Seeds are germinating

I started the seeds on 25th and some are up already. So far this what has germinated:

Cucumbers: Beth Alpha, Little Paris (gherkin), and 2 varieties my sister sent me from Russia

Tomatoes: Cherry and Roma 

 

From what I planted on 26th this is what is coming up:

Red leaf lettuce, Lettuce (attraction), broccoli, bok choy, rocket and cress. 

Here are some pics for you:

Let's hope these won't get to them like the did with the first batch:

Oleander in bloom

The oleanders are blooming again after the summer break. I got these as small plants for 5 dhs each in Warsan and they have grown so much. I got them in spring this year and really wasn't sure they'd actually make it. Oleanders are great for UAE climate. If you want something that won't die in the heat then you gotta try growing them. 

New start

After the turkeys ruined my seedlings I didn't have the time to start new ones. I finally had the chance to do it on Thursday evening. It included eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, zucchinis and capsicums. In addition yesterday I sowed some cabbages, cauliflowers, broccoli, kohlrabi, chinese cabbages, and salad greens. I know it's early for salads but I thought I'd try.  I also started some flowers. This time my seedling pots are up on the ikea hyllis shelves I have. And the salad greens I started in seedling trays. They are under the shade sail cloth we have near our garage. To lift them away from the turkeys I put the trays in the kitchen tiered basket (this was retired from my kitchen and now holds my gardening tools). Let's hope for the best.

Organic Seeds in Dubai, not seeds only

Blue Planet Green People , organic shop I didn't know existed until I stumbled upon it on the Balcony and Urban Gardening Group. The seeds are organic and prices are great. I haven't tried anything from there yet but I hope it's happening soon.

Balcony and Urban Gardening Group

There's a group on Facebook for gardening on the balcony in Dubai. It has lots of info and garden minded people have something to talk about there. I didn't know it existed and I'm so happy to have joined it. If you'd like to be a part of it to then visit Balcony and Urban Gardening Group

Seedlings are gone

Ok this is not what I had in mind. I woke up yesterday and loyally went to water the seedlings. And when I get to my "babies" all I see is turned over little pots, soil all over and only a couple of alive seedlings, all the rest is gone or torn. You don't know what I felt. They were all doing great. I had them sheltered. I had them watered. They were healthy. It didn't take me long to realize what happened. A few weeks ago my husband came home and as he was waiting for the garage gate to open he spotted 2 turkeys near our gates who were in bad shape and looked thirsty. They were under our trees hiding from the heat of the sun. He got them some water and they welcomed themselves into our yard and refused to leave. We don't know who they belong to and no one claimed them. We kept the gates open in case they wanted to go back but they wouldn't. They behaved pretty well. When we realized they are not going anywhere we got them proper feed and waterer. Apparently they don't like the specialized food we got them and they decided to feed on my seedlings. I don't know what made them go to the part of the yard where I kept my seedlings, they usually never go there as there's no plants in that part. Anyway I was silly enough not to take the remaining 2-3 seedling and put them somewhere higher. I just put some "fencing" thinking this would stop them from getting to the rest of the seedlings, well I underestimated their ability to get through little places. I woke up this morning to find no seedlings at all. Live and learn. I'll have to start again and find a solution to this.

10 dhs potting soil

We went to Ibn Battuta on Friday and of course I had to pass by Geant. And guess what? I found Shalimar potting soil for 10 dhs a bag (50L), that's cheaper than wholesale from Shalimar. I got 3 bags, would have gotten more but hubby protested (he just doesn't understand why I keep on buying all this gardening things, doesn't he get it? It's September, the season has started).

Look what I found at Careefour

I was grocery shopping at Carrefour yesterday, and when I was at the herbs stall something caught my eye. It was a potted Rosemary plant. I had to have it. It  cost 9 dhs ( 8.95 to be precise, I don't understand this pricing policy). I sowed some Rosemary from seed already but I know it takes time. Basil was also there but I don't bother cuz I simply start it from seed and have no problem with it (it's slow in the beginning but later grows well, especially after pinching off the tips). 

Here's my new plant:

I am planning to pot it outdoors.

The seedlings are growing

The seedlings are growing. Here's the progress so far

What has sprouted so far is the cucumbers, tomatoes and courgettes. Capsicum and eggplants haven't shown up yet, which is not surprising, they always take long.

I also direct seeded beet roots, long radishes, white radishes, carrots and turnips. All but turnips and carrots have sprouted. Beets and turnips will take a couple of months and so will receive a little cold to make them sweeter. Radishes will be faster and will probably be hot but in salads it will do.

Direct seeded were also beans and dwarf beans. Dwarf hasn't come up yet but the other has emerged. Let's see how they take the heat.

I have also experimented with some herbs. Will report on that later Inshallah, as none has come up yet.

Useful downloads today

Sometimes we just need a chart or a guide and not the whole book on something. This is where litttle downloads come in handy. Today I have for you a couple of downloads that could help you in planning your planting times. I also included a free ebook.
This is the seeds starter chart by temperature Seed starter chart
A 39 page excerpt from the book Companion planting made easy
Organic gardening ebook, you have to submit your email but it's worth it The holistic gardening handbook

How to start your seeds and not kill the seedlings

This post has been updated.

I have sown a few seeds just to see how it goes. It may be too soon but since I feel like it's getting cooler I thought let me try. On Sep 2 I planted tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes/zucchinis, eggplants and capsicum seeds. These can be started this month according to this guide , which can also be found here , if I understand it right.

And here they go, a couple have sprouted already. I did't mark this batch, but from experience I know they must be courgettes and cucumbers.

