Sarah Joubert

Jane Mulberry wrote: Sarah, your rocks look like mine at my Bulgarian house. The soil behind the house is full of them, there are lots of old drystone fences built of them, and since the ancient stone barn collapsed in a winter storm, I have a huge supply of similar stones. I hope to use mine to make low terraces on contour and slow the water flow in the sloping back yard.

I'm sure they will work well as terraces. All the terraces here are shored up with these rocks so the edges of the terraces are slighly higher than the terrace itself, but years of ploughing have changed the slope of the terraces as I am sure they were originally designed to slope backwards into the terrace behind. Now the water sheets over the terrace and finds places to drop down onto the one below until hitting the road and disappearing down the hill!  They also used them for walls, infilling the middle with all the smaller stones. We don't have many in our terrace soil so we don't need to find many uses for stones - we actually have a shortage for creative features. These were taken from a collapsed low wall that serves no purpose-besides a home for creepy crawlies, and we've left enough for them!

Stephan Schwab wrote:
No. Absolutely nobody. The whole region - as most of Spain - looks dry and brown during summer. That's "normal" as the locals say. They say it's because of the lack of water.

I can vouch for that! I'm in northern Spain and summers here are hot and dry too. Any vegetation that does grow between the olive and almond trees is ploughed under repeatedly so the "soil" is just dry, fine dirt. The fincas that are uncultivated  tend to be on rocky gound but still produce some vegetation most of the year. Yes, dry through July and Aug but there is always something flowering all year round. In the spring and autum the grasses break dormancy and it's green and lush in the valleys.
We have one farmer who does not plough, he has fields on various terrain and it's interesting to see the difference in vegetation based on the soil profile. The hill terraces that have been ploughed by past farmers are still sparsely vegetated with no undergrowth - more bushy type growth, rosemary, wild thyme, sea thistle. His valley fields are more grassy with the occasional bush-especially along the margins. He's only been there about 7 years, he hasn't drilled any seed, just cuts the dry vegetation once a year. I haven't seen any major change in the vegetation, places that were bare 5 years ago are still the same today.

I'm not sure our soil will regenerate in our lifetime if it is not given some assistance. We've been here 5 years , the terraces were left fallow for at least 5 years prior to that as the previous owner died and no one ploughed his terraces. I dont see any change even though we try to build soil on  a small scale through various gardening practices. I know growing vegetables doesn't put much in the soil - I try to leave the roots in at the end of the season to reduce soil disturbance but all my "soil" is imported as is my water so I cant irrigate non-food vegetation.

How has your pasture regeneration programme influenced your landscape Stephen? I only have a hectare and no livestock, but I am planning on seeding the terraces between the olives and rotate chickens on them. I'm on a hillside with no water and same rainfall as you so I'm keen to know what you planted.

I've added some more rocks to my original pile of rubble. But this time as a garden feature. I found a piece of very large drain pipe and cut it to make an arch. Then stacked stones on top to make it look like a hump back bridge. I've still got to put a row of ducks going over it and there will be a bath pond in front so it will look like a river flowing under it.

Ooops! After seeing Williams post I just realised that he was referring to early sowing as opposed to winter veg! Thanks for not rubbing my nose in it!
That's a really good idea. I overwinter my mango seedlings in water bottle greenhouses so that's another use for my stash of 8L bottles.

Nina Surya wrote:overalls do not - I repeat; do not - work well for women. Or maybe it's just me.

I agree, I love the idea of (c)overalls/dungarees. I have a summer set which have no sleeves, just a simple loop-tie sytem over each sholder in a lightweight material and a winter set that is long sleeve and heavy denim. They do not sit well, the waist/ crotch area are not aligned with the top area and sag when I'm in an upright position so I end up tying the loop tie so tight the bib almost chokes me. And then I bend down........ The winter one is just the same, sags around my nether regions when I'm uprightso I'm constanly hitching at the waistband and treading on the backs of the legs. And that one has the added disadvantage of getting out of when nature calls!
I persist in wearing them because, especially the summer set, they are so easy to sling on over a shirt or vest and leggings. And then my day starts and I'm too busy to change into something more comforatble.

