Tue 4 Dec 2012

Wormery Workshop & Garden Visits Tuesday 18 Dec.

Posted by Rosie Peddle under Events , News
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Here is the information for a grand day out. A real antidote to the Christmas frenzy, get to grips with wiggly worms and worm composting plus two very special afternoon garden visits. There will be more information on worms available for you to take away on the day.

PROGRAMME Tuesday December 18th  All Welcome

Joint event for The Mediterranean Garden Society/Os Jardineiros do Sotavento/Clube dos Bons Jardins Garden Groups

10.30am – 12.30pm    A visit to this Messines based company to learn how to turn your waste into compost. Special offers on Wormcompost, wormeries and worms.  Nelson Lourenço will take us through the science and the art of making wormcompost and worm tea from our own  kitchen and garden waste.  Web Site www.futuramb.com

 

MEET at Futuramb, Unidade de Valorização Orgânica, Messines de Cima, 8375-047 São B. Messines Directions available on request and some MGS signs out on the day. GPS coordinates   “37º 14? 34,96 N” / 8º 13? 41,89 O”

 

Please bring coffee/hot drink for a mid morning break. Lunch can be taken at any of the local restaurants in Messines and directions will be supplied on the day.

 

2.00 – 4.00pm           GARDEN VISITS – In the afternoon we will visit two private gardens of MGS members between Messines and Silves. Both gardens have removed lawns and replaced them with drought tolerant planting.  The first garden is owned by enthusiastic vegetable and fruit growers, Tamsin and Chris, and also has a worm composter. Nelson will be with us for this visit and will discuss the application of worm compost on organic crops and home vegetable production and be available to answer questions. The second garden is owned by Lou and Brenda and is a holiday home where they have removed large lawn areas and used many plants from the nursery of Olivier Filippi of France. This is a great example of how to make a waterwise garden when the owners are not permanently resident. Lou and Brenda have also kindly offered to provide some seasonal refreshments for us to round off the day.

Links to articles on these two gardens  Tamsin & Chris  http://www.algarveresident.com/41927-0/algarve/life-after-grass

Lou & Brenda    http://www.algarveresident.com/43224-0/algarve/a-farewell-to-grass

COST will be 20 euros per person for the workshop. There will be the opportunity to buy worm compost, worms and wormeries on the day. Futuramb also makes local deliveries for any larger purchases.

We are very grateful to Tamsin & Chris and Lou & Brenda for agreeing to our visits. Please book your place for this event with Rosie Peddle at rosie@thebtf.net or tel 289 791 869 by Wednesday December 12th please. If you have any queries or would like any further information just let me know.

Facebook page public access, Mediterranean Gardeners – Portugal

 

Sat 6 Oct 2012

Mediterranean Garden Fair, 3 November 2012

Posted by Rosie Peddle under REPORTs on Past Events
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Splendid but Soggy – a Grand Day Out at the Palace

A couple of days before this year’s Garden Fair we were consulting the weather forecast with increasing regularity, but our hopes for a small window of dry weather were not to be fulfilled.

 

We were, however, very lucky indeed that the weather did not break in the days before the garden fair. The big clean up needed in the gardens was accomplished in dry conditions. When a small group of us visited the gardens for the first time before the fair it was heartbreaking to see the utter neglect and lack of maintenance.  The desperate need to clean the large car park, all around the building, and to make the avenues fit for public access was a daunting prospect.  We could only make the call for helpers and speak to some professionals for the specialist work required. The response was immediate and unhesitating and we had our heroic work crew. It was very rewarding to see the obvious affection and respect that many have for this special site.

 

We are very grateful to the management of the Pousada de Palaçio de Estoi for generously giving unlimited access to these historic gardens. They have gained a car park and we pressed on with plans for our annual fund raising bash.

As the day itself approached garden brollies, gazebos and any kind of shelter were investigated, patched up and set up around the site ‘just in case’ ….. We had cancellations and last minute changes had to be made but, despite the sudden and sharp showers of rain predicted, most of those who had promised their participation did come along. Volunteers, nurseries and exhibitors all made huge efforts and deserve our very grateful thanks for all their hard work.

 

Our car parking and entrance volunteers in particular had to take whatever the weather threw at them, and came up smiling. It was so rewarding to see the cars arrive with everyone well prepared, brollies and wellies at the ready.  As one volunteer so accurately expressed it “You all succeeded in getting most of the Algarve and Alentejo gardeners – and perhaps even further afield – to come to the Fair DESPITE the weather ! They were all there – even the ones that usually look like models – under raincoats and umbrellas and hoods, hair-on-end  -  no make-up but all determined to buy plants and to be there.”

Highlights for many were discovering the nurseries new to this event, from as far afield as Lagos and Tavira. The chosen theme for this year seemed extremely popular, despite the wet day, and the talks and displays on succulents were very popular. We had a magnificent display of 50 different Aloes and a specialist collector brought along crates of his own plants to share with visitors. Nurseries had picked up the theme and brought wonderful plants for sale. On the members plants sales tables there were delights such as Sanseveira cylindrica, Plumeria rubra (Frangipani), fifteen different kinds of ornamental grasses and five different kinds of Kniphofias. The axe swinging lecturer demonstrating propagation by division was theatre at it´s best. Did anyone get a photo ?

