Gratin of Kohlrabi (German turnip) and potatoes

A plant in the season is kohlrabi or German turnip. Collect them and do not allow them to long on the shelves because they will become too tough. 

• 1 onion
  
• 2 cloves of garlic
  
• 1/2 bunch of fresh thyme
  
• 1 big of 2 small koolrabi's
  
• 400 g flowery boiling potatoes
  
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper
  
• 200 g cream
  
• Juice of 1/2 lemon.
  

1. Cut the onion and garlic in fine pieces.
   
2. Pick the washed leaves of the thym.
   
3. Blend the onion, garlic and thym.
   
4. Cut the well pealed kohlrabi in fine slices.
   
5. Cut the washed and pealed potatoes in slices.
   
6. Put the potatoes and the kohlarabi in layers in an ovenresistant dish.
   
7. On each layer, put some of the onion, garlic and thym mix.
   
8. Whisk the juice of the lemon in the cream and poor it on the top of the dish.
   
9. Put it about 25 minutes in the middle of an oven (200°C) or microwave to cook and get goldbrown.
   

Add with a mixed salad. Lambschops are a also a good combination with this dish.


 

Essential tools and equipment for gardening

Although it is winter and the work in the garden may seem to come to a rest, now is the time to plan our patches for the next year. We are intending to transform this blog in an easy encyclopaedia. We want to introduce you into the main terms and further on we will insert articles on botany of the plants, plants themselves, seeding calendar, tricks and tips. This initial part may be boring but we consider it important.

The table below will show you some of the equipment and tools that you will need in the garden and the use of them.

Name	Photo	Description and purpose
Spade		Used to dig or loosen the soil or to break the clumps in the soil. The handle of the spade should reach the same height as your hip
Fork		A digging fork should have the same dimensions as the spade. Instead of a spit, it should have four sharp spikes. They are used to loosen the soil, remove the roots of perennial weeds, lift the root crops, flowering bulbs and tubers etc.
Swan necked English hoe		This is used for deeper hoeing and cultivation, by breaking the soil clods and weeding with a chopping action. It used to make narrow seed trenches with the corner of the blade, or with the entire blade to make wider trenches.
Dutch hoe		This cuts the weeds above the surface, being very useful between the rows of young veggies.
Rake		It is used for light weeding, loosening and levelling bare patches for cultivation. May be use also as a comb to remove stones, pieces of wood etc.
Secateurs/ Pruners		This scissor-like tool has a thick blade which is hard enough to cut off smaller branches or to take wood cuttings for rooting. It can have to sharp blades, or it can have one sharp blade, while the other is used as anvil.
Knife		It is useful in everyday task in the garden, opening boxes, sacks etc.
Hand fork		It is used for weeding, planting adding fertilizers etc.
Dibber		It is a pointed wooden stick used for making holes in the ground for seeding, transplanting leek plants, planting bulbs etc.
String line	See above	This is used to determine a straight line for row planting. This is easy to do it yourself.
Seed / Planting rule		It is a ruler used to determine the distance between seeds or plants.
Watering can		A long nozzled watering can allows water to flow gently and it is good for reaching across the rows or pots. It is important to have one with a detachable fine sprinkler for watering the young seedling. Also you may use two cans. A smaller one for seedling and a bigger one for other crops.
Soil riddle		A riddle is usually a cylindrical or rectangular with a mesh wire used for collecting debris, clumps, stones from the soil.
Wheelbarrow		Are designed for single person use. The one wheel models are the most easy to work with in small spaces.
Gloves		Provide protection against infections, bacteria, sharp stones. Choose a pair that is a good fit to ensure a better grip. You may have a second pair for handling roses and other dangerous, spiky garden material or plants.
Twine		It is a strong thread composed of several thing strands or yarns. Because usually is made out of hemp fibre, it may be composted after use.
Pump spray		Sprayers can be used in watering fragile seeds, distributing foliar feeds and spraying pesticides and insecticides and misting plants that require a higher air humidity level. Keep in mind that a separate sprayer it is required for each type of use.

It is important to keep your tools clean after use. For the metallic tools such as spades, forks it is required to wash and dry them after use and apply them a seasonal treatment to impede rust. Keep all your equipment away from sun and rain in order to ensure them a longer life. The wheelbarrow should be turned upside down to avoid water collecting and spade should not be kept fast in the ground because it will rust more easily.

