Post by galina on Nov 30, 2023 1:33:08 GMT -6
Thank you Triffid for mentioning this group on another forum. I could not resist and had a look.
Very glad to be here and there are several names I recognise from other groups.
I used to garden in Central England for decades, but a few years ago we moved to Germany, following Brexit. Everything is so different here. Soil changed from alkaline to acidic. Temperatures are dramatically different, much hotter in summer and much colder in winter. Many of the vegetables I used to grow over winter, turn to mush here, although some survive. To put it another way, we moved from zone 8 to low zone 6 maybe even 5. It is a steep learning curve, especially as most of my seeds were bought or swapped/traded in England and I do like to grow what I have known for decades. And most can be grown, just not over winter. Extra hardy cabbage January King turned to 'January Mush' here, but I hope it will be fine when I start it in spring and overwinter plants in the cellar, rather than sowing later and leaving them to stand all winter until needed, like I used to! On the other hand, with the much brighter sunshine, the Rocoto peppers which needed two years in England to get to fruiting, made fruit in their first year here.
Other things have stayed the same. We brought the 3 small greenhouses, dismantled there and erected back again here - and they are just as beneficial to combat tomato late blight, phytophtera infestans, which is wide spread here too. The cultivated area is about the same size. And what a blessing - we have a well. On the downside, voles have discovered my growing area and in places they are very destructive, just like they were in England. Ah well, win some, lose some. We also 'won' Colorado beetles, which didn't exist in England, but they are not a big problem. Frost dates are pretty much the same too, however the difference between 'benign' frost in England and 'killing' frost here, hard frost that lasts for weeks, is very noticeable. But when things grow, they often grow much faster here.
Wonder how many other European or German gardeners are on the forum.
Very glad to be here and there are several names I recognise from other groups.
I used to garden in Central England for decades, but a few years ago we moved to Germany, following Brexit. Everything is so different here. Soil changed from alkaline to acidic. Temperatures are dramatically different, much hotter in summer and much colder in winter. Many of the vegetables I used to grow over winter, turn to mush here, although some survive. To put it another way, we moved from zone 8 to low zone 6 maybe even 5. It is a steep learning curve, especially as most of my seeds were bought or swapped/traded in England and I do like to grow what I have known for decades. And most can be grown, just not over winter. Extra hardy cabbage January King turned to 'January Mush' here, but I hope it will be fine when I start it in spring and overwinter plants in the cellar, rather than sowing later and leaving them to stand all winter until needed, like I used to! On the other hand, with the much brighter sunshine, the Rocoto peppers which needed two years in England to get to fruiting, made fruit in their first year here.
Other things have stayed the same. We brought the 3 small greenhouses, dismantled there and erected back again here - and they are just as beneficial to combat tomato late blight, phytophtera infestans, which is wide spread here too. The cultivated area is about the same size. And what a blessing - we have a well. On the downside, voles have discovered my growing area and in places they are very destructive, just like they were in England. Ah well, win some, lose some. We also 'won' Colorado beetles, which didn't exist in England, but they are not a big problem. Frost dates are pretty much the same too, however the difference between 'benign' frost in England and 'killing' frost here, hard frost that lasts for weeks, is very noticeable. But when things grow, they often grow much faster here.
Wonder how many other European or German gardeners are on the forum.