what can i grow in the Alentejo area of Portugal?

[sandyshore]

hi,

i move here very soon.

its a very hot part of portugal, average summer temperatures 30 ish and lows at night in winter of 0' ish.

i have seen cabbage seeds and marrow seeds in one shop (it was a VERY local shop.. indeed) and apart from that shop i havent seen any other seeds available, there arent any garden centres and i have no neighbours to ask them either.

i get with the property, 2 acres of olive treese (around 40 trees) a large fig tree, a pomegranete tree, pear, orange, lemon and lime and possibly an apple, though it had black spots on the leaves.

i want to buy some seeds in england to take with me before i leave.

what would you recommend, i love all fruits and vegetables and all herbs, but is there anything that would love the extremes of temperatures? i have unlimited water from my own well for the garden so thats not a problem.

thank you all

[Clara]

Hello again, we seem to have very similar conditions, though being at 1000m I get down to about -5C.

I have all the trees you mention, apart from the citrus which it gets too cold for. We also have almonds, walnuts, cherries, persimmon, loquat, mulberry and quince. My neighbours above me are gardening gods and even have a fruiting banana plant!

On the veggie side, pretty much everything you would think of growing in the uk, peppers and tomatoes will do well outside too.

Mulch plants well as the ground will bake dry at this time of year.

[sandyshore]

thank you so much for your reply

i will be buying lots of seeds then, and hoping that one day i can eat the results

[hedgewitch]

I'm just a wee bit further north than Clara, on the Costa Blanca, with summer temps reaching 34!! I have successfully grown the following:
Lettuce
Radish
Cucumbers
Courgettes
Aubergine
Carrots
Chillis
Peppers
Tomatoes (best crop ever this year - I would strongly reccommend you buy an indeterminate type - it'll tell you on the packet)
Garlic
Onions
Pumpkins

In fact the only thing I've tried and failed at is Runner Beans - and I reckon that's because there is a sad shortage of bees where I live due to the council spraying everywhere to kill the mossies - it kills all the good bugs too.

I definately agree with Clara - you need to get some good compost mulched in to the soil as in these the temperatures the soil is very dry and lacking in nutrients - you'll be able to have your own compost heap with all that land!

[sandyshore]

thank you both so much

i am a real garden virgin.. quite why i decided to buy a property with over 2 acres of land is beyond me.. but anyway, i guess i have the rest of my life to learn.. and hope that this forum will be with me along the steep curve i am going to start climbing!

can i ask, when do you start to plant the seeds? and do you start in little pots with bought compost as you would do here in the UK?

thank you

[Clara]

I always sew the seeds when it says on the packet, regardless of where I bought them, Spain or UK. I too am a beginner so I don´t have enough horticultural knowledge to second guess. However, after a year here I´ve learnt much by seeing other people´s plots. Like you I don´t have immediate neighbours, but when out walking I can always stick my head over someone´s wall and see what they got going on!

For a first timer I suggest you buy some small veggie plants from the market, it makes your garden look better instantly and gives you a bit of a lift whilst you endure the envitable trial and error of germination!

I´m starting to grow my seeds in seed trays first in bought compost, simply because I have to work on getting the soil in better condition, which will take a few years. We have a goat and a horse to help with this, which I must recommend - I´m sure like us you will be obliged to minimise wildfire risk by keeping the grass low in summer, over 2.5 acres they save us a lot of strimming and provide lovely poo for next year´s veggies.

BTW I forgot to say CONGRATULATIONS you must be sooooo excited, I´m sure you will have many ups and downs over the next year but life will never be boring!

[sandyshore]

thank you so much Clara.

as i am only 2.5km from Spain (apparently) through the forest i am going to be living in one day, i might just come to yours, and "pop my head over your garden wall" to compare our achievements....

[Biscombe]

HI
I'm in the Alpujarras (Spain) near Clara, just wanted to say that affer a few runner bean experiments the white flowered varities do really well for some reason the red ones dont set.

[Clara]

HI
I'm in the Alpujarras (Spain) near Clara, just wanted to say that affer a few runner bean experiments the white flowered varities do really well for some reason the red ones dont set.

oh bum! mine have just come out with red flowers.

Which cultivar do you use?

[Biscombe]

White lady, some red ones have come back from lasy year and are STILL not setting! white ones are extreeeeeeeeemly prolific!!! not to late though Clara

[contadino]

The black spots on the leaves are just a disease that was caused by the late season rainfall. Don't worry about it. Next year things may be different. I'm afraid I don't know the name of the disease, but I'm intimately acquainted with it as it's got all my pear and apple trees this year. Quince seems to have fared better.

My experience is that seeds from the UK do very badly in extreme heat. You're best off getting seeds from neighbours. We buy 'piantini' (seedlings) from garden centres because they have all the equipment to get better germination rates that your average gardener. Dirt cheap, and so much more reliable. I've figured out that you can raise seeds, but it's a fernickedy business.

If you have unlimited water, you're 80% of the way there.

[hedgewitch]

HI
I'm in the Alpujarras (Spain) near Clara, just wanted to say that affer a few runner bean experiments the white flowered varities do really well for some reason the red ones dont set.

That is really good to know, thankyou.