Figs, Almonds, Lavender, Herbs

Drying Figs Drying Figs in my patio garden
  • Harvesting Rosemary

    In my garden, right next to the cottage I have a large rosemary bush. Every year I harvest that rosemary to dry it and preserve it for later use and give some of it to my friends. I learned some basic things about when and how to do harvest rosemary without killing the plant, and what to avoid in
    Read more » Harvesting Rosemary
  • How to Prune Rosemary

    Pruning rosemary plants and bushes are necessary at least once a year to make sure the plant is kept healthy, lives longer, and is formed in a nice shape. If you don’t prune rosemary regularly, the plant will eventually get woody, will produce fewer leaves and flowers. In this article, I will give you some
    Read more » How to Prune Rosemary
  • How to Grow Rosemary from Cuttings

    Rosemary propagation from cuttings is an affordable and easy way of obtaining new plants. Instead of buying the new plant, just take cuttings from the old one, the mother plant, and transplant it in your garden. In this article, I am explaining how to root your rosemary cuttings in a simple way without using any rooting powder.
    Read more » How to Grow Rosemary from Cuttings
  • Dry Stone Walling

    Dry stone walls, (also called dry-stack walls) is a method of constructing the wall without using any mortar to hold the stones together. I am building them on my land to clear the ground and landscaping, as preparation for planting as well as a windbreak and erosion prevention structure. This is a traditional building method
    Read more » Dry Stone Walling
  • Homemade Rooting Hormone

    If you are wondering how to make inexpensive, homemade, and easy to apply rooting solutions, as effective as a rooting hormone, here is an article with photos that will show you how to prepare a homemade plant root stimulator for your cuttings. With this rooting liquid, your cuttings will develop their roots faster, healthier, and
    Read more » Homemade Rooting Hormone
  • Dormant Oil Sprays On Fruit Trees

    Spraying fruit trees in winter with dormant oil spray is an essential part of fruit tree care, for insect and fungus management. The mixture of white oil and copper fungicide is applied during the dormant season (winter), preferably late winter, up until a couple of days before buds open, to prevent pests and disease in
    Read more » Dormant Oil Sprays On Fruit Trees
  • Growing Fig Trees in Windy Areas

    If you are growing young fig trees in the windy area here is some info about what to do to avoid damage from the high winds. It is possible to have successful figs growing in windy conditions but you have to take some steps to protect the trees from high winds. In this article, I will tell you about
    Read more » Growing Fig Trees in Windy Areas
  • Harvesting Oranges

    In my mum’s garden, we have a couple of orange trees that are more than 20 years old. Every year we harvest them and usually, my mum makes great homemade orange marmalade (jam). I learned some important things about when and how to do harvest oranges to avoid mistakes. If you have an orange tree or
    Read more » Harvesting Oranges
  • How to Fertilize a Fig Tree in The Ground

    Fertilizing fig trees is a vital part of growing healthy trees and should be done at least twice a year, or whenever you notice your tree needs an additional feed. Fig trees are usually fertilized in late winter or early spring and again in late summer. Your trees will be prone to diseases and will produce fewer
    Read more » How to Fertilize a Fig Tree in The Ground
  • Pruning Fig Trees

    Pruning fig trees is an essential part of looking after the tree. It should be done at least once a year, in the dormant season (winter) but it is recommended by experts to prune the tree twice a year, the second time in summer. If you don’t prune them regularly, the trees will not develop a
    Read more » Pruning Fig Trees
  • Storing Almonds

    Once your almond nuts are harvested, hulled, and properly dried, it is time now to find the best storage option to keep almonds fresh and safe to consume. You can choose to store either shelled or unshelled almonds. That means that you will now need to decide should you remove the shells or should you
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  • Harvesting Almond Trees

    I have only eight almond trees that I planted a few years ago. At present they are four years old trees that don’t produce yet a lot of almonds nuts to harvest. That’s why I pick them manually. In the last few years since I have them, I learned some important things about when and
    Read more » Harvesting Almond Trees
  • How to Plant an Almond Tree

    How to plant an almond tree is a question that I struggled with just a few years ago. Before I inherited this piece of land I never planted any trees. However, I made some research, and by doing it several times since I am now confident that the best way to plant the almond tree is as I described
    Read more » How to Plant an Almond Tree
  • How to Make a Dried Figs Garland

    Turn dried figs into a gorgeous DIY garland that is decorative and easy to make. Here is how to do it at home – Easy! Photos & video I keep all my dried figs stored in the cotton bag. However, if I want to display them in an attractive and decorative way, I just turn
    Read more » How to Make a Dried Figs Garland
  • How to Store Dried Figs

    Are you wondering how and where to store dried figs at home, for freshness? In this article, I will show you how to store them the right and safe way to ensure your dried figs last a long time. Depending on how much of the figs you dehydrated, you can choose a few options to store. From my experience,
    Read more » How to Store Dried Figs
  • Dried Figs Stuffed With Almonds, Coated In Dark Chocolate

    This almond stuffed dried figs, coated in dark chocolate is cheap and easy to make snack or dessert that takes little time to prepare and uses just a few ingredients. I use my own sun-dried figs which I planted and grew myself from cuttings, but if you don’t have your own dried figs, you can
    Read more » Dried Figs Stuffed With Almonds, Coated In Dark Chocolate
  • How to Store Dried Sage

