Cristina de Cossío presents her grandma’s vegetable garden. Enjoy!

This is the vegetable garden of my Galician grandmother, Paquiña. It is located at Val Miñor, Rías Baixas (Pontevedra). Is quite big and not very organized. For 30 years she used to keep the seeds in her pockets to scatter them here and there. Now she is 92, she has started to accept some help. So now the person in charge of the hoe is Carmen, a 62 year old woman from Baiona that used to gather shellfish.

We are still looking for a gardening book that includes Atlantic climate, to grow a tomato here is almost an impossible task. This year’s Summer consisted in 21ºC when it’s sunny: that means drinking Albariño wearing a jacket. Believe me, when you have an open air party, after the queimada*, always a basket full of socks is offered to the guests, for those ladies wearing sandals that have not been warmed enough after the liquor.
*Queimada is a punch made from Galician aguardiente (Orujo Gallego) – a spirit distilled from wine and flavoured with special herbs or coffee, plus sugar, lemon peel, coffee beans and cinnamon.

The results of the harvest are for the family, but my grandmother likes to keep her exchanges: 3 kg of plums for a dozen of eggs from the neighbor, some lettuces for the fishdealer so he keeps the biggest crabs for us.

Here we have the courgettes, the lettuces and, behind, the kiwi. The scarecrow is, basically, the westerns dvd’s collection from the local newspaper “El Faro de Vigo”, the best remedy against the outsiders! If  John Ford could see it..

Courgettes. They grow easily here, you can spend the whole Summer having ratatouille for dinner.

Lettuces

Kiwies. Lots of them, but not of the best quality, they are a bit rough.

Pears

Avocados. Lots and lots! They will be ready in August-September and they are so good.

Plums. Excellent!

Figs. Kika, my mum, prepares a delicious jam with them

Khakies. In November-December the tree will be left without leaves and full of red fruits, so we will have around 20 kg of fresh khakies at a time of the year when the only thing you want to eat is hot soup.

Raspberries. When they ripe, it will be the second harvest of the season.

Rosemary

Artichoke. It brings happiness to the garden!

Tomatoes. They were planted too early, and, at the moment, we only have tiny and very green raf tomatoes.

Apple tree. This is the tree that provides the kilos and kilos of apples that are the base of my grandma diet:, and that she uses to prepare baked apples & compote.

There are also old medlar trees that are fruiless, a big palm tree that provides dates for the 90% of the local birds, lemontrees not through their best year due to a bad pruning, an orange tree with yellow oranges, a cherry tree without cherries and some parsley.

Este jardín está en Becerril de la Sierra, a unos 50 km al norte de Madrid. Como allí la temperatura es bastante fresca, algunas frutas salen un poco más tarde de lo habitual. Tal vez, sería conveniente señalar  que esto no es un huerto sino un jardín donde se dan algunas cosas comestibles. Pero como todo lo que se come es ñam, vamos a ver qué tenemos por aquí.

This garden is located at Becerril de la Sierra, about 50 km north of Madrid. There, the climate is quite cool, therefore some fruits appear a little bit later than usual. Maybe, it would be convenient to remark that this is not properly a vegetable garden, is just a garden where we grow some edible stuff. But, as anything that can be eaten is ñam, let’s see what we do we have here.

Para empezar: una higuera. Todavía sin fruto. Los higos salen en verano y se empiezan a recoger en agosto / septiembre. Si los véis antes en el mercado no son higos, son brevas.

Let’s start with a fig tree. Still fruitless. Figs come out during Summer and you can start to pick them up in August / September. If you see them before in the market, those are early figs.

Aquí tenemos un melocotonero, con los frutos todavía verdes.

Here we have a peach tree, with the fruits still green.

También tenían un cerezo, y uso el pasado porque al pobre se lo han comido los pulgones y ha quedado asi. Habrá que sacrificarlo, a no ser que alguno sepa resucitar cerezos.. Se admiten sugerencias.

They also had a cherry tree, and I use the past tense because the poor thing has been eaten by greenfly, and this is the state it is in now. It will have to be sacrificed, unless any of you know how to bring cherry trees back to life.

Hay dos preciosos olivos. Las aceitunas se recogen en diciembre / enero, este año maceraré algunas y a ver qué pasa.

There are two beautiful olive trees. The olives can be picked up from December to January. This year I will macerate some of them, and we’ll see what happens..

Y esto es un madroño. Sus frutos tardan un año en madurar, estos de la foto ya estarán listos dentro de poco.

And this is a tree strawberry. Its fruits take a whole year to ripen, this ones will be ready soon.

Este es mi favorito: el tilo. Las flores empiezan a salir en mayo, y de ellas salen estas bolitas que se caen ya en otoño.

This is my favourite: the lime tree. The flowers come out in May, and from them come out those small balls that will fall off during Autumn.

Laurel / Bay Leaf

Hierbabuena / Mint

Romero / Rosemary

Esta es la flor de lo que será la fruta de la pasión.

This is the flower that will become a passion fruit.

Y este año  le damos la bienvenida a UNA fresa.

And this year we say hello to ONE strawberry!

En pleno centro de Barcelona, en la misma terraza de su piso, Belén y Álvaro han decidido montarse su pequeño huerto. De momento tienen cebollas, acelgas, tomates, zanahorias, apio, lechugas y rábanos. Están tan contentos con la experiencia que pronto van a ampliar el huerto.

