About a week ago we arrived on the island of Gozo, we are staying in the wonderful town of Victoria and have a flat there that has a terrace and a small conservatory too. As I miss my garden in West Cork I decided to try my hand here at growing plants, herbs, small vegetables and also flowers in containers and yesterday I started. I will use anything I can get my hands on as containers, milk cartons, bottle bottoms, buckets etc. but I also bought some long containers in a garden centre, soil also and it was a job getting that up the stairs but I managed. I had brought some sealed seeds from home and sowed some of the herbs including a really good small leafed basil, and lemon balm. Here in Victoria I bought four tomato plants and some lettuce plants to start myself off. To prepare the soil I used coffee grinds, banana peels and eggshells and I added a bit of this underneath each plant. The temperature here is still around 30C and humidity is high, though the last few days it has become less so. Sunshine a plenty here!
I had sown some chives earlier in the week and goodness me one little seedling has popped up today! I am waiting and hoping for more.
My aim is to grow everything organic but for a start my soil is not, one must do what one can of course and it is not possible to get organic soil around here, at least I will not be using pesticides or fertilizer and that has got to be good. The magic of seeing things grow is already good enough for me and the enjoyment that gives is very good for one’s health anyway – so!
I found some bamboo sticks on the side of the road and took them home to use as supports when the tomato plants get bigger. I also found a lovely piece of succulent plant on the footpath the other day which I have now rooted and it produced a beautiful little orange flower. There were the cacti to look after that belong to the flat, and I am rooting another few succulent leaves that I found on the road.
I am so very happy here on Gozo, I just love everything about the place, the people, the architecture, the limestone, the culture, the exotic plants, the weather, the sun, and the Mediterranean foods, it is all wonderful!
Making my fertilizer from banana skins, coffee grinds, and eggshells.
Containers ready to use, some of them anyway. Seeds picked to sow.
Tomato and lettuce plants
The bamboo sticks to support the tomato plants when the time comes
Some micro plants, and trying out lettuce seeds from back home
The cacti belonging to the flat after I gave them some TLC, and the succulent i found on the footpath the other day, all are doing fine.
agoyvaerts 
30 degrees – wow! Wonderful that you can grow plants that you could only dream of back in Ireland at this time of year, Agnes. I look forward to finding out how you get on.
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Thank u Helen, so exciting!
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It is! Not sure I would want to be in heat right now – for once, I am looking forward to winter – but it will be interesting to read about your journey.
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Thank u Helen, i will be writng more about life in Gozo now. It is good that you ate looking forward to winter, yrs winter has its own beauty. Have a peaceful Sunday, i hope to catch up with your blog too, I was without Internet for over a week.
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Thank you, Agnes. I hope you have a peaceful Sunday, too. Glad you are back online!
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How inspiring, Agnes. I too love bringing plants into the accommodation wherever I go, even when I was staying in a hotel for a week. A small pot of blooming annual costs far less than a bunch of flowers and it’s so nice to have some living things in an otherwise sterile environment. 🙂 How long are you staying there?
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Yes i agree Mary it does bring a place to life. We are staying until next March – so i hve the time to grow things. So happy.
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What a wonderful idea to have a garden away from home.
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Yes, thank you it feels really lovely and is a worthwhile experiment.
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Fantastic!
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Thank you Melissa, its worth the effort 🙂
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so nice to hear you’re beginning a new pot garden, just as our first freeze is hitting here in Colorado
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Wow Roxy, it’s so hot here and humid that I feel like putting my head in the freezer 🙂 to cool down!
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Yes – I was thinking the same thing – I am happy to read about the excitement of a new garden as I am thinking of closing mine down for the winter.
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Thank you Jodie, it’s all a matter of enjoying what you do isn’t it 🙂
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Heel veel succes met de oogst! Mooie foto’s en een mooi verhaal. Waar juist zijn jullie nu? Warme groet, chantal
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Dank u Chantal. Wij zitten in Victoria, Gozo, een prachtige en interessante stad, ik vind het zo leuk al dat exploring!
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wonderful, dear Agnes. In this climate things are growing quickly, only salad doesn’t want a lot of heat. Seems you really have a green thumb. I hope for a lot of good results for you, kind regards Mitza
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Thank you Mitza, very kind of you. It is going to be exciting to see what does well and if anything is really going to grow – an experiment is always interesting 🙂
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This blogpost sounds indeed very happy! I’m very glad your feel revived in Gozo! And making an garden is such a good job to fulfull! Have fun and lots of love from belgium!
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And love to you too Vanessa. It is very inspiring to be here 🙂
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You are so industrious. The weather sounds heavenly–really just too irresistible not to take advantage of to try and grow something. I’m predicting great success!
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Thank you, it is very rewarding to see even a little growth 🙂
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30° that’s fantastic and good to plant more things
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