Do any Forum members grow their own vegetables in Tenerife?

[Ashro Autos]

How many people actually could tell the difference organic or not ? Has it put you off eating the organic variety after the killer cucumbers ?

Do any forum members grow there own vegtables in Tenerife ?

[timmylish]

Perhaps the opinion of a particular female member of the former forum could answer your question?

[Chicken Shirl]

Morning, *Waves*

We grow our own veggies and they are organic............We have chickens that eat all the bugs and make all our own compost. I think a lot of the veggies and fruit sold here at the markets is grown without chemicals, but the growers just don't bother to get organic status.........I am just eating some of our own papaya and banana for breakfast.:coffee:

[kev kajo]

with you on that shirl, the veg sold in tenerife is fab, its not forced on and tastless like the crap we get in thre UK :-(

[Ed3229]

Don't grow in Tenerife but I started my own allotment after my village council refused to give us some land.I rent about an acre and sub let to 33 members.You can follow us on Facebook....Wickham Allotment....Or see my Turkeys for Christmas page on Facebook....This will be the second year I keep Turkeys for the dinner table.

[Ecky Thump]

I don't grow vegetable's in Tenerife, but I do grow all my own in the UK and the taste between organic and non organic is remarkably different.
A great site to see what can be done and some advice is www.organicgrowersfairlie.co.uk

You can even see where I live on the map, "Bay Street" on the The River Clyde and I am a member of the gardens.:)

[DeeD]

We are trying to grow tomatoes on our terrace but so far, the caterpillars are winning!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jackie]

I have grown tomatoes, lettuce, Cucumber, Radish, Peppers, Potatoes, Onions, Carrots all in my garden here in Tenerife, unfortunately our rescue dog decides to 'eat' everything that grows in the garden now so have not had any for a while :(. Even started growing a mandarin tree from a pip until yes you guessed it, she ate that aswell.

Once my garden is sorted I will designate an area that she can't get to and try again. Also want some fruit trees and chickens

[Tom]

Ithe taste between organic and non organic is remarkably different.
.:)

I think its more of a case of the variety of the veg grown rather than the way it is grown .

[canarybird]

We have grown our own lettuce, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, turnip (rutabaga), and cucumbers here in Tenerife but I gave it up when I started collecting cats and took up other hobbies. (Too hard to keep cats away from the edibles growing in the ground.)

We do still have trees of grapefruit, peach and lime, a large bay leaf bush, and pots of Italian parsley, thyme, basil and wild celery. We've been making our own compost for years from garden and kitchen scraps and cuttings and we spread it out once a year over the rose garden.

I also used to go to the horse ranches and buy manure, leaving it to 'cool' for at least six months before using it on the garden. But there were so many weeds coming from the manure that I now buy sacks of factory treated horse manure which doesn't produce weeds.

Canarybird

[Tom]

But there were so many weeds coming from the manure that I now buy sacks of factory treated horse manure which doesn't produce weeds.The manure has not composted enough at the high heat to kill the seeds in the stuff , maybe leave abit longer in the pile.

In Cyprus they collect the seaweed washed on to the beach after storms to use as fertilizer and you can taste the iodine/sea in the root veggies.

[Chicken Shirl]

Sea weed is very good...........Must be washed though.........There is a place in Gia called "Canary Forestal" on the road from Gia to San Juan it is an experimental organic farm sponsored by the Canarian Government.... You can buy compost for 3 euros a bag 25 kilos. It's wonderful stuff......They have cows and chickens free ranging all over the place.

Anyone that wants to keep chickens is very welcome to visit me and talk about it.:)

[Chicken Shirl]

We are struggling with peaches where we live. They get a bug in them that I am failing to get rid of........any ideas. I have used Neem oil........ garlic and rock dust, but this year it's just the same.:crazy:

[canarybird]

Thanks Tom. I wasn't actually composting the manure (we're in an urban area) but was leaving it in sacks sometimes for as long as a year or two before taking it out and using it on the garden.

We use a closed compost bin for the kitchen and garden cuttings, but it's hard to collect enough of the dry, brown materials here. All is green and constantly growing and I have a hard time to convince the gardener that I want him to put every last dried leaf he finds and rakes up into the composter and not into the garden basura.

Chicken Shirl....we have a constant fight with the Mediterranean fruit fly which leaves little worms inside the peaches. I end up just cutting out the bad parts now and using the rest for pies and cooked compotes. I haven't found anything non-poisonous that gets rid of them and I also tried everything, insecticidal soaps, homemade solutions etc.
And I love fresh peaches, especially knowing they haven't been sprayed, but it's an ongoing chore to find one that's untouched.

Canarybird

[Chicken Shirl]

Thanks for that Canary bird.......... all our other fruit is fine.........We suffer a bit with mildew on the mangoes but as soon as the weather warms up they are fine on the second flowering:) Citrus is great and so are avocados:) We'll be doing our last planting of veg in June before it gets too hot to do anything.............Then we'll be able to sit and enjoy it all.:cheers:

Shirleyx

[Ecky Thump]

I think its more of a case of the variety of the veg grown rather than the way it is grown .

I would strongly disagree with you there, if you have tried Ayrshire potatoes you can taste the seaweed that is ploughed into the fields.



Sea weed is very good...........Must be washed though.........There is a place in Gia called "Canary Forestal" on the road from Gia to San Juan it is an experimental organic farm sponsored by the Canarian Government.... You can buy compost for 3 euros a bag 25 kilos. It's wonderful stuff......They have cows and chickens free ranging all over the place.

Anyone that wants to keep chickens is very welcome to visit me and talk about it.:)

I put layers of kelp over my beds in the winter and let the rain wash through it and then dig it in during the early Spring.

[Tom]

I would strongly disagree with you there, if you have tried Ayrshire potatoes you can taste the seaweed that is ploughed into the fields.

Just think how much more tastier they would be if they grew non commercial varieties .

[Finca Farmer]

Hi Shirl, what chickens do you have? We keep them in the UK but when we move south we'll want more. Are yours just for eggs?

Currently in the garden we have a cherry (supposed to be semi dwarf but getting on for twenty feet tall), a plum hanging with fruit and an apple with three on it. The cherry suffers with aphids to some degree, but we had loads of fruit on it this year and the local blackbird family raised two healthy chicks on it! The ladybirds had a veritable orgy on the plum tree this year, so they've obviously been feasting well on the bugs. Veg-wise I started my tomatoes indoors but we have a really humid bedroom and they got mildew and keeled over.

All will be different next year...