Garden project in the Alpujarras, Andalucia, southern Spain

Feeling more secure about the supply of water for irrigation and confident from the positive response of visitors to the garden, summer of 2007 saw us making plans to develop more areas of the land, as well as maintaining what we have already cultivated. William, with his background in horticulutre and garden design, took out his reference books once more and made plans.

One of the challenges facing us in trying to establish a garden of varied plants in Andalucia is the difficulty in getting hold of a broad selection of plants. Straightforward shrubs and bedding plants are easy enough to source but specialist herbaceous material can be scarce or non existent. The answer, of course, is to either import from nurseries further north in Europe or to grow our own from seed.

Low temperatures in winter mean that, unless we have a greenhouse or large area of 'cold frame' to germinate seeds, we cannot start to rear seedlings until the warmer weather arrvies in April and May. This being the case, small seedlings will quickly be assaulted by the intensity of the summer heat. It would seem that we need to consider two forms of protection for our young plants, one in the form of a greenhouse to keep them warm in spring, the other in the form of a shade house to keep them protected form being fried in the hotter months. For our first attempt at offering heightened plant protection we opted for building a shade tunnel out of wooden poles and the green shading material commonly in use in the area.

It is perhaps not the most attractive of structures but the difference in the wellbeing of the plants has been tremendous, plus there has been a saving on the use of the ever valuable supply of water since for these plants the evaporation rates are drastically reduced. It also has the benefit of providing us with a shady envrionment in which to work when things get too hot. And during the winter months too it will provide a degree of protection from frost, although how much remains to be seen.

The hose pipe that can be seen in the picture uses water from the standpipe which is amply supplied by our reservoir.

During the year we have been fortunate enough to be able to work along side volunteers who have contacted us through the WWOOF organisation. They helped with the reservoir, with the shade tunnel, and most recently in clearing land for our last major project of 2007, the intensive vegetable garden, or 'Huerto Intensivo'.

The idea behind this is to create an area of intensive cultivation of fruit and vegetables. The area will be defined and limited by a series of wooden posts, joined by wires. Along the wires we will train fruit trees, to form espaliers, and grapes vines. These trees and vines will provide wind protection and a degree of shade to the area within. This restricted area will be manured and watered intensively, to create a type of micro environment of productivity.

Visually it is not so impressive at the moment, but around this rectangular area twelve fruit trees and four grape vines have been planted. Inside we have already established seedlings in slightly raised beds, but before this we dug in a mountain of chipped mulchings to add texture and water retention to the soil, and over one hundred wheel barrows of manure from the sheds of the nearby shepherd, one barrow after smelly barrow. Watch this space!

Amy and Cris have been invaluable help this Autumn, but we did have a mule who stopped by to help keep control of the grass verges.

We are convinced of the need to add texture and organic matter to our soil in order to improve its general condition, so at great expense, we invested in a reasonably heavy duty chipper. This means that all our clippings and prunnings can be composted rapidly and returned to the soil without delay. It removes the need for burning garden waste, which can be quite a dangerous occupation here if the wind whips up and spreads the flames out of control.

Below, the garden in November 2007, still ablaze with colour.

Site map

As I write this, it is January 1st 2008. Outside the skies are blue and the sun is warm enough to be working in just a t-shirt. Tomorrow, snow is forecast, but that is good news for us since, as well as transforming the landscape in a startlingly beautiful way, winter snow means summer irrigation water.

If you think you would like to volunteer to work in the garden at Cortijo Opazo, get in touch with us at: info@cortijoopazo.com.