Polka Dots Plant

Scientific name: Hypoestes phyllostachya
Common name: Polka Dots Plant
Images: see below

Plant description: shrub-like, dark green leaves, pink/white dots
Origin: Madagascar
Type: perennial, for indoor growth
annual, in the garden
Size: stems of about 30 cm. Prune it regularly, in order to prevenit it from becoming thin and leggy.
Light: moderate light.
Light is important for the plant to achieve its optimum colour. However, it should not receive more than 5 h of direct sunlight.
Temperature: 16-28 degrees centigrade
Soil: general purpose soil, that drains well
Watering: keep the soil moist. 
Mist daily
Fertilizing: do not fertilize
Flowers: small, purple-pink, in late summer/autumn season
Flowers are negligible in comparison to the foliage. Pluck the flowers in order to have bushy leaves.
Propagation: stem cuttings, seeds
Use the stems left from pruning in order to make new plants.
It is also very easy to start the plant from seeds.
Pests: prone to whitefly, aphids and scale.

Pumpkin soup for late autumnal mood

Pumpkins have been already picked and they continue to ripe on a dry cold shelf. This will bring out the sweetness and the unique taste. You know pumpkins are those types of presents from Mother Nature, that are not supposed to be consumed immediately after picking. They become tastier and better throughout the winter months.

Serves 4 people.
You need a pumpkin of about 1,5 kg.2 small chopped onions.
2-3 cloves of garlic roughly chopped, just the same quantity of ginger finely chopped.
A mix of herbs from Provence, nothing complicated, thyme, rosemary, savory.
Keep some olive oil aside.
Pepper, salt.
50 ml of cognac, or scotch any digestive would do.250 ml double cream.200 -250 chicken stock.1 pinch of cinnamon powder (optional)
Cut the pumpkin and remove the seeds and the lose threads until the neat flesh is revealed. Using a spoon, scoop out most of the flesh and put it in a casserole. Add in a deep pan olive oil, turn the heat on medium, add the garlic and ginger and the onion and bring all these to glazing. Then add the pumpkin flesh and the chicken stock, season with salt and pepper and let it boil until it becomes soft.Then just blend everything together.Add the alcohol, the cream, the herbs and if you like the cinnamon, stir and bring to simmering for up to 5 minutes.Do not allow the content to boil otherwise the cream will become buttery!Pour in soup bowls, decorate with some herb leaves and Bon Apetit!

Plants which indicate the type of the soil

The table below comprises some of the most popular indigenous weeds. They are also indicators of the type and quality of the soil when they are wildy growing.

Name of the plant	Photo	What do they show?	Observations
Field Bindweed (Convolvus arvensis)		Heavy clay soil, rich in Nitrogen	Avoid using the rotary tiller because it multiplies the fragments of the rhizomes which root very quickly.
Lawn Daisy (Bellis perennis)		Clay soil with an acidic tendency	This plant is not at all competing with the others.
Smooth Pigweed (Amaranthus hybridus)		Soil rich in Nitrogen	The plant produces many seeds and becomes quickly invasive.
Common Broom (Cytisus scoparius)		Acid soil, often sandy	Usually good soils for strawberries and asparagus.
Common Dandelion (taraxacum officinale)		Heavy clay soil, rather compact, rich in organic matter.	While it is not competing with other plants, it still needs to be removed completely from the ground.
Couch grass (Elytrigia spp)		Exhausted soil, too mechanically cultivated, too rich in potassium and nitrogen	Avoid using the rotary tiller because each fragment produces a new plant.
Common purslane (Portulaca oleracea)		Sandy soil which does not retain water, showing first signs of erosion	Rather a Southern type of plant which can be consumed fresh or prepared. Rich in vitamins.
Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvensis)		Wet soil, insufficinetly aerated	Horsetail indicates that a high flow of water.
Wild carrot (Daucus carota)		Lime dry soil	Do not remove all the plants because it is a host for various useful butterflies and insects.
Flanders poppy (Papaver rhoeas)		Humus rich soil	Indicates a good agricultural soil.

