Vår trädgård (Our Garden)

Last year, December, we moved into our new house. This is our first proper house (our other homes being apartments). With the house came our first garden. We had very little experience with gardening (except from the odd weeding job in our parents' gardens when we were kids). 

During Swedish winter, everything is covered in snow and there is not much to do in the form of gardening. Thus for the first few months after moving in, we did not do much outside. With the start of spring, however, our garden exploded with a vigor that caught us off guard. Most plant life here have to finish their life cycle in a couple of months, thus when spring starts, everything grows like crazy (weeds included). Most of our spring and summer weekends and some of the evenings after work (in midsummer the sun sets around 11 in the evening), were spent in trying to tame our garden. 

We had some success, see photos below, but we also gave up on some unruly parts, to be attempted again next year. Something we noticed that is very different between Sweden and SA gardening is; in SA the gardens are meticulously maintained all through the year, while in Sweden it is much of a one season attempt. Since everything dies during the winter, each spring is a completely new start. So for things that didn't work out well this year, you have a new chance with next year. Below are some of our successes and projects that we will re-try next year.

We altered our porch a bit, taking down some of the railing, oiling it and building steps (see below). The yellow flowers in the back are blooming now and looks very nice. I don't know what they are called but they are extremely hardy, they die during the winter and these grew from under a pile of dead plant material. There was another bush of these in front of the porch that we had to clear to make place for the stairs - we are still fighting to get rid of some of them though.

Some flowers and a hollyhock we got from our neighbor, Inga-Lil, that we planted in pots on the porch

In the window inside is a small tangerine tree, one of the few plants left from our apartment days. On the lawn, in the distance, a mouse murder is taking place -- the culprit, a serial mouse murderer called Donkie

Three tomato plants I planted on the porch after a batch of spring flowers finished

Dahlias I got from Inga-Lil

The porch steps that Ronnie built and scars where we fought the yellow flower plants and are now trying to regrow grass. There is still some of the yellow plant left but we decided to continue the battle next year. In the back are two vinbär (currant) shrubs. 

A röda vinbär (red currant) and small vita vinbär (white current - a variant of the red current that is a bit sweeter). Interestingly, vinbär translates directly to "wine berry". These berries tastes a bit like I'd imagine undomesticated grapes would taste like and the leaves also looks like grape leaves. I assume they are related in some way.

The vegetable garden from the kitchen door on the porch

A small greenhouse Ronnie and his sister, Cindy, built for me (see details of their visit here)

Some tomato and pepper plants and a bush of herbs (resulting from "seed bombs" that Cindy gave to us)

Lettuce and broccoli in seed boxes - this is working quite well

Cauliflower and nasturtiums - the cauliflower is struggling a bit (something is eating the leaves)

The rest of the garden: Strawberries, carrots, corn, tomatoes, peas, pumpkins and more seed bombs!

Rhubarb, this is the third crop for this season. I already harvested two crops resulting in many rhubarb pies, jams, compotes, smoothies and a whole freezer rack full of frozen rhubarb. 

Rhubarb pie

The herb garden that got a bit out of hand. Will start a better organised one from scratch next year....

Our garden shed - an old smithy dating from the 1700's. Next to the smithy is a flower bed with some nice flowers but, invaded by weeds. Another project for next year...

The inside of the smithy/garden shed

One of our two young prune trees. We tried our hand at pruning four young fruit trees (two prune and two apple trees) and one mature apple tree. Overall it seems to have worked nicely with the mature apple tree and 3 out of the 4 young trees blooming and bearing fruit. This small prune tree suffered a heavy aphid infestation - we will fight harder against these pests next year 

A few apples

Different variety of apple

The mature apple tree in front of the house

Some more nasturtiums and a pattypan in pots at the entrance

Ronnie cut open a path in the bushes with our new trimmer to access the raspberry patch (this was necessary since most of the bushes consists of nettles...)

The raspberry patch

Raspberries in incubation :)

This year was a crash course in gardening for us. Next year we will be ready when spring arrives, to apply the acquired knowledge of one season of Swedish gardening :)

C&R

Crete

Unlike our previous post appears to suggest, we did not only give ourselves over to gluttony and wine during our vacation on Crete. We saw quite a lot of the islands' northwest coast and also explored the surroundings extensively on foot. According to my WiiFit step-counter, we walked an average of 7 km each day. This might be an explanation of why this gluttonous breakout did not cause that much of a BMI disaster when we got back.

But more about our adventures on Crete...
Below I will detail more of our pursuits on foot; our visit to Chania; and the two trips we took on the tourist train.

