Our Interviews: Tigress-2

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-31 08:06

Dear readers, I present to your attention a new interview with a user of our website, tigress-2

Please introduce yourself and tell us which region you represent

Hello Alena. I

Nina Ivanovna, I live in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, I am a doctor by profession. Our region is considered a zone of risky agriculture and this is far from black soil. But at the same time we grow everything on our plots: from ordinary vegetable products to grapes, exotic southern, overseas, decorative flowering shrubs, all kinds of berries and, of course, flowers. In recent years, I have been fond of floriculture.

So, Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Far away and cold. You have your own house, right? Tell us how your garden-garden winters? Are there any nuances and secrets in how to winter properly? When do you start the planting season, and most importantly, how? And one more thing: what do you grow on your site? What do you like to plant for the soul?

We inherited this country house by inheritance, and we live in a comfortable apartment, in the summer we live in a country house.

We begin the season in the second half of April, sow cabbage, dill, radish, various salad greens and annual flower seeds in the greenhouse. We have two of them. In the first decade of May, I plant cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes (for growing, and in open ground from June 1 to June 15, when the threat of return frosts has passed). Favorite month May - the sun warms up, rainbow dreams, it is interesting to watch how nature wakes up from sleep, and the soul is light. First, vitamin greens are leeks, part of which we leave directly in the garden, without covering, it is stored perfectly, then nettle, rhubarb, sorrel and batun onions - all this goes for food while dill, salads (spinach, leaf mustard, curly, arugula, basil, parsley and others.

Of course, primroses are pleasing to the eye. Forsythia blooms first, blooms first, then leaves bloom. I love yellow in the garden - how the sun always shines. In April, we plant onion sets on a turnip in the ground, a little so that it will last until winter, because for the winter we buy Kazakh onions in the market (we love onions) and advise everyone. Vegetables, greens are, one might say, a necessity, but with special interest I am engaged in flowers, and I love them in an arbitrary (wild) form, because I want the flower garden to bloom constantly, some fade, others bloom and so on until late autumn … I offer a photo of my primroses:

swimsuit

primrose

warty irises

white spirea

forget-me-nots

clematis (blooms 2 times, in early spring on last year's shoots, and in autumn on new ones)

catchment

blue phlox, it blooms early and at the same time is very winter-hardy (without shelter)

viburnum bully

Do you grow something exotic, rare for your region?

The most interesting period is July-August, when everything is blooming, fragrant and there is something to feast on. That it is worth the work, you yourself know. Not by bread alone - this is about me and the members of our Dachnik club, in which I am a member. We share our experience not only on how to grow crops with lower costs and productively, but also how to improve, improve, so that the eye is pleasant, we participate in city and regional competitions, and win prizes.

We try to grow something new, unusual, surprise. For example, I was the first in the city who began to grow overseas momordica, a very interesting vegetable-plant, or rather a cucumber, we called him rabid because at a certain moment of maturity he suddenly opens up on a bush in the form of a lotus and shoots out. Pomegranate-colored seeds-berries of Momordica, for which in India it is called pomegranate. In China, it is called bitter melon for its yellow-orange color and bitterness. Bitterness is due to a medicinal substance - momordin. The Chinese have learned to extract it and make a natural medicine. And I began to grow it for its decorativeness, beautiful carved emerald leaves, climbing liana and charming fruits. Momordica is grown through seedlings in cups (late April-early May), in a greenhouse until May, and then planted in the ground when frosts have passed.

Of the rare I grow kiwano (prickly cucumber), lemon cucumber, milotria. My favorites are Lakonos (phytalaka), decorative Georgian beans-dolichos, lumpy zucchini-swans, clematis, roses, dahlias, gladioli, hydrangeas, phlox, nevyannik (autumn large-flowered chamomile).

Lakonos

panicle hydrangea

dolichos beans

budley

roses

well, what about without potatoes

The main feature of our climate is the return cold. After warm April and hot May in June, up to 10-15th, there may be frosts up to 5-7, sometimes up to 8 degrees, although short-term, but this holds us back from planting many crops in open ground, adding to our trouble, and that most importantly, because of this, it is impossible for me to admire the fruits of our labor for a long time, the beauty of our summer cottages, but we are used to it. In general, the summer is good, there are enough sunny days, and autumn has become longer, September, October temperatures are above zero, however, there can be large fluctuations in day and night temperatures, for example, during the day + 15-19, and at night + 5-8 degrees. We finish the summer season in November until November 5-7, cover roses, strawberries, grapes, bend down raspberries, blackberries, some shrubs (cherries, gooseberries).

The risky farming zone is labor. Sometimes even too heavy and ungrateful in terms of reward. Do you have your own family secrets of running a summer cottage for such a climate? Share with us please

Well, some of my secrets:

1. Growing everything, except for wintering perennials through seedlings, if we want early flowering and admire the beauty for a longer time.

2. Use of covering material (films, agrotexes, etc.).

3. Greenhouses.

4. Selection of zoned seeds with characteristics suitable for our climate, we harvest many seeds ourselves, therefore, from new products, which, of course, we do not ignore, we prefer varietal rather than hybrids, from which seeds with the same characteristics cannot be obtained.

5. Using warm beds helps us a lot in every way.

6. And personally, I try to use the maximum of any information through trial, error analysis. For many years I have been keeping a "house" book, it is very useful to look there.

An amazing story, so many photos - just a photo report from the garden! What else are you fond of?

What else I do: I am a member of the Dachnik club, and I take an active part in all events. This November we will be 10 years old. We share our experience, participate in regional, city, and regional competitions, where we have repeatedly won prizes, both by the club and personally. We celebrate together anniversaries, holidays, important events that are interesting, we stage various scenes, food contests, accordion songs, dances, games, jokes, toasts, anecdotes. We arrange joint trips to greenhouses, theaters, a sauna, winter trips to nature (with sledding, tubing, etc.) Once a month we have a hostess's day, where we learn various modern handicrafts, we invite specialists with master classes. And in the summer, we gather as a team at someone's dacha, and this stimulates the owner (prepares something interesting, in terms of design, novelties of plants and agricultural technology). We have already become like family, we rely on each other in any matter. A lot of pleasant memories and photos, prizes, diplomas. It is difficult to list everything. And the most valuable thing is communication, which in our intelligent age is as simple as a breath of fresh air.

I very much agree with you, Nina Ivanovna, communication is very important. And if communication, besides pleasure, brings benefits - it is doubly valuable! In fact, these are only half of the photos that were selected for the interview. But, alas, the format of our conversation is not endless. I think that Nina Ivanovna will definitely tell about her summer cottages in her diary. Thank you very much for your story and for sharing your experience! We wish you rich harvests in the future and warm, fertile weather for the earth

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