How about a gardening thread?

Sweet and sour courgettes and cucumber are great with raclette.

Just picked tons of blackcurrants- and have had quite a few raspberries- but the glut of them will ripen when we are away- typical. Neighbour will enjoy them...can't really ask her to pick them and put them in the freezer
As long as she takes good care of Minou 3 legs, that is great. Little Emma is coming with us for the first time.

[Blueangel]

Walking home tonight, I spotted that a neighbour has an impressive crop of kiwi fruit growing over their balcony. As my OH gets through about half a dozen per week, I'm tempted to give them a try.

Has anyone here had success with these?

[curley]

	Quote:	Blueangel
	Walking home tonight, I spotted that a neighbour has an impressive crop of kiwi fruit growing over their balcony. As my OH gets through about half a dozen per week, I'm tempted to give them a try. Has anyone here had success with these?

Your neighbour's? Nope.

[pilatus1]

	Quote:	Blueangel
	Walking home tonight, I spotted that a neighbour has an impressive crop of kiwi fruit growing over their balcony. As my OH gets through about half a dozen per week, I'm tempted to give them a try. Has anyone here had success with these?

Is it a fuzzy kiwi or a mini kiwi? Most varieties of fuzzy kiwis are too big to be grown in pots.

I have one of these growing in a big barrel on my balcony.

[meloncollie]

	Quote:	pilatus1
	. I have one of these growing in a big barrel on my balcony.

Pilatus, how long did it take before your Issai started to produce fruit?

I have one that is on it's second year in my garden, so probably 3 years old - and still no fruit. Healthy looking vines, but no flowers, no fruit.
An Issai is supposed to be self-pollinating, so I'm wondering if Issais are late maturers and I should give it another year, or give it up as a lost cause.

[Blueangel]

	Quote:	pilatus1
	Is it a fuzzy kiwi or a mini kiwi? Most varieties of fuzzy kiwis are too big to be grown in pots.

They're the fuzzy kiwi. From street level, it looks like the neighbour has a 6-8ft long vine of them growing along the balcony/terrace wall, and hanging over the edge.

I'm going to read up on this because it's not a plant that I thought would grow here. It's looking like I'll be trying to grow watermelon, pineapple, kiwi and avocado for the first time next summer. OH has grown avocado before...allegedly.

[pilatus1]

	Quote:	meloncollie
	Pilatus, how long did it take before your Issai started to produce fruit? I have one that is on it's second year in my garden, so probably 3 years old - and still no fruit. Healthy looking vines, but no flowers, no fruit. An Issai is supposed to be self-pollinating, so I'm wondering if Issais are late maturers and I should give it another year, or give it up as a lost cause.

It started fruiting the second year in it's pot, though IIRC it was 2 yrs old when we bought it. It hasn't produced much, ( it has about 20 wimpy kiwis on it right now), but I think that's more my fault than the plant's. I need to renovate the pot and change the soil mix this coming Fall.

In the garden I have a 'ken's red' and 'nostino' (male), planted 3 yrs ago I think, that haven't bloomed yet.

	Quote:	Blueangel
	They're the fuzzy kiwi. From street level, it looks like the neighbour has a 6-8ft long vine of them growing along the balcony/terrace wall, and hanging over the edge. I'm going to read up on this because it's not a plant that I thought would grow here. It's looking like I'll be trying to grow watermelon, pineapple, kiwi and avocado for the first time next summer. OH has grown avocado before...allegedly.

Kiwis grow well here but the buds emerge early and can be damaged by a late frost.

You might need a tall greenhouse for those avo trees

[Blueangel]

	Quote:	pilatus1
	Kiwis grow well here but the buds emerge early and can be damaged by a late frost. You might need a tall greenhouse for those avo trees

Thanks for the info and I'll let my OH know about the avo trees before he collects any more stones

[meloncollie]

My blueberries are suddenly ripe, as are some of the cherry tomatoes. In this heat they will only last a day or so.

So I got up early to harvest as many berries and tomatoes as I could before the sun became unbearable. Made a big batch of jam and canned 12 jars, and started drying the tomatoes.

All that boiling and dehydrating has raised the house temperature.

