What did you do in your garden today?

[Logan]

Sowed some snapdragon seeds it was a free packet when i ordered some other seeds that i wanted.

Also these,they're for the hanging baskets.

 

[Sean Regan]

 

[Giri]

Scrambled up a banking and with the long handled saw I cut a sapling growing from the base of a tree.
Trimmed it to about seven feet long, tied a weight to the end and hung it over the balcony.
Hope it will dry out straight and make a good handle for the azeca, the tool I use to clear water channels.

 

[Sean Regan]

It has been very windy and our mimosa in the big tub did blow over, but wasn't damaged, as they are very "whippy."

This one, taken last year, that tub is very heavy. It's 50cms in diameter. Fortunately the many ceramic pots on their pot movers weren't blown over, as they break very easily.

In very high winds I do feel a bit concerned for our tea-house.

A third of the underside of the roof over the veranda is open.

There would always be the possibility of the wind getting under it.
Fortunately I had the sense to make it very strong. There's a sturdy box frame in the middle and there are 12 perlins, three at each corner connected to the frame.

There are also some cross beams. That was just the first coat of paint. It must have had at least ten more in the last 33 years.

It was capable of supporting the weight of both me and our son when we replaced the felt ten years ago. I weigh 12st, he weighs even more. Try that with a store bought shed.
I also think the turned up corners have the effect of making the roof a sort of "reverse sail" and the air pressure pushes down on it.

 

[YouPlantTube]

I transplanted my spinach seedlings to larger pots.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I set paving stones under the hose boxes I have scattered about the yard. I transplanted more bulbs. Daffodils mainly, so they are in larger bunches.

 

[Giri]

I was sitting in the garden as usual this morning, enjoying a bit of early morning sun with the cat, when a familiar sound reminded me what day it was. The aceqia, the water course which brings water down the mountain to feed all the properties, began to run. It´s known as the Zauzal, by the few who know about these things, and on Mondays I´m allowed to divert it through a complicated series of water channels which feed my terraces. Since we have had little rain so far this year, I´m aware that the oranges, lemons and avocados could do with a drink, while most of the other trees are having a rest.

Blocking the usual channel with a plank, and caulking it with sphagnum moss, I opened my sluice gate and spent a pleasant half hour following the water as it progressed through the terraces, raking out the leaves and chestnut husks wherever they dammed the flow. Where the channel passes a tree, there is an offshoot to a circular depression around the trunk which fills with water. When water is scarce, it is a real art to see that all the trees get their share.

I was only able to water the upper garden, above the path which divides it, if I want to use the different aceqia for the lower garden I have to do so early, between 8 and 9am, as I´m first in the line. With the Zauzal I´m last in line so I can use it whenever it runs.
There are two flowers on the lily patch in the lower garden already, they’ll soon be worth a photo. I created a new temporary channel across the footpath and sent them some of the upper garden´s water. There must have been a couple of hundred walkers along the path yesterday, fortunately today all was quiet.

There is a dividing line between my garden and the rest of Spain, but nobody really knows exactly where it is ...

In a place of heat and dust, it is a fine sight to watch the water circulate and maintain the life of the garden, while eating one of your own oranges and smoking something you’ve grown.

 

[Sheal]

You've painted a lovely picture in your post Giri. I was almost there with you.

 

[Logan]

Potted on the chilli seedlings into half toilet roll tubes .

 

[Giri]

Thank you Sheal, regarding ¨almost being here¨I have consulted the globe, and can assure you with some confidence that it is all downhill.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Potted on the chilli seedlings into half toilet roll tubes .
View attachment 61120

Brilliany in action. I think paper towel tubes would serve as well

 

[Sean Regan]

I tidied up the clematis on the side fence and the garage. They all needed a bit of sorting out, dead strands removed and re-training in places.

I bought this garden dustpan and brush. More substantial than the one I had.

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/bentley-outdoor-heavy-duty-dustpan-brush-set/p/0488593

 

[Giri]

Used the new leafblower to clear the leaves and chestnut husks from the lowest terrace, everything is so dry it made easy work of it, now all the water channels are clear. There are still lots of oranges and some lemons, the avocados and feijoa are fairly dormant and the nispera is beginning to form fruit.
Tomorrow morning, Monday, I can divert the acequias onto my terraces and guide the water round, the first watering of the new season.
It´s been a dry mild winter so far, and it´s a bit early to call it spring, we may still get rain or a cool spell, or both. We rely on the snow-melt from the Sierra Nevada for summer watering, and we may struggle this year. I´ve tried to prune accordingly wherever I could.

 

[Sheal]

It´s been a dry mild winter so far

I wish I could say that Giri. I haven't been able to get near my garden for the last couple of months, the weather has been terrible this winter. Wind, rain and at the moment snow showers.

 

[Giri]

That´s why I left Yorkshire Sheal, horizontal rain lashing Slipten Fell, and too much of the mucky stuff. Now that the jet stream is all over the place there are times when you might as well be in Moscow. My homeground was Morecambe Bay, the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, beautiful motorcycling country when occasionally the sun came out.
I would guess that I get an average of 8 hours sunshine a day here, and it warms more than the soil -- people are more relaxed. If I have a query or a problem, there are friendly people in the Town Hall, and a bottle of anise on the counter if you need cheering up.