Over the past few weeks I have been slowly planting up some of the varieties we hope to grow in the garden this year. I’ve got about 20 types of chillies (I’m in a chilli growing competition, more on that soon), as well as tomatoes, beans, beetroot, and cucumber. I’ve also put in some sunflowers […]
Ikea Växer Update
I think hydroponics are my new favorite form of growing. Okay, I lie, I don’t think I will ever fully handover the ‘hands in dirt’ feeling of digging around in the garden, but for now hydroponics hold my heart. The reason for this? I’ll get to that…* Here we are, a month on or so, […]
Chilli Adventures 2018!
I’m fanatical about chillies and the flavour bring to a dish. The varieties that are available in the supermarket are fine, but they are limited to Thai Green Chillies and Scotch Bonnets in these parts. Sometimes you just need something else. Admittedly you only really need a few more flavours, but this year I’m trying […]
New Year’s Resolutions…
The wheels fell off this blog a little bit. If you read along then you will know that sometime last year we moved into a house with a garden – actual dirt in the ground garden. I was beyond excited and began planning my new plot. And then the bureaucracy turned up. Switzerland is a […]
Accidentally Thrifty
On Monday I picked 2kg of cherries off my neighbour’s cherry tree. And believe me, the tree is still dripping with fruit. I reckon, conservatively you could pick another 15kg from it easily. And there is another tree right next to it, equally full of fruit. On Tuesday I popped into the shops, just to […]
Tips To Get Kids Gardening
Kids have a lot of things competing for their attention these days, and it can be hard steering them away from the tablets and television, toward an arguably more wholesome pursuit of being outside in nature. It can also be pretty difficult to get children into gardening because ultimately gardening is an exercise in patience, […]
How You Can Protect Your Balcony From Wind
At the moment I am listening to the Bise hit the side of my apartment. This wind is typical in Geneva and sends freezing weather in our direction. I’ve been listening to the blasts for it for the last 12hours or so, and during this time the 150km gusts have sent quite a lot of the plants […]
Planning My Dream Garden; What I Need To Know And When…
I’ve mentioned it a couple of times on the blog, but not that often because if I am honest it all seems a little unreal – we’re getting a garden. And that’s happening pretty soon. My wife and I have lived in the suburbs of Geneva for three years now. In that time we’ve occupied […]
Grow Your Own Bread – Part 3 – Growing Wheat In Containers
My seeds are here, the weather is good, and that can only mean one thing – it is time to plant my wheat. Now, normally, farmers would be putting their wheat in the ground around about now. But from what I know those farmers aren’t on a balcony in Geneva, so it is anyone’s guess […]
Grow Your Own Bread – Part 2 – The Wheat Is Here!
The blog and the roof terrace have been a bit neglected of late. Unfortunately, that was because, you know, holidays. But that isn’t a bad reason, and I am coming back to it with a renewed enthusiasm, the kind that can only come from a couple of weeks in a far off land. In this […]