Musa

The Small Temporary Plastic Greenhouse

With the first reports of possible frost on the way, I’m having to contemplate the task of erecting my small, temporary, plastic greenhouse.

I’ve never really wanted a permanent greenhouse although I’ve probably got the space for one. I’d only use a greenhouse to overwinter stuff and raise seeds etc. in the Spring. For most of the summer it would not be needed and unless one can afford to buy one of those wood-built traditional jobs, they are ugly-looking things. But – I need something to over-winter some of my tropical / exotic plants and some years ago I found that ‘Homebase’ sold a small tubular-steel framed greenhouse with a plastic cover – and it only cost about £40.00.

I’ve just checked the Homebase site and they still sell them, only now they cost £49.99 – I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Anyway, its about the time of year to think about erecting the thing. It’s not too difficult to do, providing you have not lost any of the sections of tubular-steel over the summer. The greenhouse comes supplied with guy ropes and pegs to hold it down to the ground. My problem is that I put it up on paving stones which means I cannot peg it to the ground and have to rely on the guy-ropes. I site the small temporary plastic greenhouse close to the house and next to a fence. This gives it a bit more warmth but more importantly allows me to tie it to the walls and fence. The construction is very light and it is very prone to getting blown away which is why securing it is so important. The original plastic cover it came with was not too strong but luckily you can buy replacement covers for about £10.00. The replacement covers and the ones now supplied with the greenhouse are now much stronger though do not let so much light through.

Above: My small, temporary, plastic greenhouse

I use the small, temporary, plastic greenhouse to overwinter Ensetes (bananas), Colocasias, Brugmansias and Aeoniums (amongst other things). Some of these plants I dig up from the garden and put in large pots. Most of these plants will not need the greenhouse until after the first frosts but the Aeoniums will need protection before the frosts come which is why I’m now thinking that I must put the thing up soon. The major problem with the plastic greenhouse is that it has no ventilation apart from leaving the entrance flap open. The lack of ventilation means condensation and the risk of various rots. So, the trick is to not put the plants in until the last possible moment and to get them out again as soon as possible in the Spring, in an attempt to minimise the risk of rotting. I run a small electric fan-heater set as close as I can to above freezing but I guess this is quite an expensive option given that the greenhouse has zero insulation.

The small, temporary, plastic greenhouse may not suit everybody. It is quite flimsy but it suits my purposes.

Here’s the link:

http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=20001&partNumber=596578&c_3=3%7Ccat_19685889%7CGreenhouses%7C14418830&c_2=2%7Ccat_16849255%7CGreenhouses+and+accessories%7C19685889&c_1=1%7Ccategory_root%7CGardening%7C16849255

Yucca gloriosa ‘Variegata’

Just when you think that the summer has ended . . . . . my Yucca has decided to start flowering.

I’ve had this Yucca for some years having bought it as a small plant (it might have been a gift?). I’ve not taken too much notice of it until the last year or so when its presence makes itself felt, usually on my backside, when unknowingly reversing into its sharp pointed leaves! It has now become quite an attractive and large plant. I’ve even begun to give it a bit of water in dry spells – previously I’ve ignored it. I’m pretty sure that it is gloriosa ‘Variegata’ but I may be wrong.

I was very surprised when a couple of days ago I noticed it had started to send up a flower spike. I’m not sure how any early frost or bad weather will effect the flowering or, come to that, the whole plant. I suppose I’m thinking that a Yucca in the process of flowering is less likely to survive frost etc.

The more I think about it . . . the more likely it is that I acquired the plant as a present from someone. I’ve never really liked Yuccas and can’t imagine that I would have bought one. I’m not sure why I don’t like them? Perhaps it is something to do with the name?

Harvey House, Nightingale Place, Woolwich SE18

I know this is a strange thing to put amidst a gardening (& Adrasan) blog and apologies to all my avid readers.
Until the age of 8, I was brought up in Woolwich, London. We lived in a block of flats near the Common called Harvey House, it was so named because it was owned by the firm G.A. Harvey Ltd, they were a metal fabrications company based in Greenwich, my father – Jack Coe - worked for the company. The years would have been 1952 to 1959 ish.
My reason for posting this (apart from being off work today nursing a heavy cold and being bored) is that I would be really interested if anyone has any memories or even a photograph of Harvey House, it was demolished many years ago. Google seems to pick-up very quickly on the topics in this blog and I wonder if anyone else out there is searching for similar information.
If I wanted to make a link to gardening, I suppose it would be that although we lived on the ground floor of Harvey House, we only had a small yard that was totally concreted. I remember once my sister and I succeeded in smashing through the concrete to the earth (rubble) below. We got in trouble for that but perhaps it is where my interest in growing things began?
So – Harvey House, Nightingale Place, Woolwich, London SE18. My sister and I went first to Notre Dame Convent and then to Mulgrave Primary. Any comments gratefully received.

P.S. I remember the general shop, around the corner facing the Common - its name was (I think) Lumsdens or was run by Mr Lumsden.

