We start a vegetable garden in the Alentejo, Portugal.
One of my biggest goals in life is to create a vegetable garden that can feed us throughout the year. Everyone near us in Portugal grows their own, and every vegetable garden both in and around the Alentejo villages are a joy to see. All year they are bursting with something edible and are looked after with unending care and attention – not surprising really as these gardens are the main source of food for the household.
This year I want to start a vegetable garden here in the Alentejo region of Portugal. However, I have two huge challenges to get over. Firstly, I have no idea how to plant and grow vegetables in the Alentejo. The heat is overwhelming in summer, and there are also completely different growing seasons to those in the UK. Secondly, I seem to be completely incapable of growing anything. As much as I try, research, tend etc I just don’t seem to have the touch. Anything that survives for a few weeks under my – for want of a better word – care, certainly won’t make it longer than 2 months.
A plan for the New Year…
I have a plan to change all this in 2019. We have a small growing terrace below the house here which I cleared out a few months ago. The Portuguese I have spoken to about my patch say the same thing – the soil is poor and the position is worse. Unfortunately there’s little I can do about the position other than fixing up some shade for the summer. I’m planning a full-scale attack on the patch in the next couple of weeks. I’m planning to clear and dig everything over, add compost and generally get it into better shape. I’ve been composting for about a year so now have some lovely compost to start to improve the soil.
This year is going to be different, as I’ve been introduced to the Portuguese secret weapon. An amazing leaflet created by the Water Board which most people follow to the letter. A new leaflet is printed each year, and contains an amazing amount of information from growing vegetables, flowers and fruit trees, to yearly festas and horoscopes.
Essentially it contains everything the aspiring Alentejo gardener could ask for and I’m hoping that with its help I will overcome my 2 Big Challenges.
Since there’s no time to start like the present, the information for January is: It is time to prepare the garden for winter planting, and to plant out early potatoes. Prune fig, orange and apple trees. Sow beans, peas, lettuce and radish. In the South of Portugal also sow carrots, sprouts, tomatoes, garlic and lettuce.