Here's some current photos of the brassicas. All heirloom varieties. I was late planting out, they were sown in Aug but only planted out 20 Nov  2025. They held up marvelously well in the snails considering how long they were kept in a confined space. They transplanted well. I may have issues with head setting at the expense of lush greenery because of soil inbalances - newly created growing area using what I can get, probably too high in nitrogen.

I've just come from the "Let's talk about soil minerals" where sea water and salt features heavily. I have posted a question about seaweed there so I would be glad to see a thread devoted to seaweed, it's forms, benefits, uses and cautions.

I live 40 min from the beaches of Northern Spain. In the summer, the local municipalities will use tractor mounted rakes to comb the shore so that the tourists can have nice beaches(me included, I'm there at least once a week in summer). The debris is piled up at dump sites. There are vast beds of sea grasses just off shore and the stuff dumped contains a fair percentage of these grasses. Obviously they get dehydrated in the spanish sun. I have long been debating whether this would make a suitable ammendment to lighten my clay soil by adding sand and if it would add minerals left in the dehydrated grasses. But I am unsure if this is a safe practice. Yes, there will be some rope, fishing nets, plastic to remove but is the basic mass safe? Is it worth loading up a trailer next time I am there? Should be adding it to compost, using it as mulch or trying to incorporate it in my dirt (by far the most difficult as its clay pan and my garden location is inaccessable to a tractor)?

Thank you Brian for your in- depth post running trials over several years .It has given me new hope for regenerationg my soil.
I'm trying to grow food in predominantly clay soil in a hot, dry climate.
All my veg gardening is currently confined to above ground "container" gardening using IBCs as wicking beds and leaky swimming pools to reduce moisture loss into the ground. Not an ideal situation in which to grow food but I have tried growing directly in the ground using manure,covered by cardboard with more manure or barkchip on top. It required an awful lot of water (even using drip irrigation to each plant) to keep the area sufficiently hydrated to yield even the smallest crop. And I had no soil improvement to speak of. Food first unfortunately.
As we have no on site water, anything that reduces the use of this precious resource is appreciated.
The added bonus' of enriching the soil from year 1 and slowing and moving the flow of the little surface water we do get makes this an awesome resource. Now I just need to find some bales.........

My favorite cheap, filling  winter warmer is Tuscan bean stew. Just veg and beans with aromatics, but wow! the flavor.
Chop up 2 onions, 6 cloves garlic, 3-4 carrots, 3-4 stick of celery and add to 2Tblsp heated oil, turn down and cook slow for 10 min (don't rush this bit) with the lid on, stirring occasionally.
Add 4 cans cooked beans/chickpeas- with the water, 2 veg stock cubes  or 4 Tblsp veg stock powder ( I dry all my veg peelings, dehydrate and blitz, store in an airtight container) and either 1 Tblsp dry or a few sprigs each of Rosemary , Thyme and Sage, chopped.
2 cans tomatoes and enough water to taste.
Season with salt and pepper, bring to boil then let it blip  for 15min- hours- depending on your schedule.
Serve on its own or with bread, dumplings, mash.  
I've played with the beans / veg and herb mixes- sometimes I don't have all to hand and variations of root veg work well. I've left out thyme completely sometimes, likewise the sage. Beans- whatever I have in the cupboard/freezer, mix and match if you choose. My favorite is butter beans (white lima beans). I tend to soak and cook whole bags of beans to save on cost, power and to have cooked beans at the ready in the freezer. I can reheat a portion or few  from frozen on the wood stove while I start the stew and they will continue to heat through when added to the stew. Likewise tomatoes, I don't can, but do freeze chopped tomato in the summer when prices are low.