Autumn Tides

10-10-10

Whilst on the subject of the time of year (were we?) . . . . We are round about the time of the autumn equinox and that means greater rise and fall in the tides. Coming home from the pub a few minutes ago, I noticed that the Creek, that our town is built at the head of, was very high. This is not unusual at this time of year neither is the minor flooding that takes place as a result . I just happened to take a photo of the Creek flooding the road by our local brewery.

Solanum jasminoides Variegata

Now we are getting into October a lot of plants are beginning to show thier age and there is not a lot of flowers in my garden. This is probably down to the type of plants I grow. But one plant that is still flowering well is Solanum jasminoides ‘Variegata’:

Solanum jasminoides ‘Variegata’ also known as the Potato Vine is a semi-evergreen climber with white jasmin-like flowers throughout the summer and into autumn. It has yellow variegation on the edges of its green leaves and climbs by wrapping its leaf stems around any available support.

Now, I don’t seem to do well with climbers. My clematis look sad, my roses either refuse to climb or think they must reach the summit of Everest. I have a constant battle with mildew on my Golden Hop. But Solanum jasminoides ‘Variegata’ is easy! Despite various books describing it as half-hardy and requiring full sunshine, I’ve grown it now for the past 10 years in various situations in the garden, including shade, and it is as tough as old boots! It is quite easy to manage and puts up with being hacked about when it gets a bit too rampant.

Although you would not describe its flowering habits as ‘profuse’, it does keep going all summer and is particularly good right now. The flowers are followed by very pretty metallic small fruits – I’m certain they are poisonous.

If I can grow this climber – then anyone can!!

10 – 10 - 10

Sunny Sunday Morning

So – Today is 10/10/10 and for once the sun is shining! It has been so dull and wet for what seems like weeks – but not today! Sitting having coffee, I noticed the low sunlight shining on the leaves of the plants nearest the backdoor, so I took a few photos (as I do).

There is a mixture of leaves above including: Ricinus Communis, Ensete ventricosum, Melianthus major and Canna ‘Striata’.

The above is a wider shot of the same and includes various succulents. The leaves of Colocasia fontanescii can be seen as can the flowers of Salvia ‘Cerro Potosi’.

The above shows Salvia ‘Cerro Potosi’ growing up a trellis accompanied by Aeonium ‘Schwartzkopf' and Black-Eyed Susan (Thunbergia alata). Growing amongst all this lot is the Golden Hop but that looks rather sad now at this time of year. Again, the large leaves of Colocasia fontanescii can be seen.

Anyway – Looks like being a good day as long as the east wind is not too chilly.

Holiday Adrasan Summer 2010 – Part 6

Final Part - Jottings

This final post on the subject of our Summer holiday in Adrasan has no particular theme and is just a few random thoughts and descriptions.

2004 was the first year we travelled to Adrasan. At that time the focus of the bay seemed to be on catering for the dwindling band of British tourists. I say dwindling as I think it was a year or two before that the tour operator First Choice had pulled out of the area. In our earliest visits there were quite a large number of Turkish tourists but the beaches were almost empty even in August and only a few patches of the beach had been colonised by sun loungers and sun shades. There were not many cars around and those that were tended to be old models. Today, most of the beach has been occupied by the sun-umbrellas of hotels and bars. The area is very popular with Turkish tourists but now they have the latest cars and finding a parking space is becoming a problem for them. Of course, the number of cars and Turkish tourists is a result of Turkey’s booming economy. Adrasan also seems to have become a popular weekend destination for people from Antalya. The emphasis of many of the traders along the bay has, in recent years, become more focused on catering for the Turkish tourist.

When we arrived this year at the end of July, I thought the decline in the numbers of British visitors was continuing. However, by our second week I began to notice more and more British visitors. Not only that but there were quite a lot of French, Belgium, Dutch and German visitors. With the opening of a few more largish new hotels set back from the beach perhaps the tide has turned? Is this good?

Eleanor’s Friends

My youngest daughter has celebrated her birthday in Adrasan every year for the past 7 years. She now knows a lot of people in Adrasan and a whole crowd of teenagers from a multitude of nationalities that holiday there at the same time as us. She keeps in-touch with all these friends throughout the year on the interweb. It is probably mainly due to her wishes that we return every year. No, actually we like it too! This year she spent much of her time with this crowd of friends and it was quite strange for Mrs Musa and I just to have each others company for the first time in years! The following 3 photos show ‘Eleanor’s gang’:

Above: Eleanor and friends head off to go wake-boarding

Above: Eleanor & Friends

Above: Some of Eleanor’s friends and a bit of Photoshop

Turtles

Over the years I’ve come to know that turtles lay their eggs in Cavus Bay (Adrasan), we have on many occasions helped the newly-hatched turtles to the sea. The good thing is that their numbers have increased greatly in those years with frequent sightings of them. They are Loggerhead turtles or more precisely Caretta caretta and are enormous. I decided to take my underwater camera (Canon D10) on an early morning snorkelling expedition to see if I could find them. So, at 7:00 am, just as the sun was rising, I was about 100 metres off-shore opposite the Mithat Hotel and there they were! I found three feeding on the sea grass! I must admit that I felt quite scared, the turtles are huge and I felt very alone. Diving down, I managed to get some some photographs. I’ve since been told that these creatures have very powerful jaws and can give one a nasty bite – I’m not sure how true this is – they seemed very placid. Anyway, it was a turtley fantastic experience!

