Proof that you can garden in Dubai, or anywhere else in UAE

Well I guess I am a little too excited so I am writing another post today.  Gardening is not a new thing in Dubai. Many people have been gardening for a very long time, after all didn't people grow something in the past? They did. And still do. I know it may be hard to believe that you can grow things here, especially  fruits and vegetables (biggest part of my garden). But you can. And I will present you with the proof. Below are photos of what I grew and harvested last year (the year I finally succeeded to grow something and eat it).

We had so much tomatoes last winter that we didn't buy any during the season. And they tasted like actual tomatoes not a distant taste alike.

More tomatoes. Cherry and Roma were the most prolific.

More tomatoes :))

Yet more tomatoes, and this one was a volunteer :) Behind it were all kinds of chinese cabbages growing happily in the shade (the wall cast a shade on that area and sun would only reach it for 2 hours in late afternoon).

Something was eating the cabbages but it didn't affect them.

I tried courgettes the previous years but wouldn't get fruits, last year this round one and the short white variety produced quite a harvest.

I couldn't believe it when I actually saw these, I planted them just to see what happens. Surprise. We ate both the roots and the leaves. Leaves are so delicious. Easy greens, they grow so fast. 

Here come the radishes. We had more than we could eat. Kids would plant them everyday in the holes left by the harvested radishes. The long ones grew in less than a month and very early in the season (more about that later). The round ones grew when it was colder. They were pretty hot but kids loved them only cuz I guess they grew them. Beans didn't do well but there's someone who grew them successfully.

This was my set up last year (plus containers). This is a 2 feet wide (60 cm) patch along the entire length of the backyard wall.

I grew many other veggies and fruits but didn't take pictures of everything. Most plants grew very well but not all produced. Some of the veggies we actually ate are: Carrots, Corn, Spinash, Herbs such as parsley, coriander and basil, Turnips, chinese cabbages, Okra and many others. 

I am not the only one who grew vegetables and had success. There are many others. Some have blogged about their gardening journey. Some were mentioned in the paper.

Numerous paper and website articles again and again tell us that it's possible to grow vegetables in this part of the world, just google "growing veggies/vegetables in Dubai" and see for yourself if you haven't do so already.

Sadly the blogs I mentioned haven't been updated since 2012, and I really don't know why. Articles talk about gardening vaguely. Whether you are new or experienced you would still benefit from more info, like planting dates and types and varieties of seeds to use, what soil to use and where to buy it, what fertilizer to use, how much and when, etc. This info is not widely available at the moment, or I haven't found it yet, please let me know if you do find something so we can all benefit. What I know already I want to blog about here and all are welcome to add your knowledge about gardening in Dubai, or anywhere else in UAE. If you have a blog please share it with us. If you know of others who blog please share with us. If you know anything else related to gardening in this part of the world please share it with us.

I am typing from my phone and can't figure out how to add links, so much easier on the laptop. So I am just posting some links below.

http://gulfnews.com/life-style/general/how-to-grow-your-own-fruit-and-vegetables-1.1012492

http://gulfnews.com/about-gulf-news/al-nisr-portfolio/xpress/news/expatriate-in-a-bid-to-cultivate-rice-in-the-uae-1.1342954

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/environment/green-thumb-turns-into-a-delicious-passion-1.757120

http://cluelessgardenerindubai.blogspot.ae

http://dubaiveggrowers.blogspot.ae/

http://thedxbgardener.blogspot.ae/