Rooftop Kitchen Garden

01/03/2021

No more seeds, he said, said no one, ever! I did say that I was not going to buy anymore seeds this season. Well my stocks are old and my failures were big. 0% germination on my Malaguetas and Cayennes, that's 100% failure by my advance mathematical genius! I guess trying to germinate old, uncared for stock doesn't pay off. Here's to a second try!

26/02/2021

50 shades of grey, no no no, 3 shades of orange! 3 just made fermented hot sauces. Darkest is a whiskey chipotle buffalo, the middle one is a whiskey malagueta condiment style sauce and finally the reddest one on the right is a hotter than Franks... not a bad mornings work, for a Friday!

17/02/2021

Today's included cat proofing the veggie planters and seed starts, repotting some plants and getting some strawberries into pots. My unknown variety of lettuce has bolted at last and flower heads are starting to show, next generation of seeds incoming! You can just about see the effect of the African dust storm in the background, behind the hill, to the right you should be able to see the ocean, not today though! Also my first tomato is almost ready!

16/02/2021

A little seeding on a Tuesday morning. Got the inspiration to try flower seeding in hydroponic starting media from .passion

Might put some in the NFT rails to see what happens! The glass jar of seeds are sweet snacking peppers, I saved the seeds from fruits that were bought from Ocado while I was in the 🇬🇧 last year.

02/02/2021

Some better pictures of yesterday's seed selection. At this time I really wanted to get things started that we eat a lot of and things that take time to get established. I'll get to the flower seeds later in the week, some more unsettled weather on its way and a few cold nights to come.

01/02/2021

I've been meaning to get around to this for a while. Seeds selected for the coming year. And yes, before anyone tells me about sowing carrots and beats direct to ground, I know and I have my reasons...

15/01/2021

Absolutely stunned by this news. Wayne has been a huge inspiration to my hydroponic gardening. My thoughts and prayers are for his family at this difficult time.

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14/11/2020

What do I do with my sweet snacking peppers... Pizza topping of course!

14/11/2020

The impending gloom of tropical storm Theta! She seems to have weakened somewhat and the wind and rain forecast has still not arrived. Gave me time to have a few hours in garden this morning. Planted up a few self seeded lettuce and finished cutting back the majority of the peppers. Waiting now for the storm to pass to start planting out my late season brassicas and winter greens..
@ São Martinho, Madeira, Portugal

11/11/2020

What to do on an Autumn day... make Piccalilli! Soon be time to enjoy Carne Vinha d’alhos, and this chunky mustard pickle on the side is a must in our house.

09/11/2020

Last one for today!
Living in a sub tropical climate has lead me to throw caution to the wind and try some unconventional sowing times! I have in the past sown tomatoes between Christmas and New Year, for a first harvest the last week of April. This year I am starting about 2 months earlier. As well as my beef steaks and peppers, I am trying out some brassicas during these cooler months.
@ São Martinho, Madeira, Portugal

09/11/2020

Thanks to for today's tip! Finally bought myself to pick over the potted pepper plants and do away with the smaller plants and prep the stronger healthier looking plants for winter.
Red jalapeño will go in the smoker next time it's fired up, dried and crushed up for Chipotle powder! The green ones will be added to the fermenting batch already underway. Still have a good number of strong plants with loads of fruit on them, so they are spared the knife for now.