Back to the Vegetable Plot

As regular readers will know, my vegetable plot has been sitting dormant during this past summer. It has been a victim of my being too-busy gardening for other people and setting up my depot/retail sales unit.

My New Year’s resolution is to rectify this and to keep you informed as to my progress, but advice from readers will always be appreciated as my background is in amenity horticulture and not vegetable growing.

To this end my first task will be to dig the plot over and incorporate the contents of my compost heap. This will be done as soon as my landlord has collected the olives from his adjacent trees, so it should be done as you are reading this. Digging can be carried out whilst the soil is wet because any compaction caused by standing on the soil is immediately rectified by the action of digging. Preparing the soil for planting/seed sowing will, however, have to wait for more suitable conditions.

A visit to the local farm shops next to see what is available for planting. I will also sow traditionally "English veg," such as peas and snowball turnips, as they should cope well with the Cretan winter. During the month I will also pick the brains of Minas Petrakis, the local master organic grower. This will ensure that for February and the subsequent months, I will sow/plant suitable crops, (although I am also likely to experiment.)

Next month, I will let you know how I have progressed and pass on Minas’ tips.

 
Lantana montevidensis

Many of you will already be aware of the Lantana hybrids. They are a commonly seen, and useful, shrub which come in two basic forms, one upright growing and the other a lower ground cover. Both forms are available with flowers of different colours, some with two colours on a single flower. They have been covered in flowers for most of the summer but now are past their best. Lantana montevidensis is a ground hugging species which, because its flowers are smaller, is often over looked in favour of its cousins at the garden centres.

It does however make an excellent ground covering shrub which sends out new roots along its stem as it grows. This makes it ideal for stabilizing soil on slopes. Being very resistant to drought it is ideal for planting in areas with no water supply. If it gets too dry it simply sheds its leaves and becomes dormant. Once it rains, it soon grows new leaves which are followed by flowers.

A good place to see this shrub is on the roadside as you leave Malia going towards Sissi. Here, both purple and white flowering forms are growing and twining up through the hedging shrubs.

One word of warning, however: if it is planted in an irrigated area of the garden it can become invasive.