Know your soil

This is the time when you can best evaluate what type of soil you have in your garden or allotment. This is important because certain plants have a preference for a particular type of soil, while the others will recede. We will discuss about certain important features of the soil like: profile, texture, pH, fertility and living organisms. The quality of the soil determines the quality of your products.
The profile of the soil is the represented by several different layers:

1. The highest layer may be litter, this is clearly seen in the forests and it is the result of falling leaves and other parts of the plants living in the area.
2. Just under the litter it is the humus. It is usually darker, finer and well drained. It is composed mostly by mineral parts and organic parts. Most of the organic part of the soil is found in the upper layer, ideally somewhere between 60 – 90 cm.
3. The upper layer is a mixture of organic and inorganic matter, lighter in colour less fertile. The roots of the plants are digging through this layer looking for food, still.
4. Underground it is the lower part of the soil. It is more compact, it may contain stones or water, it lacks aeration and roots receive less oxygen. Most of the fruit trees expand their radicular system into this layer.
5. Underground may rest of different type of rocks which are impenetrable and they do not offer a source of food. Sometimes the roots of the tress may go around the blocks of stone to seek support. In other parts, near the rivers, this part may be always waterlogged and the survival of the roots of the plants is impossible.

In the left picture you are shown a soil profile or a grass land. This is not the ideal profile that you like to have in the garden, because the humus layer is not thick enough (the darker part). The deeper you go, the lighter the soil it gets. This is because deep soil lacks organic matter.


The texture of the soil may or not be identical in a garden. It all depends on the plants that were previously cultivated, the original features and the improvements given to the soil. The size of the particles forming the soil determines its texture. From this point of view we may classify the soil into three categories: clay soils, sandy soils, loamy soils.

• Clay soils
  
  Are composed of very fine particles of sand of the size of 2 microns. This is about 100000 times smaller than a normal grain of sand. These soils are heavy, they tend to be on the wet side and they keep water and nutrients very well. The drawback is that they are compact and difficult to work and many of the plants will have difficulties in developing their roots. Also during the dry spells, the soils tend to dry forming light grey rocky blocks, difficult to break apart. They have a tendency to waterlogging and extra-care should be given to the overwintering plants, because it facilitates rotting of the roots. In addition they warm up slowly during the spring and seed germination is delayed.
• Sandy soils
  

  

  They are just the opposite of the clay soils. They are composed mostly of sand, which has the capacity of being airy and oxygen reaches easier the roots of the plants. However they have a low water and nutrient retention. Certain root plants (like carrots, or potatoes) will flourish in these grounds provided that they receive regulate feeding and watering. They warm up quickly during the spring and they can be worked easy.
• Loamy soils.
  

  

  They are crumbly rich organic grounds, with good water retention and light structure. They are the best soil you can have in your garden, because they are composed of a good ratio of humus, clay and sand. 
  The ideal soil for the garden is composed of 65% sand, 10 % lime and 5 % humus. It is supple, crumbly, easy to work, had good water retention without the risk of becoming waterlogged.

How to determine your soil texture?
Look at your soil, take some samples. If you can make out of your soil a sphere, and while you shaping it you are reminded of Plasticine then you most probably have a clay soil. If it is sandy it loses shape immediately and if you have loam you will see that it is crumbly and the surface of your sphere is not regular.
pH. Is your soil alkaline or acidic?
pH measures whether your soil is bitter or sour, alkaline or acidic. pH is measured on a scale from 0 to 14. The lower the pH value, the more acidic the substance, the higher the value the more alkaline the substance is. For instance, lemon juice has a pH of 2, orange juice a pH of 3 and tomato juice a pH of 4, while sea water has a pH of 8, backing soda of 9, bleech of 13. The neutral value stands at 7. That is the pH of distilled water. 

Because of the composition of the soil, normally, the garden soils fall between 4.5 and 7.5. Certain plants, like Hortensias, Rhododendrons and Azaleas prefer rather acidic soils, others, like cabbages, more alkaline. Most of the garden plants flourish at pH of 6.5, so a very slightly acidic soil. While is relatively easy to increase the pH of the soil by adding lime, the things are not so simple when you desire to lower the pH.
The pH of the soil is important because the plants are able to absorb nutrients they need only under specific pH conditions. If the pH is too high or too low, certain nutrients, even if they exist in the soil, they practically unavailable to the plants. The attached diagram shows the availability of certain nutrients according to the pH of the soil.
Fertility of the soil is determined by five aspects: air, water, pH, organic matter and mineral nutrients. A fertile soil is rich in major nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), has sufficient quantities of mineral nutrients also called minor or oligo-nutrients (boron, chlorine, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, magnesium, molybdenum, sulphur, and zinc), it has a good pH (usually 6.5). It is rich also in organic matter which has the capacity of making the soil lighter, easier to cultivate and contributes to drainage and water retention. A fertile soil is not only able to retain water but also has the capacity to avoid waterlogging. Air is important for the developing of the roots. Without air, the roots simply suffocate and then rot and the entire plant is compromised.

