"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
"Duncan Heenan" wrote:

Welcome Totty. You're right the American sense of humour is a bit
lacking.

That's because you Brits can't even spell "humor" right!
And welcome from the lurker in the (former) American colonies.

No we don't spell humor right. We spell humour correctly.

:-))

Steve

In message .com,
Totty writes
Not even lemons?

A sore point! We were given a lemon tree as an anniversary present ten
years ago..it flowers well and sets fruit, but they fall off when about
1" dia. I suppose I should buy another one, but so many friends and
neighbours have fruit to spare that I haven't bothered.
Ah! Well, I would do the same too
--
June Hughes

JennyC wrote:
:: "Totty" wrote in message
:: oups.com...
::: I've been lurking here and on the 'other' gardening group to see
::: which one will be more relevant to my needs. I 'garden' on a
::: south facing slope in Eastern Spain. The climate is more
::: equivalent to California than the Cotswalds, but the humour on
::: this Group is definitely superior.
::: Jo
::
:: Hi Jo,
:: yep, the humour here is very much in evidence :~))
::
:: Lucky you in such a nice location.
:: What sort of temperatures do you have summer/winter ?
::

Whilst googling for Eastern Spain climate I came upon an interesting
article:

Peninsular Spain experiences three climatic types: continental, maritime,
and Mediterranean.

(big snip of continental and maritime...continental covers the majority and
central Spain up to the Eastern mountains, maritime covers the Northerly
parts...I'm assuming she is in the Mediterranean climate zone...)

The Mediterranean climatic region extends from the Andalusian Plain along
the southern and eastern coasts up to the Pyrenees, on the seaward side of
the mountain ranges that parallel the coast. Total rainfall in this region
is lower than in the rest of Spain, and it is concentrated in the late
autumn-winter period. Generally, rainfall is slight, often insufficient,
irregular, and unreliable. Temperatures in the Mediterranean region usually
are higher in both summer and winter, and diurnal temperature changes are
more limited than those of the continental region. Temperatures in January
normally average 10 to 13 C in most of the Mediterranean region, and they
are 9 C colder in the northeastern coastal area near Barcelona. In winter,
temperatures inland in the Andalusian Plain are slightly lower than those on
the coasts. Temperatures in July and August average 22 to 27 C on the coast
and 29 to 31 C farther inland, with low humidity. The Mediterranean region
is marked by Leveche winds--hot, dry, easterly or southeasterly air currents
that originate over North Africa. These winds, which sometimes carry fine
dust, are most common in spring. A cooler easterly wind, the Levante,
funnels between the Sistema Penibetico and the Atlas Mountains of North
Africa.

....I'm thinking of emigration now...

--
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we.
They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country
and our people, and neither do we."
- George W. Bush, 5.8.2004

Phil L wrote:

forgot the link:

http://www.southtravels.com/europe/spain/weather.html

"shazzbat" wrote:

No we don't spell humor right. We spell humour correctly.

That's not funny!


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

On 3/4/05 17:08, in article
, "Totty"
wrote:

Is that Ipomoea - morning glory which I think of as purple but I
*think*
there's a pink one as well. It grows like a weed, literally, in Med.
Countries.

No Sacha, not the bright blue, large flowered Ipomoea. This rampages up
telephone poles and smothers anything it can get a grip on. *My*
bindweed is more like the lesser bindweed of UK, but with hairy leaves.
Flowers are about 1" in diameter. There is also a white flowered
version, but I don't have it....yet.

I think I know what you mean but it sounds lovely - even if a weed with you!
It would probably be a carefully nurtured, hovered over tender thing here.

I think this is what we call Polygala? It's a lovely plant but not
hardy
here.

There was a single speciman in the garden when we bought the house
twenty years ago. About 5 years ago, it suddenly started to seed
itself around the garden. I now pot a few of these up just after
germination as they will not happily stand transplanting later. They
are expensive to buy here, so I give them away as pot plants. They can
be trained into attractive standards.