    Once your sage is harvested and dried, the next thing to do is to store it the right way until you are ready to use it. Depending on how much of the sage you dried, you can choose several options to store. From my experience, the best option is to choose an air-tight container that
    Read more » How to Store Dried Sage
  • How to Prune Lavender

    Pruning lavender plants and bushes are essential at least once a year to make sure the plant is healthy and it lives longer. If you don’t prune lavender regularly, the plants will get woody and will produce fewer flowers. In this article, I will show you when and how to prune a lavender, how often
    Read more » How to Prune Lavender
  • How to Dry Lavender

    I have about 30 mature lavender plants in my garden which I grew from cuttings, and every year I harvest and dry its flowers, buds, and stems. At the same time, I also prune my lavender. As I live in a climate with long, dry summers and mild winters, my lavender is ready for harvest
    Read more » How to Dry Lavender
  • How To Use Dried Lavender

    Are you wondering what to do with dry lavender stems, flowers, and buds? A couple of years ago, I planted about 30 lavender plants which I grew from cuttings. And now, every year I harvest a lot of lavender which I learn how to dry, prune, and store for a variety of use. I keep
    Read more » How To Use Dried Lavender
  • How to Store Dried Lavender

    Storing Dried Lavender the right way Once you prune, harvest and dry your lavender, the next thing to do is to store it properly until you are ready to use it. Depending on how much of the lavender you have, you can choose several options to store. The best option is to choose an air-tight
    Read more » How to Store Dried Lavender
  • How To Propagate Lavender From Cuttings

    Lavender propagation from cuttings is a cheap and easy way of obtaining new plants. Instead of buying the new plant, just take cuttings from the old one (at the same time when pruning your plants) and transplant it in your garden. In this article, I am explaining how to root your lavender cuttings in a straightforward
    Read more » How To Propagate Lavender From Cuttings
  • Wild Fennel

    I’m lucky enough to be able to go outside my front door and be in the fields and hills of the countryside in a few minutes. In this article, I just want to share with you some things and experiences about wild fennel, one of the most common herbs that grow on the island where
    Read more » Wild Fennel
  • How to Save Basil Seeds

    In this tutorial, I will show you how to harvest basil seeds from plants and how to save seeds to be ready for seeding in the next seeding season. Step by step guide Step 1 – Cut basil flowers, the top bits of the basil plant, (as in the above photo), place it on the
    Read more » How to Save Basil Seeds
  • How To Start A Fig Tree From A Cutting

    Fig propagation from cuttings is an economical way of obtaining new fig trees. As opposed to buying the new plant in the nursery, you can successfully transplant the old one from your or friend’s garden. In this article, I am explaining how to root your fig cuttings in a cheap and straightforward way. Instead of
    Read more » How To Start A Fig Tree From A Cutting
  • How to Dry Figs

    Sun dried figs I have several large fig trees that every year produces a lot of fresh fruits. I also have some baby ones, including three-year-old fig trees, that just started to fruit this summer. As I am living in a fairly dry and warm climate, every summer I select some of the fruits to dry them in the sun at
    Read more » How to Dry Figs
  • How to Dry Sage

    Drying wild sage leaves and flowers and foraging them in the fields is something which I regularly do in the springs. I collect as much as I can leaves and flowers of this lovely and aromatic herb and later on when dried, I use the dry flowers and leaves for cooking and making tea. Here
    Read more » How to Dry Sage
  • How to Use a Petrol Grass Trimmer

    When I started with gardening pretty soon I realised that grass and wild shrubs will be something I would need to sort out. At the beginning I did not even consider to get any grass trimmer and was hoping that I can manage the garden with simple grass sickle, a simple grass cutting hand tool
    Read more » How to Use a Petrol Grass Trimmer
  • Immortelle (Dwarf Everlast)

    Living in the dry climate of the Mediterranean is giving me a great opportunity to grow my own immortelle plants. Immortelle is also known as Dwarf Everlast or Helichrysum italicum (Latin). Sometimes it is also called Curry plant but to be honest, I am not sure if this is exactly the same species as one I am now growing
    Read more » Immortelle (Dwarf Everlast)
  • Sage

    As this piece of land was completely wild when I inherited it, there were numerous wild sage plants dotted around the area. I decided to keep most of them while some of the plans I replanted in the spaces that are more suitable. In the hilly, dry and rocky areas in the Mediterranean, where I am
    Read more » Sage
  • Rosemary

    My rosemary mini garden: Last year I planted 10 rosemary plants that I grew from cuttings along the side of my cottage. They are now already fully grown plants with lovely purple flowers. Rosemary: Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Rosemary As this herb is a native to the Mediterranean region it took them only one year to
    Read more » Rosemary
  • How to Plant a Potted Fig Tree in the Ground

    Planting a potted fig tree in the ground is a fairly straightforward process and anyone should be able to do it successfully. Before I inherited this piece of land I never planted any trees ever. However, by doing it numerous times since, in the meantime I found out that the best way to plant the potted
    Read more » How to Plant a Potted Fig Tree in the Ground
  • How to Dry Apricots in the Sun

    I have a pretty large apricot tree in my mum’s garden that every year produces a lot of fresh fruits.  As I am living in a fairly dry and warm climate, last year I decided to try to select some of the fruits to dry them in the sun at home on my terrace.  My guess
    Read more » How to Dry Apricots in the Sun
My land before I started cultivating it My piece of land, two year ago, before I started cultivating it