The soil is a true ecosystem by being the siege of intricate alimentary chains. The organisms in the soil participate actively in furnishing a good quality soil by their way of feeding themselves. The woodlouse, myriapoda, larvae of the flies and termites are fragmenting the organic matter. Certain mites, springtails and termites continue the fragmentation of organic matter in even smaller compounds. Beetles and their larvae, fungi, nematodes, worms and bacteria continue the fragmentation to even simpler compounds, making them available for the roots of the plants. At the same time ants, moles, slowworms, voles, termites are digging and making small tunnels in the ground, making it more airy. However some of these organisms may prove to be dangerous itself. Snails are feeding themselves on the crops but they are enriching the humus with organic matter once they are dead. Earthworms, although they are not directing menacing the crops, while they are digging tunnels underground can bring diseases and viruses to the roots of the plants. On the market exist a large assortment of chemicals destined to destroy all the insects in the ground, however this not ecological, and on long term these chemicals unbalance the healthy ecosystem of the soil.

Hardiness zones

This is a tool firstly used in America that shows a geographically determined area in which a species of plants is capable of flourishing under the specific climatic conditions of that area. It is mostly used to determine whether or not in that geographical area a particular plant is able to withstand the lowest temperatures during the winter. The temperature scale of hardiness zones is situated between two temperature extremes -54°C to more than 13°C. Most of continental Europe is situated between zone 5 and 10.

The table below shows the hardiness zone according to minimum temperature.

Zone		From	To
0	a	< −53.9 °C (−65 °F)
	b	−51.1 °C (−60 °F)	−53.9 °C (−65 °F)
1	a	−48.3 °C (−55 °F)	−51.1 °C (−60 °F)
	b	−45.6 °C (−50 °F)	−48.3 °C (−55 °F)
2	a	−42.8 °C (−45 °F)	−45.6 °C (−50 °F)
	b	−40 °C (−40 °F)	−42.8 °C (−45 °F)
3	a	−37.2 °C (−35 °F)	−40 °C (−40 °F)
	b	−34.4 °C (−30 °F)	−37.2 °C (−35 °F)
4	a	−31.7 °C (−25 °F)	−34.4 °C (−30 °F)
	b	−28.9 °C (−20 °F)	−31.7 °C (−25 °F)
5	a	−26.1 °C (−15 °F)	−28.9 °C (−20 °F)
	b	−23.3 °C (−10 °F)	−26.1 °C (−15 °F)
6	a	−20.6 °C (−5 °F)	−23.3 °C (−10 °F)
	b	−17.8 °C (0 °F)	−20.6 °C (−5 °F)
7	a	−15 °C (5 °F)	−17.8 °C (0 °F)
	b	−12.2 °C (10 °F)	−15 °C (5 °F)
8	a	−9.4 °C (15 °F)	−12.2 °C (10 °F)
	b	−6.7 °C (20 °F)	−9.4 °C (15 °F)
9	a	−3.9 °C (25 °F)	−6.7 °C (20 °F)
	b	−1.1 °C (30 °F)	−3.9 °C (25 °F)
10	a	−1.1 °C (30 °F)	+1.7 °C (35 °F)
	b	+1.7 °C (35 °F)	+4.4 °C (40 °F)
11	a	+4.4 °C (40 °F)	+7.2 °C (45 °F)
	b	+7.2 °C (45 °F)	+10 °C (50 °F)
12	a	+10 °C (50 °F)	+12.8 °C (55 °F)
	b	> +12.8 °C (55 °F)

This is a very good table to determine the hardiness zone of the area where you live. For example, if you recall, or you can determine the lowest temperature in your area for the last 30 years, then can find out which is your hardiness zone. For instance, mine is 8a. This means that the lowest temperature in my town was -11 degrees. Most of European region are situated between hardiness zones 5 – 10.

Many of the cultivated plants are in fact grown outside their original hardiness zone. Tomatoes cannot withstand frost at all. This makes them a zone 10b plants. However, their cultivated as annuals in other, colder zones. Sometimes if a microclimate is created then the temperature can vary outside the hardiness zone.