Lunar Gardening Calendar - February

February is looming large,  time to work out what I need to be doing and when, in February, in my Puglia Garden. It looks like there is going to be a lot of work in February.

Waxing Moon - 1st to 7th February (Full Moon 7th February) and 22nd to 29th February.
In the Vegetable Patch
Sow -  in heated seed trays (between 1st and 7th) : basil, aubergine/eggplant, peppers, tomatoes.
        - in pots in a heated greenhouse :  courgettes, cucumbers, melons, water-melons
        - in the garden, under glass or plastic : thyme, savory, lavender
        - in the garden (between 22nd and 29th) : swiss chard, carrots, peas, parsley, radishes, mustard, agretto, rocket/arugala
Transplanting and Planting - (between 1st and 7th) : transplant into the open garden onions grown from seed
        - in the garden, under glass or plastic (between 1st and 7th) :  lettuce

In the Garden
Sow - In a heated greenhouse or in the house, in heated seed trays (12-18C) : begonia, carnation, snap-dragons, dahlias, petunia, purslane and other flowering annuals.
        - in pots : violets and wallflowers
        - in the garden : annual climbers, sweet peas, convolvulus
Transplanting and Planting -  trees, shrubs, deciduous climbers, roses, hydrangeas and forsythia
Reproduction -  take cuttings for rooting
        - put up dahlia roots in the greenhouse
        - divide and replant perennials

In the Orchard
Transplanting and Planting - if weather conditions permit, and the ground is not frozen, plant and transplant fruit trees and bushes.


Waning Moon 8th to 20th February (New Moon 21st February)

In the Vegetable Patch
Sow - in heated seed trays : celery,
        - in the garden, under glass or plastic  : lettuce, celery
        - in the open garden : shallots, onions, lettuce, radicchio, spinach, valerian, swiss chard, cabbage
Transplanting and Planting - Plant out in the open : garlic, spring onions, shallots, jerusalem artichokes
Pruning - Thin out herbs to rejuvenate (sage, rosemary etc.)
Work - Prepare beds for the next sowing, transplanting of asparagus
          - Carry out basic fertilisation
          - Pinch out and mulch peas and broad beans sown in the autumn
          - set out seed potatoes in a warm dry place for chitting (encouraging to sprout)
Green Fertiliziation - Sow new spinach, mustard cress
          - Dig in the grown green manure crops

In the Garden
Pruning - Prune and trim trees that flowered in December and January
            - Plant out deciduous woody shrubs
            - Trim back existing deciduous woody shrubs, cutting off any dead or unnecessary branches
            - Trim hedges and evergreens (once the cold weather has ended)
            - Prune roses, poinsettias and hydrangeas
Work   - Prepare and fertilise the ground
            - Dig over areas intended for lawn and flower beds
            - Check stored tubers

In the Orchard
Pruning - Prune pears, apple, quince trees and the stone fruits (peach, apricot, almond and plum)
             - Thin out chestnut trees, trimming off suckers
             - Prune soft fruits and grape vines
Grafting - Collect scions and cuttings from stone fruits before the first buds appear to be used for grafting when the trees become dormant. The cuttings should be put into plastic bags and stored in a cold place (in the fridge!)
Work    - Prepare the ground for spring planting
             - Prepare holes for new olive plantings
             - Generally clean up and tidy the orchard


This months Harvest
From the Vegetable Patch : Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, Radicchio
In the greenhouse or heated beds : Radicchio, Rocket/Arugula, Parsley, Radishes, Valerian

What we actually have this month is loads of Cabbage, a few Cauliflowers left, carrots are ready now and still loads of lettuces Brussel sprout seeds went in much too late and we only have tiny plants at the moment, I'm leaving them for the moment - if they take long enough to grow maybe next winter. If they grow too quickly now they will be coming out as they will be producing in summer and will not form good sprouts.  Peas and Broad Beans plants are strong and flowering now, ready for pinching out.

You Can do Dukan

About 18 months ago I was celebrating a weight loss of 16 kilos (35 pounds), after battling with yo-yo weight from my mid twenties. I maintained the weight loss, achieved by more healthy heating, cutting out salty snacks and chocolate, and gentle exercise, for just over a year.

