Serge's activity

I have selected some photos but I have to resize them to upload as the maximum size allowable is 2 MB per photo. 

Hello GalaYes I have forgotten the Rosemary (thanks for the reminder) and the Bottlebrush (Callistemon): beautiful red flowers growing as a specimen plant (originally from Australia). 

It must be me that is not using the system properly.  Sometimes I type my post in Word and copy and paste it to the text editor.  I do not know how to get rid of the formatting commands!  I have done a new version of the post to improve legibility. The time has come for me to print the formatting instructions and to study them.

Hi ClaudiaIn Italy they sell a special terricio for gereniums.  It is basically terricio with the addition of perlite to facilitate water retention and prevent compaction.  Terricio is difficult to re-hydrate once it has dried out, so before planting I normally give it a good soaking and does not let it dry out in the pot.  You can use Compo's terricio universale which already has perlite added to it.  Most other brands of terricio universale do not contain perlite.  To improve drainage and prevent compaction I normally add a little bit of "argilla" which you can find at any builders' merchants.  Builders normally use it to insulate chimneys and fireplaces!  It is a very light granular material and it works for me.  I also add some organic granular fertilizer at planting time and follow up with Compo liquid fertilizer.  Geraniums do not like it wet so I am normally very careful with the watering!  A small piece of broken terracota vase on top of the drain hole at the bottom of the pot also helps drainage. In the UK there are two types of potting compost:  John Innes compost that is soil-based and the peat-based compost like terricio.  There are many grades of soil-based compost depending on what you require the compost for!  You can add soil to normal terricio but my instructions (from my past instructors at a UK local agricultural college of courses that I attended on horticulture) were that you should sterilise garden soil before using for potting.  It is obviously a sensible precaution to prevent the transfer of soil-based diseases to your pots. As the name implies terricio universale can be used for most potting.  When I use the Compo brand of terricio for petunias I add a few granules of water retaining gellatine crystals to it.  This improves the watering retention capacity of the terricio and allows you to water less frequently.  I do not add the crystals when potting geraniums for the reason I mentioned before.  When I surf the Internet for these crystals I always end up on an American site! It must be a very popular product in the USA! I normally bring the crystals with me from the UK.   I have not seen them in Italy, except in the odd florist shop when water and colour have been added! Now that Amazon delivers to Italy from the UK and their other European sites I shall explore their sites for availability.  The crystals are essential if you want terrific hanging baskets around the house! As for your basil, which requires a lot of water and nitrogen to grow, I would keep the soil moist at all times and I would feed it with green plant liquid fertilizer.  Do not forget you can grow tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes (marrows) in terricio in pots or you can grow them in a terricio bag on the terrace.  "Growbags" were very popular in the UK at one time.  Basically you lay the terricio bag flat and cut out a large rectangular piece out, add you granular fertilizer, water the terricio and add your plants.  The secret is to keep the soil moist and to feed regularly.  Keep the tomatoes separate from the others, as tomatoes require a different kind of fertilizer, which you can get at you local shop. In the past when I have used this method I used the terrico in the following year in the kitchen garden to enrich the soil.  In the UK I use Phostogen for general plant feeding, apart from tomatoes.   I like it because you cannot overfeed and it is very cost effective.  I cannot get it in Italy from the shops!  I can only get it from BAKKER an Italian Internet garden site.  Again this is something that I will be exploring Amazon for.  When potting acid-loving plants likes Azalea terricio universale will not do and if you are using soil then do test for the PH. Forgive me, I know I have gone on a bit but I hope you find the information useful and happy gardening!

The production of stems, leaves, roots and fruits by the olive tree is a drain on the soil's reserves of nitrogen, phosphates, potash and other nutrients.  Lack of these ingredients in the soil will lead to poor growth, lack of resistance to diseases, sparse fruiting or fruiting in alternate years. The soil's reserve is normally replenished by the addition of fertilizers, usually in early spring.  Organic fertilzers is added in the form of well-rotted manure around the base of the tree, this will also act as a mulch slowing down evaporation.  In our part of Tuscany green horse manure is sometimes avaliable, that is if you know somebody with horses and who wants to clear and clean the stables.  The green manure should be kept until well-rotted and then applied liberally.  Sheep's dung is more readily available but has not the mulching potential of well-rotted manure.  If neither is available then the local Consorzio normally sells organic fertilizer.  The fertilizer is normally in pellet form and is applied to the base of the tree.  To retain the organic qualities of your their oil our friends normally have their olives pressed by the local "frantoio" with a steel press.  The steel press is washed between each batch of olives.  If their olive production is low my friends would combine thier harvest and would share the oil pro-rata.  I understand pressing by stone would lead to mixing with the previous batch, which may not be organic, as the press is not washed between sessions.  Oil from a steel press is normally more "piccante".Olive trees are very adaptable: I only water my young plants.  I am told not to water too much as this affect the oil yield. The book "Coltivare L'olivo e utilzzarne i fruitti" by Adriano Del Frabro published by Giunti Demetra (ISBN88-440-2866-2) price 7.50 Euro is an excellent source of information. 

