Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Datura
I had the chance during my holidays to discover some new types of plants. One that intrigued me was a plant that was highly common in the Toulouse region, which was a bushy shrub with large pointy leaves, spiny fruit about the size of http://www2.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www2.blogger.com/img/blank.gifa plum, and delicate white trumpet shaped flowers. It looked most peculiar, I had quite a close look but somehow my instinct told me not to get too close.
My instinct was right, the plant was a Datura: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium
Image:
Also known as the Devil's Trumpet or a stinkweed, it is highly poisonous and has hallucinogenic effects. A most striking plant despite its deadly nature.
My instinct was right, the plant was a Datura: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium
Image:
Also known as the Devil's Trumpet or a stinkweed, it is highly poisonous and has hallucinogenic effects. A most striking plant despite its deadly nature.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Last minute rush
Before my hols. Picking vaguely red tomatoes so they don't over ripen while I am away, chopping down the rocket so it doesn't bolt, planting out lettuce, lifting some spuds. Unfortunately I don't have time to weed :-( so it's a bit of a mess. But after that I have another week off so I can tidy, prune and prepare for the end of the season.
Happy holidays to all! I will try and take some more pics of the wonderful fruit and veg in the south of France!
Happy holidays to all! I will try and take some more pics of the wonderful fruit and veg in the south of France!
Labels: holidays, summer, tomatoes
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Back from hols
Phew that was quite a break from blogging! And from gardening!
The allotment is in a slightly disastrous state - all the tomatoes have rotted from blight, the sweetcorn had lived its last and the Coco de Paimpol beans had gone straight to their dried state (Although that was Ok, I harvested them and shelled them), the leeks got overwhelmed with weeds, as did most of the rest of it. The broccoli went straight into flower so still haven't managed to taste any home grown broccoli.
So I have done a bit of emergency gardening since then, dug up the maincrop spuds (good sized spuds, they were "Caesar" variety, I would grow those again, even though overall the yield was not terrific, about 10kgs of spuds to 25 plants...), weeded the leeks, hoed the rest of the things, managed to dig out the meagre crop of early carrots (one largish bunch, bit disappointing). Picked the first pumpkins! Their vines had died. There are 3 still growing.
Still, now I really need to give everything a good weeding, dig out the tomato vines, the melons that gave 2 tiny melons that are unusable and the summer cabbage and manure and cover that section ready for the onions.
The brassicas are doing very well, the Sprouts and Kale and PSB are now at least 40-50 cm tall and do not seem to be attacked by anything. The red cabbage are starting to get small, compact heads, so I am hoping to be able to preserve some of that before the winter. I am still harvesting beans, beetroot, swiss chard (red variety) and fruit. And yes yes I need to take some pics again.
The allotment is in a slightly disastrous state - all the tomatoes have rotted from blight, the sweetcorn had lived its last and the Coco de Paimpol beans had gone straight to their dried state (Although that was Ok, I harvested them and shelled them), the leeks got overwhelmed with weeds, as did most of the rest of it. The broccoli went straight into flower so still haven't managed to taste any home grown broccoli.
So I have done a bit of emergency gardening since then, dug up the maincrop spuds (good sized spuds, they were "Caesar" variety, I would grow those again, even though overall the yield was not terrific, about 10kgs of spuds to 25 plants...), weeded the leeks, hoed the rest of the things, managed to dig out the meagre crop of early carrots (one largish bunch, bit disappointing). Picked the first pumpkins! Their vines had died. There are 3 still growing.
Still, now I really need to give everything a good weeding, dig out the tomato vines, the melons that gave 2 tiny melons that are unusable and the summer cabbage and manure and cover that section ready for the onions.
The brassicas are doing very well, the Sprouts and Kale and PSB are now at least 40-50 cm tall and do not seem to be attacked by anything. The red cabbage are starting to get small, compact heads, so I am hoping to be able to preserve some of that before the winter. I am still harvesting beans, beetroot, swiss chard (red variety) and fruit. And yes yes I need to take some pics again.
Labels: holidays, potato, pumpkin, summer, tomatoes
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