This year we have used funds to pay for some professional help, alongside the wonderful volunteers, who have completed the extensive work required to get the site ready for our event. We certainly plan on holding other events at Estoi but, hopefully, in better weather. We also plan to help a young professional horticulturist coming to the Algarve to gain experience of Mediterranean gardening, and have funded the production of Mediterranean Garden Society gardening advice leaflets (now available in three languages) as well as supporting our events throughout the year. For example the Spring Conference in March 2013 with Roy Lancaster and Jim Gardiner as speakers. This will be held 1st to 3rd March and will look at the global contribution of plants from the Mediterranean climate zones of the world, including crop plants, garden cultivars and, of course, drought tolerant planting.

 

We have also been able to take the plunge into using the internet to share with everyone the impressive lecture on the Ecology of the Mediterranean by Dr Oliver Rackham at this years Spring Conference. This is now available to all on the web at https://vimeo.com/48385302

You can follow news of events on www.gardeninginportugal.com and also our new public access facebook page  Mediterranean Gardeners – Portugal, isn´t technology marvellous ….

 

 

Thu 30 Aug 2012

The Making of the European Mediterranean Landscape

Posted by Rosie Peddle under Events , News , REPORTs on Past Events
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https://vimeo.com/48385302

Here is the link to the wonderful talk by Dr Oliver Rackham on the history and ecology of the Mediterranean. This talk was given at the first Spring Conference of the Portugal Branch of the Mediterranean Garden Society.

Prof. Oliver Rackham OBE is a Life Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He has studied and published extensively on the ecology of the Mediterranean and also the island of Crete. He is co-author of The Nature of Mediterranean Europe, an Ecological History. In 1998 he was awarded the OBE for “services to Nature Conservation”. In 2006 he was appointed Honorary Professor of Historical Ecology in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge. We were delighted to welcome him for a rare visit to the Algarve.

https://vimeo.com/39414694   Here is the link to the short video introduction by Professor Oliver Rackham.

Mediterranean gardeners are custodians of some very fragile habitats. Management methods and the plant choices we make are critical for long term sustainability and give us the opportunity to recover what has been lost in recently damaged landscapes.

The Nature of Mediterranean Europe – southern Portugal and Spain, France, Italy, the Balkans, Greece and the Mediterranean islands – is often interpreted as a “Lost Eden”, once verdant and fertile, then progressively degraded and desertified by human mismanagement and the ignorance and folly of successive civilizations. In his talk Prof. Rackham will seek to challenge this pessimistic view.

 

Sun 15 Jul 2012

Beira Gardening Friends – 22nd August Event

Posted by Rosie Peddle under Events , News
[2] Comments 

Dear Gardening Friends,                                                                11 July 2012

This will be the first time we have been invited to visit a private garden in August ! Pedro and his Dutch wife Dini and their daughter Lysanne Dias dos Santos will be welcoming us to their garden near Penalva do Castelo.

Date:        Wednesday, 22 August 2012

Time:        10.30 a.m.

Where:      Quinta de Rebôtea,  see Directions

Bring:       Hats, sun protector and your own Picnic Lunch.

We will be welcomed with plenty of hot and/or cold drinks.  Dini will give us a short talk on the making and continuing development of the garden in a sloping area of granite. Various hedges, vines, water features, paths, a Catalpa Walk and supporting terrace walls were built first.  Rotating vegetable plots, a small potting shed and mini greenhouse plus a chicken run came next.  With only short spells at their Quinta from their busy working lives in Holland, it is quite remarkable what they have achieved over the past 10 years.  After lunch there is time to buy/swap plants and cuttings and seeds.  As September will be approaching fast, there will be a good selection of bulbs for sale.

After 14.30 p.m. we will be leaving for guided tours of the House and Garden of Hotel Casa da Insua (www.casadainsua.pt) only 15 minutes away (€ 4.00 per person).  This is an 18th century Manor House with impressive formal and  “English” gardens belonging to the Albuquerque family who have leased the estate to the Visabeira Corporation.  Casa da Insua produces its own Serra cheese, honey, jams and of course its excellent wines that are for sale in the estate shop.

Please let me know if you can come by Wednesday 15 August 2012 as numbers are limited this time !

With best gardening wishes,

Marion ter Horst   Tel. 917 850 235  email   Arnold.terhorst@gmail.com

Directions to Quinta de Rebôtea

Take the IC 12 from Santa Comba Dão to Nelas/Magualde/Viseu

At end of IC12 follow the road , turn left at roundabout to Mangualde/Viseu

At a roundabout in Nelas with a metal sculpture continue straight on to Mangualde/Viseu

More new roundabouts, continue to Mangualde, but do not go to the centre.

Follow to IP3, Viseu and A25.

Go under the A25 on the N329-1 to  Penalva de Castelo/Casa da Insua

Follow road until sign Casal Diz / Pindo, then turn (sharp) left there

Go along river, see sign Moinho de Pepim

In Casal Diz follow sign Qta Reboteia / Qta Giestal

At end keep left and follow parking instructions.

 

 

Fri 13 Jul 2012

Ecotourism Acitivities on the Algarve – New Catalogue

Posted by Rosie Peddle under News , Publications
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A new initiative highlighting the rich alternatives available in ecotourism on the Algarve.

We are promoting a new catalogue for ecotourism activities in Algarve. This region is mostly known for  sunny weather, beautiful beaches and golf courses, but it has much more to offer.
So, here is an example of different experiences that you can also enjoy  here, you can view or download the catalogue:

http://issuu.com/proactivetur/docs/120711134419-153152bb6bea49e3a922ec1ff1bf2d95

Thank you, please get in touch for more information.
João Ministro    joao.ministro@proactivetur.pt
 

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