In the very centre of Barcelona, at the terrace of their apartment, Belén & Álvaro have decided to start their own vegetable garden. At the moment they have onions, swiss chards, tomatoes, carrots, celery, lettuces and radishes. They are so happy with the experience that soon they will expand the garden.

So, one year after I first wrote this post, the Gemüsegarten of Mariano & Uli is back to life, though with 3 weeks of delay this time… Let’s see what do we have here.

Different kinds of Potatoes, Elder (with the flowers you can make a delicious syrup), Lettuces, Peppers, Carrots, Red Cabbage, Dill, 2 types of Parsley.

Sweet Peas, Tomatoes, Dahilas, Pumpkin, Red Cabbage, Lettuces, a different kind of Pea & Strawberries.

Giant Poppies, Parsley, Multicolored Carrots, “Melde” (the dark red one, used for stews & salads) and Red Stem Chard.

Johannisbeere Tree, Red Stem Chard, Red Lettuce, Parsley, Spinach, Baby Onions, Rocket, Lettuce, Onions, Flowers, Beans & Red Cabbage.

Inside the box: Tomatoes & Cucumbers. Outside: more Tomatoes & Flowers.

Bienvenidos al “gemüsegarten” de Mariano y Uli. Esta maravilla de huerto se lo han montado en Ottensen, Hamburgo. Allí tienen la suerte de vivir en la idílica comunidad de “Gauss str. 60″; un antiguo edificio industrial reconvertido en talleres, oficinas y viviendas donde cada día cocina uno para todos los vecinos. Y todo con conciencia ecológica. Simplemente fantástico.

Welcome to Mariano & Uli’s “gemüsegarten”. They have developed this wonderful garden in Ottensen, Hamburg. There, they live at the idyllic community of “Gauss str. 60″; an old industrial building restructured as a place for workshops, offices and apartments, where, each day, one of the neighbors cooks for the rest . And everything with ecological conscience. Simply fantastic.

Ya han recogido lechugas variadas, rúcula y guisantes. Y pronto llegará el turno de tomates, calabacines, pepinos, calabazas, remolacha, acelgas, patatas, maíz, zanahorias,  judías blancas, judías verdes y pimientos.

Thay have already picked different kinds of lettuces, rocket and peas. And soon it’ll be the turn for tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers, beetroot, swiss chards, potatoes, corn, carrots, white beans, grean beans and peppers.

En esta foto, y de abajo a arriba, tenemos: maíz, rúcula, lechugas, zanahorias y guisantes dulces.

At this pic, and from down to top, we have: corn, rocket, lettuces, carrots and sweet peas.

guisantes, acelgas y lechugas varias / peas, swiss chards and assorted lettuces

calabacines, pepinos y más guisantes / courgettes, cucumbers and more peas

patatas / potatoes

lechugas / lettuces

guisantes dulces / sweet peas

So almost one year after I first edited this post, the Spring is back and there are new vegs on the block. A big welcome to the first beans & garlics!

Estoy muy contenta de que “La Casita de Wendy” haya aceptado la invitación de ñam ñam para enseñarnos su huerto. A pocos kilometros de Madrid, en su casita de Pozuelo, han decicido ponerse a sembrar un montón de cosas. Podemos ver flores de calabacín, tomates, fresas… Fantástico.

Tienen 10 plantas de calabacín a las que ya les han salido muchísimas flores, que han probado a comer rebozadas y rellenas de verduras. Qué cosa tan rica. ¡Queremos la receta!

I am very happy because “La Casita de Wendy” has accepted ñam ñam’s invitation to show us their garden.  A few kilometers away from Madrid, at their house in Pozuelo, they have decided to sow a lot of things!. We can see courgette’s flowers, tomatoes, strawberries… Fantastic.

Their 10 courgette plants  already have a lot of flowers. They have already tasted these flowers coated in breadcrumbs and stuffed with vegetables. What a delicious thing. We want the recipe!

También tienen 10 tomateras sembradas en tierra y 6 en maceta que ahora mismo están llenas de flores que se transformarán en tomates, de hecho ya hay uno pequeñito!

They also have 10 tomato plants on earth and 6 on flowerpots that right now are full of flowers that will become tomatoes, actually there’s already a little one!

Eso no es todo, el huerto se completa con 15 matas de patatas, además de ajos, pimientos, cebollas, pepinos, espinacas, berenjenas y fresas.

That’s not all, the garden also has 15 potatoes plants, plus garlics, peppers, onions, cucumbers, spinachs, aubergines and strawberries.

Su ilusión es ser autosuficientes y poder comer todo ecológico, sin químicos ni pesticidas. Además se lo pasan estupendamente sembrando, repicando y viendo los progresos de las plantitas. Empiezan a cosechar todo entre Julio y Agosto, y hasta entonces, aquí podremos ir viendo la evolución de este huerto tan estupendo.

Their wish is to become self-sufficient and that everything they eat is totally ecologic, free of chemicals and pesticides. Also they have lots of fun sowing and planting, and watching the progress of their little plants.  The harvest is made between July and August and, till then, we will be able to see the evolution of this gorgeous garden.

* La Casita de Wendy son Inés e Iván, diseñadores de moda y especialistas en hacer cosas bonitas.

* La Casita de Wendy are Inés and Iván, fashion designers specialized in creating beautiful things.