About me
By Fruity
14 comments
Hola
Well, my first blog post went down a hit! LOL
So, I thought I would tell you about me, where I live and how I ended up here.
I am a 32 year old female and I live in Monda, Spain. I moved to Spain 10 years ago to meet the love of my life, who I then married 1 year later in Monda Castle.
I have Scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and had surgery for this in 1989 and now have 2 rods along the majority of my spine, I find gardening difficult because I struggle to walk and bending just isn’t a great idea, trouble is I love my garden and I find it is a great escape from pain, I do find ways around gardening comfortably, like sitting on a big cushion when I am weeding and when I bend I use my knees for support.
We just recently moved into a bungalow from a townhouse to help me get around more easily, trouble is we moved to a property that has 2,700 square metres of garden LOL, so, I am not sure if moving has helped me at all or not hehehe, I think the gardening has replaced the damage the stairs were doing.
I was not really sure how hard gardening was going to be, especially the weeds, oh my goodness!
We did make an investment in RoundUp though and that has killed all the weeds, I was trying to do it by hand but by the time I had weeded the back garden and then got down to that bar (half way down the land), the back garden had started growing again meaning I could never quite manage to get the bottom of the garden – something had to give and it couldn’t be me!
My partner is not as interested in gardening as I am, so I can just go ahead and plant what I like, he doesn’t really care. We have a vegetable patch that we have just started and my partner enjoys that type of garden – the gardening you can eat! We are growing raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, tomatoes and 2 different types of peppers and I have yet to plant seeds for lettuce, onions, carrots and melons – I need to prepare my soil first though.
Oh and we have wild spring onions growing and sunflowers – they are my favourite.
I particularly love growing herbs and after a problem with majority of them dying I have finally managed to keep my thyme, basil, parsley and oregano alive. The reason I like the herbs so much is because the herbs help with my pain so I eat a lot of herbs daily in my diet and there is nothing more rewarding than eating what you grew yourself :)
We have 3 cats, Dotty, Lolly and Chuffy and they do a fantastic job of catching rats and mice that keep trying to get into the house – joys of living in the campo!
We have no children as yet but are in the process of adopting from China, our papers should be translated into Chinese very soon.
Well, there you have it, as much as I can think of about me without rambling on too much!
Happy gardening everyone and looking forward to sharing tips and advice
21 May, 2008
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Comments
Bienvenida a Grows on You.
21 May, 2008
Hi: I am new too. Just started a few days ago - what fun talking to people with like interests. I live in a Rancher, quite a big garden and when I moved in here 10 years ago decided that raised beds were the way to go - sure haven't regretted that one bit. When I get a bit more organized I will post some photos of my garden on my site. I live in North Vancouver BC Canada - Welcome. Barb
21 May, 2008
welcome Fruity, a proper welcome this time, im growing herbs this yr too, so far they are doing fine, we have already used some in our pasta. nice to be able to just cut some from your own garden. hope you enjoy it here on GOY.
21 May, 2008
Welcome to this wonder site Fruity I'm sure in not time at all you will find out it's full of really nice people.
I'm pleased you're not letting your illness rule your way of life I know it will be hard for you at times but as you say gardening is indeed a world where you can do whatever you like and at what speed you like too.
Good luck with the adoption that in it's self will be an eye opener for you too but one you will enjoy immensely I'm sure.Hel.xxx.
21 May, 2008
Hola Fruity *Waves across the border into Spain. I'm a neighbour sort of lol
Another person growing in similar conditions to me is most welcome. At least I think you do!! Where is Monda within Spain?
Welcome to GOY
21 May, 2008
Hi Fruity - thank you for posting your profile. Now we can chat to you properly! I guess the climate out there helps you, doesn't it? I meant not just with your garden, but with your pain - sorry to hear that you have problems. Keep smiling!
21 May, 2008
Hola everyone
Thanks for the messages. I think you are right that raised beds is the answer for me, I have made a few beds for my tomatoes and peppers but going higher is definitely the key, either that or have seats built everywhere hehehe
I have not really got into raised beds before so that is new territory for me, I am up for trying my hand at anything, well, cracking the whip on my husband hehehe
The climate helps a great deal and was part of the reason I wanted to live somewhere warmer, the UK weather was making my pain worse because it was contracting my muscles too much.
Howdy neighbour, I am assuming you are in Portugal? We are inland Marbella about 20 minutes, next to Coín and Alhaurín el Grande - Malaga is 20 minutes in the other direction.
As for the herbs, I love them and I took some images today to upload and show you, just not plugged the camera in yet - I eat my Thyme on most meals daily, on chicken and pork especially, in the oven - yummy!
I have a friend in Vancouver, Hel. Would love to visit one day but planes are not the best forms of transport for me, unless we go first class - one day I will get round to it but China is the next stop for us :)
Lovely to chat with everyone and I am now going to add some more images - I have so many!
Hasta Pronto
21 May, 2008
WELCOME to GOY Fruity. Sorry for a rough first meeting in your first blog. A lot of the members here are into growing herbs including myself. You're right when you say that there is nothing better than eating something that you grew yourself. I think that Bren's idea about doing raised beds is a great idea. I have a friend who is wheelchair bound and he gardens in raised beds. As well as being beautiful, the beds make it so much easier for him. Happy Gardening !
22 May, 2008
Hi Fruity,
Late welcome !
I'm sure you'll enjoy GOY. I'm glad I joined and I don't feel right unless I've visited the site at least twice a day.
Gardening isn't new to me but this garden is, and I've created some raised beds to make it easier with back problems. You'll find it helps a lot.
Good luck with your herbs. They are nice to eat but also in the bath or to soak your feet, and I grow them through the garden so that I can run my fingers through them to get the scent. The essential oils of herbs are good, I put them in a burner. They not only give a wonderful scent to the room but also benefit your health.
I'll have a look at your pictures. I hope to get a digital camera soon so I can put more on my own garden, but computers etc are new to me and I'm afraid I don't have much patience with it.
People on this site are very friendly and I think of them now as my own "friends" - that includes you.
Good luck, from "Blodyn".
22 May, 2008
Hey there!! I've been mising in action (gardening crazy... gettin a bit carried away!!) so hello and welcome!! We have got some really good raised beds they make everything so easy! attempting a herb bed this year when people said they'd grow like mad i thought they were exagerrating... they have literally gone mad! anyway good to meet you!! xx
22 May, 2008
Bonjour. This will need to be a BIG wave to reach you way down there. I'm a neighbour on the other side .
tenga una buena tarde
22 May, 2008
Hola Everyone
Thanks for all the comments, I have not been on much in the last few days because I have been away with my husband - wedding anniversary!
Now it is back to work and all that jazz, I am going to go and get some materials for my raised beds though, it is much better for me having raised beds, especially with the fused spine and I am eager to give it a go.
Laters
26 May, 2008
Hi Fruity!
I have a question for you...I am looking to pay a visit to Monda this coming January because I'm going to do a tour of Marbella Design Academy. I am planning on going there for their Interior Design Program.
I would love to "pick your brain" about Monda, getting around, places to stay, etc. If you have time I would be extremely appreciative of any information that you can provide. If so let me know and we can exchange email addresses!
GerberaDaisy
24 Aug, 2009
Welcome,
Have you thought about raised beds to make things easier for you,you can have them as high as you like,but still be able to access all sides,Bren
21 May, 2008