 HiWecome to Sarteano! Friends from the UK are staying with me in Sarteano during the same week.  This is a list of the sites I sent them.  I hope you find it useful. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} http://www.terraditoscana.com/default.aspx?lpg=visitare_province_alturist&obj=si_valdichiana http://www.parcodellepiscine.it/ http://www.prolocosarteano.it/index_eng.php?eng=1&sezione_id=18 http://www.chiancianoterme.com/en/index.html http://www.abctuscany.com/siena/ http://www.montepulciano.net/ http://www.nautilus-mp.com/tuscany/presentazione/montalcino/indexing.html http://www.val-di-chiana.com/san_casciano_dei_bagni.htm http://www.sangimignano.com/sghomei.htm http://www.pienza.com/ http://www.seetuscany.com/food/nobile.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunello_di_Montalcino http://www.stradavinonobile.it/new/index.en.php http://www.consorziovinonobile.it/home/index.en.phphttp://www.italianmade.com/wines/DOC-info10006.cfmhttp://www.cetona.org/index2.htm  The Tourist Office in sarteano  is near the municipal offices.  If you see Guido at the offices tell him Serge gave you the site reference!  He speaks very good English and he will tell you about olive oil and where to buy them in Sarteano!If you need more info do not hesitate to ask:.Sorry about the Gremlins! I copied the list from Word. Serge

Hi Ronald I have fitted countless of these flat packs in the UK!  So easy, except when it comes to the worktop.  If you are fitting normal wooden worktops then you would require your Router and a Trend kitchen jig for cutting out the spaces for the sinks and to make angular joints. (I am sure you know that anyway!).  Routers and jigs are pretty expensive in Italy, even mine cost me in excess of £500 in the UK.  You can always bring one over!  I have wasted a few worktops before getting proficient at cutting them . In Italy  the worktop is pre-cut in the factory.  The plumber connects the sink and gas stove and the electrician connects all electrical equipment.  Pretty simple you would think!  I have seen few horrors: sink spaces cut in the wrong place which means the extractor is in the wrong place as well,  holes drilled into the water pipe, gas pipe and electricity cable, English flat packs are pretty good value for money: MFI and BQ are all good! I have not fitted IKEA.  If I were still in the mood for fiitting kitchens, one of my hobbies now is making wooden furniture , that is when I have the time, i would import a flat pack kitchen from the UK and I would fit a Travertino worktop on it (I did not fit travertino in the UK: too expensive). I think kitchens are overpriced in Italy!  I can see it now a beautiful white kitchen with dark coloured travertino worktop on it! Stop dreaming!  The worktop would be measured and cut by the local stone supplier and I would only need transparent silicone on the angular joints, I could get better compounds but silicone is what the kitchen fitters use in Italy anyway.  The cost of the travertino would depend on the length and the quality of the stone.  It will certainly last a lifetime and I would not need to bother with Routers!  Only thing about travertino is that lemon juice will stain it.  I could use granite (grey or black)  instead. Travertino is local to Tuscany and stone cutters are easy to find!  I would let the plumber and the electrician deal with repositioning the gas, water and electrics respectively.  I would ask the electrician to fit a gas and smoke alarm system and would connect the gas alarm system to the main gas supplies so it shuts it down automatically in case of a carbon monoxide leak. I would only tile the area between the worktop and the top units.  Doing it that way I would save tiling all the way from the floor, which Italians do.  Money that I save in doing this I would spend on really beautiful tiles which I can get at 30 to 40 Euro per square metre (trade discounted by 30%: 20% if not trade) through my local building materials supplier.  I would do the tiling myself.   A large powerful steel extractor would complete this dream. Having said that I cannot be bothered with all this work: so I am fitting a Mondo Convenienza kitchen in my granny flat in the house, now that granny needs the flat.    

Hi Helen Costa is our preferred cruise line, but we prefer the smaller ships like the Marina and the Allegra.  We travelled with them on the Costa Magica from Savonna to Brazil with another 3500 passengers: I think that was the number, although we loved it the long queues were a bit irritating but after a while you learn how to beat the crowd.  Our English hostess, who was there only for 10 brits, a few Americans and Canadians managed to get us on the main deck ( I think that is what it is called ) and we met the officers: all Italians, great guys and very friendly!  Travelling to Brazil from Italy was cheapish: about 900 to 1000 Euro for 21 days, my daughter travelled free.  We made our own way back.  I would certainly do this trip again: this time stopping for 2 weeks in RIO before coming back to Italy.  In April next year we are sailing the Allegra from Singapore to Cittavecchia.  It is a great way to meet Italians when cruisng Costa: we have made so many friends across Italy!