When we lived in England we always had a kitchen garden full of edible goodies, or alternatively an allotment where we could grow all our fresh produce.
However, now that we live in an apartment on the first floor in Italy, we have had to get a little more creative.
Luckily we have two balconies, one on the kitchen and one on our bedroom measuring 5 metres by 1 metre each, so we have a little room to have our own little green space.
The Herb Patch …
Firstly, of course a kitchen garden wouldn’t be complete without a herb patch. Good herbs are readily available at supermarkets in Italy, but there is nothing better than stepping outside your kitchen door and picking your own! We’re growing the usual suspects like rosemary, thyme, sage, chives and mint. However, we have also decided to grow some herbs which are more difficult to find, like pineapple sage (which is fantastic in both savoury and sweet dishes), lemon thyme, and also tarragon, which seems to be non-existent in Italy!
Feelin’ hot, hot, hot …
People who followed my last blog know that I love chillies. However, in the north of Italy they are not too keen on chilies in their food as they are in the south of the country. This has meant that we have had to hunt far and wide for some hot chilli plants, as the ones in the local supermarkets and shops generally only sell the sweet “bell” pepper varieties, and we don’t really have the space to grow them from seed.
Luckily, we’ve got a good garden centre nearby, and we’ve also recently had a spring festival. This has meant that we have been able to pick up some Italian chilli varieties that I have never grown before. These include Diavolicchio Calabrese and Mazzetti chillies from the south of Italy. We have also planted some Fatali chillies which have a wonderful hot and citrus flavour, and also a Chocolate Habanero for when we want a really large chilli kick in our food!
When life gives you lemons …
Since we arrived in Italy we have wanted a lemon tree to complete the Mediterranean feel to our garden. These were always very expensive in England, but we bought a well establish lemon tree from our local garden centre for €27, and this has already produced our first lemon of the season. As you can see from the pictures there are already some more on the way! Naturally, we had to celebrate our first lemon by using it in a gin and tonic, and toasted the end of the long hard winter, and the return of temperatures nudging 30 degrees.
Maximising your growing space …
In order to utilise the limited space we’ve got, we bought some planters that we could hang from the balcony railings. The kitchen balcony planters contain red and white spring onions, and radishes for our summer salads, while the ones on the bedroom balcony contain edible flowers like marigolds and nasturtiums. The added advantage of the nasturtiums, along with the citronella plants is that their scent keeps the mosquitos at bay, as unfortunately they wake up with the hot weather too!
Our bedroom balcony is also our “nursery garden” where we’re doing successional sowings of radishes and nasturtiums. There is also a large tomato plant on this balcony, as we have no room for it on the kitchen balcony! In order to attract the bees we’ve also planted a japonica shrub, which not only has a beautiful scent, but will eventually give us some shade on the bedroom balcony.
So, as you can see, even if you have a small space you can have your own little green paradise!
Our first taste of an Italian Christmas Eve meal. A huge thank you to Tommaso and Elisabetta for your wonderful hospitality and incredible food! You welcomed us into your home at this special time! #melitodiportosalvo #calabria #calabriafood #calabriafoodporn #eatcalabrisi #instadaily #instatravel #italy #italia #calabria #igerscalabria #vivocalabria #travelblog #worldtraveler #italytravel #madeinitaly #italy #vivo_calabria #igersitaly #ig_calabria #hub_calabria #vivo_it #bloggersofinstagram #bloggerlife #blogger #blogitalia #reggiocalabria #calabriacontatto #welcometocalabria #yallerscalabria...
After a day of torrential rain and storms we've been rewarded with a stunning view of Mount Etna from our apartment. #melitodiportosalvo #calabria #calabriafood #calabriafoodporn #eatcalabrisi #instadaily #instatravel #italy #italia #calabria #igerscalabria #vivocalabria #travelblog #worldtraveler #italytravel #madeinitaly #italy #vivo_calabria #igersitaly #ig_calabria #hub_calabria #vivo_it #bloggersofinstagram #bloggerlife #blogger #blogitalia #reggiocalabria #calabriacontatto #welcometocalabria #yallerscalabria...
Monument of Athena and ampitheatre in Reggio di Calabria. From our latest blog post: Reggio di Calabria - The City Of Contrasts- Link in Bio!
#melitodiportosalvo #calabria #calabriafood #calabriafoodporn #eatcalabrisi #instadaily #instatravel #italy #italia #calabria #igerscalabria #vivocalabria #travelblog #worldtraveler #italytravel #madeinitaly #italy #vivo_calabria #igersitaly #ig_calabria #hub_calabria #vivo_it #bloggersofinstagram #bloggerlife #blogger #blogitalia #reggiocalabria #calabriacontatto #welcometocalabria #yallerscalabria #reggiodicalabria #reggiocalabria #reggiocalabriaphoto...
Our first taste of an Italian Christmas Eve meal. A huge thank you to Tommaso and Elisabetta for your wonderful hospitality and incredible food! You welcomed us into your home at this special time! @ Melito di Porto Salvo
As you may know, we in Italy have now gone back into a virtual full lockdown which means that we are not able to travel to the UK to see our family. We are going to try and make Christmas and New Year here as good as it can be. We have started off by inviting our friends to a real British Christmas lunch (had pork instead of turkey!) which I think was enjoyed by all. Having to explain what Pigs in Blankets, stuffing balls and gravy stretched our limited Italian to the max but we somehow got there. They have invited us down to their apartment for Christmas Eve and we have been told not to eat anything all day! The Christmas Eve celebrations here come under the name of The Festival of the Seven Fish so really looking forward to that.
Christmas Day will be really quiet with just the two of us and our great friend Sheryl who, because her father can't come over to spend the time with her as he normally does, she will be spending the day and Boxing Day with us slobbing in our PJs, drinking, watching cheezy films and drinking copious amounts of the local fizz.
Not sure what happens in Calabria for New Year as last year (our first down here) we spent in the UK so looking forward to what is to come. I know we wont be allowed to celebrate normally because we are not allowed to leave our apartment (except for emergencies) so watch this space.
I want to finish off by wishing you all a safe, healthy and hopefully Happy Christmas and fingers crossed for a better New Year.
In the current situation, we can't travel around Italy. However, that doesn't mean we can't read about it. I've just finished reading Eating Up Italy by Matthew Fort. It has certainly given us more ideas of where to visit once everything back to as normal as it gets in Italy!
Just back home after teaching English in Italy. Here we wear full face visor, face mask and gloves. No wonder teachers in England are worried about the lax rules that the Government are trying to roll out. Schools are not safe.
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