However over the last few months, especially over the recent festive season, some of that weight has started to creep back. Enough to motivate me into doing something about it, this time something more radical. I want a short sharp plan of action that will remove the weight that has crept back and then back to the healthy living regime.

As a teenager, and into my early twenties, I was a slender 50 kilos (112 pounds). It wasn't until I hit 26 that I woke up fat one morning, or that's the way it seemed. As my son was then 7 I couldn't blame pregnancy or child bearing. After that it was downhill, or should that be up-hill, all the way. Actually it was more like a mountain switchback, with yo-yo dieting, resulting in weight loss and subsequent weight gain. At my heaviest, I hit 84 kilos (185 pounds). As a consequence I don't believe in dieting. The very phrase "I'm going on a diet" implies that at sometime  you will "come off" the diet and the weight will pile back on, each time more than the time before.

My son's partner (I'm not fond of that expression, they're not married so daughter-in-law does not work, daughter-out-law) has been following the Dukan diet with lots of success for the last six months or so. I've read through the Dukan website and the concepts of his plan and while it does seem astoundingly successful it also seems scarily restrictive. Nevertheless with my intention of carrying out an intensive short attack on the problem followed by my proven regime of healthy eating and lot exercise maybe it's just the ticket.

According to the calculator on the Dukan website I need to carry out 3 days of the Attack Phase (protein only), followed by 82 days of the Cruise phase (a mixture of pure protein days and protein/veggie days). As I want only a kick start to get me back to healthy eating and curb the bad habits that had been creeping in, my plan is to, for the month of January, do the Dukan thing Monday to Friday and allow myself more lee way at the weekends. I hope to lose between 6 and 8 kilos by the end of January. After that, hopefully having tamed my bad habits again, I will resume my healthy eating, no snacking, light exercise way of life - it worked for me before, hopefully it will again.

Day 1 (2nd January 2012)
Yesterday was the first day of the Attack Phase, which consists only of pure protein. Basically meat, fish, eggs and low fat dairy products. And of course no alcohol, no snacks, no chocolate. Living in Puglia, where wine is plentiful, high-quality and low price, wine with our evening meal has become a habit. Giving it up for the January is going to be very hard. There is a double whammy win of not drinking wine - once I've had a couple of glasses of wine I'm looking for the crisps, peanuts and other salty snacks. Giving up the wine definitely resists the temptations provided by salty snacks.

So how did I do on the first day. Well first I lost a whacking 1.7 kilos, 3.75 pounds. Of course a lot of that is water loss, but still it's a good start. And having drunk 3 litres of water, plus black coffees and a diet coke, my fluid intake was high yesterday.

Breakfast, perhaps the hardest meal of the day for me at the moment. Normally I have some fruit and a fruit yogurt, and fruit is plentiful in Puglia. Right now we have grapefruit and mandarin in the garden ripe for the picking. I didn't realise until later in the day yesterday, when I was doing some research, that low fat fruit-flavoured (but not with pieces of fruit in) yogurts are allowed during the Attack Phase of the Dukan diet. So I made scrambled eggs with ham and the Dukan galette. A mistake, far too much egg in one meal, and I don't really like scrambled eggs! But it did fill me up.

A beautiful day, sun-shining and blue skies, encouraged me out into the garden, weeding and mulching and planting upside down, water filled, plastic bottles around the edge of the veggie patch in an attempt to discourage the cats (they have their own sand pit). My less than successful breakfast filled me up so much I got through most of the day on black coffee and water. Not intentional, just keeping busy and not hungry.

Early evening, and it's cold at night, we settled down in front of a lovely fire and the TV ..... Now the hunger pangs started to grab me. Chicken was marinating in a spicy yogurt based sauce, baked potatoes in the oven for the OH, but I knew I wasn't going to make it to dinner. A quickly prepared snack of smoked salmon roll-ups, stuffed with tuna, a little fat-free cheese and dill, did the trick. And so fat, not even missing the wine or snacks.