We walked a lot in the surroundings area of the Chania suburb, Agia Marina, where our hotel was. This included the nice beaches with crystal clear water, a small hill with an awesome view of Thodorou island on the one side and the White Mountains on the other, and picturesque buildings, which is an interesting mix of old and new. Below are some photos with more info.

The view from our hotel room. The sea and Thodorou island. The island is uninhabited and no humans are allowed on the island. It was declared a nature reserve, where the endangered Kri-kri mountain goats can procreate and live undisturbed. A myth about the island is that it is the leftover of a sea monster that wanted to attack the small sea side village but was turned into a rock by the gods in answer to the prayers of the villagers. Today you can still see the open mouth of the monster - ready to engulf the village.

Nice beaches along the coast

Crystal clear water

Nice view of the sea and island from a small hill. (An olive orchard in the foreground)

The view of the White mountains on the other side of the hill

Interestingly, on Crete the bottom parts of many things are painted white, houses, streetlamps and  trees (note also the legs of the animal/s :). The white is supposed to keep things cool and protects the trees against a certain tree disease. This tree grew right in the middle of a road... 

Obviously we got a bit of sun on the beach ...

Everywhere in this coastal tourist town, one could see traces of a bygone era of a small harbor town

The third day on Crete we took the bus to Chania, the second largest city on Crete after the capital, Heraklion. The history of Chania stretches into the mists of time. It was already an important city in Minoan times (27 centuries BC) when it was called Kydonia. It has a beautiful historic harbor and old town.

Lighthouse of Chania harbor

The harbor water was exceptionally clean and one could see schools of fish swimming underneath the boats

The snow capped "White mountains" form the backdrop to the historic Chania harbor

Wall of an old fort in the harbor

Chania - a mix of old and new

Chania old town

Small streets with eateries

Always time to look for interesting ants. Ronnie on the historic Kasteli hill in Chania, which has been inhabited since Neolithic times

We also visited the Archeological museum in Chania, which hold artifacts from excavations in the region. The museum building itself is very old and acted as a Franciscan church in the past. The exact date of building is unknown, but it is mentioned to
 have survived the great earthquake of 1595. In this photo various artifacts from graves are featured, including toys from a child burial.

Apparently the idea of shot glasses is very old :)

We also took two very pleasant outings on the "The Little Fun Train". This small tourist train/tractor is an interesting concept, a small tractor with passenger wagons that go on tours of the surroundings. There are multiple trips you can choose from with around 2-4 hours duration. We took the "Orange Valley" tour into the mountains and the "Pleasures of Crete" tour along the west coast. The Orange valley tour took us through rolling valleys of orange orchards with small towns (each with its own beautiful Greek Orthodox church building). We approached the White Mountains through small ravines in which Maple Trees were growing that reached ages of hundreds of years. At the foot of the White Mountains we had a rest stop at the small village of Meskla, while we enjoyed a glass of freshly pressed orange juice. The village of Meskla has a very old church. According to legends, this old church was built from stones that came from the temple of Artemis, which was built at this same site in ancient times. The old church is not used anymore and a new church was built just behind the old building. Below are some photos from the "Orange Valley" tour.

The old historic church in front of the new church

A very old Maple tree at the tea garden where we had our rest stop

The Little Fun Train

The tour along the west coast was very nice as well and had awesome views, a visit to a monastery with real monks and a guided tour of an olive factory. The tour started out following the coastal road along the northwest coast, passing traditional fishing villages and climbing over the Spatha Penisula. We visited the 14th century monastery of Gonia, which is still active today and then winded further up the narrow roads of Spatha Penissula with magnifiscent views of the Aegaen Sea. Reaching the top of the mountainous peninsula, we drove more inland through the olive plantations and small towns. We stopped at an olive oil factory (see more in our previous post here). Below are some pictures of our west coast tour.

Driving along the west coast - these small churches are found all over Crete and are memorials on places where people either lost their lives, or were saved

Winding road on the Spatha peninsula and breathtaking views over the Aegean sea. Thodorou island on the horizon

Enjoying the sun at a rest stop

I wondered who lived in that house on top of the hill and if they knew that their everyday view is probably one of the best views in the world. In the middle of olive orchards, surrounded by views of the Aegean sea coast and the White Mountains

In the heart of the Spatha Peninsula - rolling hills of olive orchards

Something very beautiful, and a common theme on Crete, that I thought I should mention, are the vines. You see them everywhere, old mature vines growing as "trees" outside, on porches, inside houses along the inner roofs, and even on top of roofs. A very beautiful and unique feature I thought.

Overall, both of us had a wonderful vacation and a delightful breakaway - we would really not mind going back to this island of treasures

Loot brought back from Crete, including cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some small mementos

C&R