And this below is an okra plant. I scattered some seeds in this area "some" weeks ago and it's actually growing. So yes you can grow veggies all year round in Dubai then, cuz okra seems to do well in summer. Last year I confused okra with castor oil plant until the pods grew gigantic. Since it was my first time growing both I thought okras were castor oil plants. The leaves look very similar, except that castor oil plant has smooth leaves and okra's leaves are kind of spiny. I actually got confused this year again, cuz I have a bunch of castor oil seedlings around.

Last year I kept a journal of what I planted when and of course I lost it. This is upsetting because this would save me lots of time. I can't remember what I planted this time last year, but I think I planted above mentioned veggies. The weather is still very hot though so this can be tricky. So what can we do to help the seeds germinate and grow?

1) Don't start your seeds indoors. Why? Because the shock will be too strong and the seedlings will most likely die. It'll still be too hot by the time you will want to transplant them and they won't survive the shock.

2) Keep your seeds in semi shade. I find it helpful. Most seeds don't need sun to germinate but need it to grow. If they germinate in shade and then you put them in the sun the shock will be too strong. Keeping them in full sun in turn will fry them.

3) Keep them watered. Keep them watered. Keep them watered. I can't stress it enough. Seeds need water to "wake up" and most seeds will die if they dry up after "waking up". I won't go into technical terms here, you can read about it. So don't let the soil dry out. You also don't want them soaking wet but during this time of the year it's unlikely to happen. If needed then water twice, or even trice a day. Or alternatively wait till October. But even then you can't let them dry out.

4) You can start your seeds in almost anything that will hold a little soil and has a drainage hole in the bottom. I use left over containers from flowers I get from souks. A few containers I have. Yoghurt cups. Disposable picnic cups. Be creative, you don't really need special seed starting packs, unless you really want to.

5) Sow a couple of seeds per container/hole. Some seeds won't germinate so it's a good idea to have at least two per cup/hole. It's not a waste cuz most seed companies are generous and seed packs contain a lot of seeds. If both germinate it's ok you can snip the weaker one later (don't pull in order not to disturb the roots). I usually throw the snipped ones into the compost or simply push it under the soil.

6) Seeds have nutrients reserve so they don't need to be fed, fertilized for a few weeks. Once they develop a set of true leaves they may need a little "meal" at half dose. But I don't do it. The soil I use is plain potting soil which already contains some nutrients. So "food" is in their final location.

7) Harden off your seedling for at least a week prior to transplanting. Expose them to sun gradually increasing the duration. Start with morning sun and move to afternoon sun gradually. UPDATE

8) Transplanting: do it in late afternoon, preferably on a cloudy day. UPDATE

9) Let children do the magic. I don't know what it is about kids and seeds, but almost everything sown by kids grows successfully :)

10) Hope for the best and be ready to start again if this batch doesn't work. I did that in the past, and not me only. Just don't give up.

Useful Sites/Links

These are some sites/links I find useful. I included links to gardening in the tropics. Though practically we are in subtropics I find the info still useful, because traditional western world gardening doesn't always works. If you want me to add more links contact me or comment below, and I'll add the links on the permanent "useful links" page that you can in the top tab.


Growing Tropical Vegetables
Journey to Forever
Garden Web

Useful downloads

Since I started gardening I have been constantly looking for information. Along the way I stumbled upon many useful resources. I understand not all of you have the time to surf the web in search of revelant information, after all most of you are working and have other commitments. Below is a list of links for downloads (in pdf format) I find useful for gardening in UAE. And though most of the links are not specific to UAE but for hot climates so with little adaptations you can adjust them to our climate:

Gardening in UAE and Sub/Tropical Climates

This one is a very useful an has been compiled by Saqer Bin Zayed Al Nehayyan. It's got the UAE growing calendar. Growing Vegetables & Useful UAE Information

How to grow vegetables in the tropics year round A tropical guide to year round vegetables gardening

Vegetables for Florida, it's climate is similar to ours Vegetables for SW Florida for summer months

Square Foot gardening
I use this method in my garden. Below are some pdf's to get you introduced:

Square foot gardening Intro Class Notes (Harvest Farm Community Garden)
Square foot gardening intro by John Bird Winthorp University
Square foot gardening Intro by Bonnie Schaschek

Container Gardening

Iowa State University Extension - Container Gardening

AgriLife Extension Vegetable Gardening in Containers

Alabama Cooperative Extension System Container Gardening

Salad Table and Salad Box, I tried the salad box method last year, it works but in winter because most of salad greens will grow in winter
University of Maryland Extension How to Build a Salad Box and Salad Table

Others

The minimum and maximum temperature for starting seeds Seed starter chart by temperature 

Organic gardening ebook, it's free but you have to submit your email to download, it's worth it Holistic gardening handbook


Please check the permanent downloads page to see any new links.

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/

The season has started

I have wanted to start this blog a long ago but never had the time. It's not that I have more time now but I decided to make some.
I live in Dubai but spent my childhood in Russia. All the summers I spent in the green and beautiful country side. When we moved here everything was different. I missed the weather and the nature. But we stayed here and it's been 18 years now, been married 11 of it. But I never let go of a dream to have my own garden one day. So when did I start? A long ago, on windowsills and roofs in different flats and villas we lived in. Did I succeed? Well I did succeed to the seedling stage. And then we moved into our house and I was determined to have a garden. Oh little did I know how little I knew. It's been 3 and a half years and I have made a lot of mistakes but I have learnt a lot too. That's why I wanted to start this blog, to help others learn from my mistakes and have a little of success a little faster. I am not saying I have succeeded completely. I believe this is gonna be a long journey, Inshallah. There is so much more to learn and so much more to explore. If you are thinking of starting a garden, in the middle of the desert as some may say, don't worry you are not alone. There's many of us. And the more the better so come along.
Oh and did I mention that the planting season has started? More about that soon.