Dinner was Spicy Chicken Kebabs, from the from the Dukan Diet Recipe book. Simple to prepare and certainly smelt good. The kebabs took longer to grill than the suggested 8 to 10 minutes and when I looked at my portion it didn't look as if it was going to be enough. Mental note to increase the quantity of meat / protein above our normal servings to make up for the loss of carbs and veg.

In fact it turned out to be plenty for me and OH's plate was extended with two small baked potatoes and a large salad.

So all in all a successful first day and a very satisfactory weight loss, questionably how much to do with the alcohol free / snack free day and how much to do with the Dukan diet?

One concern, as a serial insomniac, I am always concerned about being able to get to sleep without a glass of wine or two. And I did sleep badly last night, a lot of tossing and turning, several trips to the loo, but I must have slept eventually because I didn't wake up until 8:15 (and usually it's 6 am). Despite the restless night, I feel much more energetic and very positive.

So on to day two! The sun is shining again, blue skies all the way here in Puglia, I'm going to get the chores done and out into the garden to make the best of this fabulous start to 2012.

Lunar Gardening Calendar - January

It's the beginning of a new year, so will 2012 be the year I'm going to get Lunar Gardening nailed? Better figure out what I need to be doing when in January in my Puglia Garden.

Waxing Moon - 1st to 8th January (Full Moon 9th January) and 24th to 31st January.
In the Vegetable Patch
Sow -  in heated seed trays : basil, aubergine/eggplant, peppers, tomatoes.
        - in pots in a heated greenhouse : cucumbers, melons
        - in the garden, under glass or plastic (but not if extreme cold is expected) : radish, rocket, glasswort (agretto)

In the Garden
Sow - In a heated greenhouse or in the house, in heated seed trays (12-18C) : begonia, cineraria, carnation, petunia, salvia and flowering annuals.
Transplanting and Planting - plant, if conditions permit and the ground is not frozen or too wet : trees, shurbs, vines, roses.

In the Orchard
Transplanting and Planting - if weather conditions permit, and the ground is not frozen, plant and transplant fruit trees and bushes.


Waning Moon 10th to 22nd January (New Moon 23rd January)

In the Vegetable Patch
Sow - in heated seed trays : lettuce
        - in the garden, under glass or plastic (but not if extreme cold is expected) : lettuce, radicchio (a variety of chicory), valerian
Work - Prepare the ground for spring crops, fertilize.

          - Create a vegetable patch plan for the year ahead and order seeds
          - Fertilise and weed asparagus and artichoke beds.
Green Fertiliziation - Dig in any green crops grown for fertilisation - mustard, spinach etc.


In the Garden
Pruning - Prune dead branches, thin where necessary, removing broken branches etc.
            - Disinfect cut surfaces.
            - Prune roses
Work   - Remove dry or emaciated trees and shrubs to make way for replacements.
            - Prepare the ground ready for new planting and for replacing old plants
            - When the ground is not frozen work the surface soil to break the crust
            - Remove and replace any uneven mulching disturbed or removed by rain
            - Wash and disinfect pots and seed trays
            - Check, clean, repair, replace garden tools as necessary


In the Orchard
Pruning - Prune pears and apple trees
             - Prune raspberries and currants
Grafting - Collect scions and cuttings for grafting and insert into the stock of the tree
Work    - Prepare the ground for spring planting adding fertiliser
             - Fertilize olive trees after the olive harvest is completed
             - Clean around the base and trunk of adult trees
             - Shake the branches free of snow (maybe not in Puglia!) to prevent breakages

This months Harvest
From the Vegetable Patch : Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, Radicchio and if the ground is not frozen, Leeks
In the greenhouse or heated beds : Agretto, Rocket, Radishes

What we actually have this month is Cabbage and Cauliflowers, despite the caterpillar infestations both have done exceptionally well, and loads of lettuce! Brussel sprout seeds went in much too late and we only have tiny plants at the moment. Carrots are coming on fine and should be ready for harvest soon. Peas and Broad Beans plants are strong and flowering now, they seem to have benefited well from mulching.