, bought their plot, and then gradually bought the plots next door, so have quite a nice piece of land on the river now.

It's a really beautiful spot! I'm going to try to put together a little blog post with some piccies.