"Seed itself around".....sigh......! ;-)

But what is a nispero - I don't think I know
that at all?

I first came across it in Portugal back in 1966, then didn't come
across it again until came here to the Costa Blanca. I think it is a
type of medlar - I know it is grafted onto quince, and the latin name
is Mespilus Germanica L. and it belongs to the rose family. If you put
the word 'nispero' into an image search engine you will get an idea. I
use it to make chutney, as it is the one fruit that I can't eat raw. It
is very sweet, but at the same time acidic.

Ah - we planted a medlar a couple of years ago, and I'm waiting happily for
it to fruit. AIUI, with medlars you wait for them to be almost rotten
before eating them. I have at the back of my mind that you eat this year's
next year, sort of thing.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

What sort of temperatures do you have summer/winter ?

Summer hovers around 35=BAc throughout August and September. We hope
that the last winter, when we had snow for the first time in 30 years,
and around 14 or 15 nights when temperatures just dropped below
freezing here on the coast, was not a foretaste of things to come. We
have become used to winter temperatures between 10 or 11=BA at night and
up to 20=BA during the day even in December and January. February has
always been our coldest month, with the highest chance of continual
cloudy days. =20
Jo

It would probably be a carefully nurtured, hovered over tender thing
here.

LOL. When my husband is struggling to tame some particularly tough
tussocks "in the bottom" (level) I tell him that UK garden centres are
charging the earth for his weeds, and he shakes his head in wonder!

I have at the back of my mind that you eat this year's
next year, sort of thing.

I did read somewhere that you should put them in a drawer and forget
about them. Storage is not possible with the nispero, even
transportation is difficult as they bruise very easily, so that is the
main reason they are rarely exported.
Jo

Sacha wrote:

Ah - we planted a medlar a couple of years ago, and I'm waiting happily for
it to fruit. AIUI, with medlars you wait for them to be almost rotten
before eating them.

I've seen some discussion of medlars on the North American Fruit Explorer's
E-list. An ancient relative of pears, I believe.... the process is called
"bletting," and it's sort of controlled decay. But then, I made a batch of
sauerkraut, and am in the process of eating it!


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

The Mediterranean region
is marked by Leveche winds--hot, dry, easterly or southeasterly air
currents
that originate over North Africa. These winds, which sometimes carry
fine
dust, are most common in spring.

We know that wind as the Levante wind. You get used to the dust, but
under certain conditions, the dust causes precipitation and we have
liquid mud falling from the sky. Rather like a plague of Egypt!
Jo

In article , Gary Woods
writes
Sacha wrote:

Ah - we planted a medlar a couple of years ago, and I'm waiting happily for
it to fruit. AIUI, with medlars you wait for them to be almost rotten
before eating them.

I've seen some discussion of medlars on the North American Fruit Explorer's
E-list. An ancient relative of pears, I believe....

They're in the same subfamily of the rose family as pears ... and also
apples, quince and hawthorn. So not particularly related to pears more
than any of the others.

the process is called
"bletting," and it's sort of controlled decay. But then, I made a batch of
sauerkraut, and am in the process of eating it!



--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In article .com,
Totty writes

I first came across it in Portugal back in 1966, then didn't come
across it again until came here to the Costa Blanca. I think it is a
type of medlar - I know it is grafted onto quince, and the latin name
is Mespilus Germanica L. and it belongs to the rose family. If you put
the word 'nispero' into an image search engine you will get an idea. I
use it to make chutney, as it is the one fruit that I can't eat raw. It
is very sweet, but at the same time acidic.

Medlar is Mespilus germanica.

Googling suggests that nispero is often used for 'japanese medlar' ie
loquat, Eriobotrya japonica, but that's presumably not the one you mean.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

But then, I made a batch of
sauerkraut, and am in the process of eating it!

Being married to a dedicated sauerkraut eater of the Swiss variety, I'm
not sure if I wouls agree that fermentation is equivalent to
"controlled decay". Any experts out there?
Jo