Summer 2014....July

We eventually got here again after breaking down in Germany, now about 2 weeks ago.....I think!

A man with a van came from Popovo to Wurzburg in Germany and we moved things from my van to his and off we went to Bulgaria back to Popovo, next day to Vetren.

Large Lemon tree no 1

One solar panel is set up to charge batteries, running the 12Vcool box, the secret to solar power working seems to be buy 12V things to use it with, converting to 240V wastes a lot  of power.

Due to the weather, the garden seems to have grown....a lot!



The citrus trees I just left here in the garden with no watering system , seem fine!

Calamondin

Lemon tree

Variegated calamondin in air root pruning pot

Large calamondin tree

The areas I cleared are now worse for plants than the areas I only strimmed, but the veg is all rowing away in between the weeds, the weeds seem to keep the sun off the soil and let them stay wet enough to grow, even though its been raining, it has still been hot

Since we got here it has not been under 20C at night or 35C at mid day, some days closer to 40C and one day it was 42C in the shade 50C in the sun, its hot!

Only 2 thunderstorms, very heavy and great for the garden, I have been running round using well water and buckets to water everything

The potatoes are ready, Raspberries ready, turnips, small but nice, many plums are ripe and some of the sour cherries are just going dark as they become sweeter and ready to eat, black sour cherries are great,

We get huge bowls every day of assorted fruit from the trees!

Plums and cherries

I have been boiling them with a tiny drop of water and sugar to make milk shake concentrate...like shop milk shake mix but much better!  

In the first week here i did very little.....

I arranged someone from my factory in Vidin to collect my car from the house in Vidin and they are now trying to find parts to fix it.....not easy parts need to be used as almost no new ones exist, and nobody sends parts to Bulgaria , once fixed it will come here , 

Until its is fixed.....its great! I am without transport..... and getting used to doing things locally without going to DIY stores and big supermarkets.

Second week here....

I have done a few repairs to the roof, just to make sure nothing falls off, a few tiles were broken in the hailstorms and gales, its too hot now to fix it, It is now planned for September/October for a whole new roof to be fitted as the weather cools a bit.

 I stripped half of the tiles from a small barn on the end of the house, the rest will come off this week, I am taking the roof off it before it falls off! , it will go back on in September

Roof being removed

Dahlia, from a mixed pack

Blue Moon rose

Peach tree much better after fungicide for leaf curl in May

Lemon tree No2

Needs weeding a bit....

Turinps

Red + Yellow Plums, not quite ripe yet

Dahlia

Asiatic lilly, 1 inch bulb, now in year 5!
Replanted here , bulb is now 3 inch across!!

Tomatoes hiding in the weeds

 The garden is half strimmed and weeded, grape vines treated for mildew, some plastering in the downstairs, fixed the well of the well at the top , a few large stones had fallen out and are now back in place,

Mosquitoes have been bad this week, so I fixed the well wall and took some branches off near the house to let the sun through and they seem to have gone right down in number

Trumpet vine, just gets better every year!