[DantesDame]

My raspberries are starting again. I need to go over to the garden tonight and get them before they wither away

[curley]

	Quote:	DantesDame
	My raspberries are starting again. I need to go over to the garden tonight and get them before they wither away

Wow, they look wonderful. And not as if they are missing anything (like water) at all.

I saw a flat on internet with a 110m2 rooftop terrace that had a garden built in! I'm not talking pots here, a good size garden bit where one could grow all these goodies you show us. Groovy idea, I thought.

Just wondered it they remembered to install a water tap up there - we know how these architects are. Stop thinking mid way, normally.

[curley]

My neighbour came home, telling me her father said she is not allowed to use the hose to water the veggies.
I'm trying to find something on this to no avail (seems there was some advice in Germany).
Does anybody know about this? Or does her father simply watch too much German telly?

It doesn't make sense not to allow to water veggies and fruits properly?

[DantesDame]

Not allowed to use it because of the current weather conditions? Or not allowed to use it because of some other reason?

I have heard that it is better to water with standing water. Any chemicals (chlorine, for example) evaporate away and leaves a purer water. But IMHO, the differences (with Swiss water at least) are so negligible that it really is silly to not water with a hose.

[DantesDame]

Last night's harvest:

2 eggplant
1 cucumber
many tomatoes
many blackberries
3 raspberries (count 'em!)
and one small sunflower



The sunflower is amusing to me because it came from a Swisscom giveaway last year. The package contained a tiny little 1" clay pot with some sunflower seeds. I finally got around to planting it this year, only to move it to the garden where the seedlings could really get some roots going. Looks like there was success!

[curley]

	Quote:	DantesDame
	Not allowed to use it because of the current weather conditions? Or not allowed to use it because of some other reason?

Because of the water conditions.

	Quote:	DantesDame
	Last night's harvest: 2 eggplant 1 cucumber many tomatoes many blackberries 3 raspberries (count 'em!) and one small sunflower

I counted 7 on your last photo!

[meloncollie]

	Quote:	curley
	I saw a flat on internet with a 110m2 rooftop terrace that had a garden built in! I'm not talking pots here, a good size garden bit where one could grow all these goodies you show us. Groovy idea, I thought.

Roof gardens are actively being promoted in many cities back home, in an effort to counteract the 'urban heat sink' problem.

Most major cities have rooftop garden contests, but in recent years several have moved on from awarding the best looking to awarding the most environmentally friendly.

Support for rooftop gardening sometimes goes beyond that - for instance, my niece, as a member of her building cooperative, gets a nice tax rebate for her part in maintaining a rooftop garden.

From SwissInfo, Sion is actively promoting green urban space against rising temps:
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/urban-h...oning/42387982

[curley]

	Quote:	meloncollie
	Roof gardens are actively being promoted in many cities back home, in an effort to counteract the 'urban heat sink' problem. Most major cities have rooftop garden contests, but in recent years several have moved on from awarding the best looking to awarding the most environmentally friendly. Support for rooftop gardening sometimes goes beyond that - for instance, my niece, as a member of her building cooperative, gets a nice tax rebate for her part in maintaining a rooftop garden. From SwissInfo, Sion is actively promoting green urban space against rising temps: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/urban-h...oning/42387982

Yeah, I know. It was the first time I saw it in Switzerland though, and provided by the landlord. (Although of the 110m2 terrace it was only about 10m2, which was a pity).

What I totally love are vertical gardens. In the old days they used to rip all plants off, saying it was bad for the walls. Now they finally found a system to make use of this.
They should introduce tax-reductions here, if that's what it takes to cover all these walls.

[meloncollie]

I'm always up for a tax break... but honestly I'd just be happy if we encouraged greenery in any way possible, including promoting a different, greener, notion of what is valued in a property.

Even something so simple as to raise the height trees are allowed to grow. (Cue my usual rant against the power of neighbors to force one to cut down mature trees.)

We need more green, not only in the cities. I say that living in a formerly green village 'auf dem Land' that is slowly being concreted over.

[DantesDame]

Today I got up close and personal with one of my sunflowers. I love the gradation of color

[curley]

	Quote:	DantesDame
	Today I got up close and personal with one of my sunflowers. I love the gradation of color

You sure did. And you made it blush.