Olive tree

I have been tempted back into the garden by the sudden change in the weather here, where it has gone from cold, grey and rainy to bright and sunny but still cold at night.

I recently sowed coriander, parsley, red cabbage, and a few cherry tomatoes.  The tomatoes are Ian’s Red Cherry, which I have cultivated for several years now and my new red cabbage which I’m calling Cavolo Chereissimo, a red cabbage I’ve cultivated from saved seeds for three years now

Then, earlier in the week, I was lucky to find an odd olive tree in my local supermarket.     I was lucky, but also very surprised.

I regularly carry out my food shopping each week and, in this instance, tend to be a creature of habit…  Visit the bank, visit a small market to buy butter and milk and, sometimes, some nice cheese, then on to a rather special fresh food store where I buy fresh fruit and vegetables before finally pulling into the enormous car park of one of our main shopping malls.   The anchor store here is a very large hypermarket and serves my needs well.    

As well as food, I tend to buy all my household bits and pieces here and it was whilst picking up a pen refill that I noticed a single olive tree… looking quite lonely.

There had obviously been a pallet full of these trees but now there was just one left and, to be honest, it looked a lot healthier than trees and shrubs often do in this store.   I pondered for a second or  two, before dropping the pot into my trolley.

The plant looked very dry but apart from that it seemed ok.

I gave it some water when I got home and it has sat on the table on my terrace for the past couple of days.

I can’t decide whether to plant it direct into the garden, somewhere in my orchard or whether to pot it up into a larger planter and keep it on the patio.

I’ll let you know what I decide…

Herbs

A couple of months ago I was writing on here about the unexpected snowfall that had arrived.

In that post I referred to my potted herbs collection as “looking particularly forlorn”

It turns out that statement was “particularly inadequate”!   With the exception of my rosemary and sage bushes, all the rest of my herb collection has been completely wiped out.  ~I’m still hoping that the rosemary and sage will survive and they are showing great promise.

So, today was spent recovering pots and sowing new seeds to recreate a new potted herb garden.

I have sown Thyme, Basil, Coriander,Parsley, Chives and Dill to add to the sage and rosemary.

Over in the vegetable garden there is also a bay tree which is also “looking particularly forlorn”

It’s been there for a couple of years and has struggled with poor soil and excessive heat.   I’m hoping that this last period of drought folloowed by extreme cold hasn’t finally finished it off.

I still have a couple more varieties of herbs to sow, but my day escaped from me today, so I’ll try and continue tomorrow.   I know I have chervil and maybe winter savoury amongst others.