Having just read the abc for beginners I thought I would give a brief
introduction.

I live in northern Germany where I've more or less been for the last
twenty years. Although I rent, I have been lucky to enough to live on a
farm for the past two years (this is now year 3) and have an enormous
garden. I really enjoy gardening, although I'm not very knowledgeable. I
enjoy the hard work, but also take great pleasure in watching things
grow and develop (although not eveything works out). It's also great to
watch my daughter play and have fun in such a big garden. Climatically,
we are a bit more continental here than in the UK. Weather patterns are
roughly comparable but the extremes tend to be more pronounced. Thirty
is "normal" in the summer, 35 to 40 is not highly unusual. In the winter
it is colder -5 to -10 being normal, -15 and lower are not unusual. Over
the past few years winters appear to be getting milder but wetter and
summers dryer and hotter. Having said that, we had more snow last year
than I have seen for a long time. My permanent crops include
strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, rhubarb, and
apples and pears - all "inherited" with the garden, so don't ask me what
they are. I have a selection of herbs such as parsley, chives, basil. In
most years I plant peas, squeaky beans, raddish, lettuce, potatoes,
leeks and a small selection of brassicas, with which I seem to have
little luck.

OK, 'twas supposed to be brief, so I'll just cut short my ramblings now.

Regards

--
Alan Johnson, Geotr@ns
www.geotrans-online.de
German-English, Geosciences/Technical
http://geotransblog.blogspot.com/
Terminus Est