Above: Loggerhead, Caretta caretta, Turtle

Kumluca and The New Road

The new road from the Antalya Highway to Adrasan opened 2 years ago. It was built to provide a better link to the main highway than the existing tortuous route. However, within a year, one half of the road had slid down the mountainside whilst the other half was occupied by rocks and earth from the mountainside above. This year the new road was closed for repair. This did not stop our taxi driver on the way to taking us to the nearest town, Kumluca. We dodged around the barriers and made our way uphill until our path was blocked by major earth-moving works. It seemed impossible to get through but our taxi-driver waited patiently, after about 5 minutes a bulldozer and roller machine came and created a surface just capable of allowing us through. It all seemed quite normal to our driver and the road-repair crew!

Kumluca is the nearest town to Adrasan and has a popular weekly market. We had not been to the town for a couple of years but we Welcome to Kumluca, Summer 2010 needed to go to the bank. The town is surrounded by acres of glass houses growing early season vegetables, it is not a tourist town. However, the vegetable growing business has obviously made it a wealthy town. The town looks very well-kept and clean with plenty of open spaces and places for people to sit in the shade.

The town celebrates its economy with giant vegetables adorning the streets and squares.

We took the opportunity to visit an old friend Seymus. He is pictured left sitting outside his restaurant in Kumluca

And . . . . Finally

The ‘Bay’ has changed over the years we’ve been travelling there. We’ve always thought that the big resort hotels would move in and the character of the place would change. There have been some new hotels but they are small/medium sized, there is still no UK tour operator in the area and luckily the place has not changed that much. On the down side the bay area is a bit shabby in places with some piles of rubble and rubbish, The beach has become over-populated with sun umbrellas (but not people), But I still enjoy going there for the scenery, friendly people and a really relaxing break. I guess we’ll be going back!

Holiday Adrasan Summer 2010 – Part 5

BOATS

The coast around Adrasan is spectacular – mountains and forests reaching down to the sea, small bays and islands. Most of the bays and coves and, of course, the islands are only accessible by boat. For that reason boat trips are a very popular option in the bay with about 8 boats to choose from. Most regular visitors have their favourite boat or captain but all the boats and captains are good. The beauty of a boat trip in the summer months is that it can be a cooler option to the beach. In recent years we have tended to use Captain Ali’s boat ‘Dazler’ but Ali (a good friend) has now sold Dazler and so we needed to experiment with alternative options.

We had a great day on the boat ‘Fionna’ with our friends Peter & Petra and Mehmet & Phyllis. We also hired Captain Seref’s boat for our daughter’s 15th birthday party. The young Musa took a crowd of about 30 friends off on an evening cruise including swimming accompanied by loud music . It worked-out to be not too expensive and an unusual birthday party. We were a little nervous as we waived farewell at about 9:00pm but Captain Seref and his girlfriend did a great job in ensuring they all had a good time.

Above: Welcoming guests aboard the party boat.

Captain Hassan’s Boat - ‘Nihalim’

Our experiments led us to join 2 other couples, John & Sue and David and Jennie in hiring Captain Hassan’s boat ‘Nihalim’ – In fact, we did this twice – it was so good! The beauty of this choice is that Nihalim is a smaller boat and Captain Hassan is happy to take just a small group of, in our case, six people (the young Musa prefers to go off with her friends). Whilst the bigger boats are good, you never quite know who and how many your fellow passengers will be and you don’t have much say in which direction the boat heads in or for how long it will be out. We booked Captain Hassan’s boat just for the 6 of us, we decided in which direction we went and where and how long we stopped in various bays.

Above: The Good Ship ‘Nihalim’

Above: Captain Hassan at the wheel

The other good thing about being aboard a smaller boat is that it is able to go closer in to shore. Nihalim can drop anchor and lay with its stern close in to the beach which means that if you are not a confident swimmer that you can climb down the ladder into waist deep water rather than having to jump in to deep water and swim for the shore as when on the larger boats (incidentally – I’m quite a strong swimmer).

Above: Nihalim at anchor in Ceneviz Bay

Hassan and his young crewman are great hosts. Lunch of fresh fish, salad and chips is cooked on the boat, at various other times of the day plates of fruit are served and tea and cakes. There is plenty of shade and plenty of space to sit or lie down.

Above: Jennie & David, John & Sue onboard ‘Nihalim’, Capt. Hassan at the wheel.

The boat also has a stock of cold drinks for sale including Efes Beer! It was luxury almost beyond imagination to drink beer whist sitting in the clear warm water!

Above: Empties on the stern of Nihalim

Captain Nihalim also has a supply of fishing lines complete with lures. I managed to catch one fish – David caught about 8 - mostly mackerel!

Above: I only caught one fish

So . . . a great day out! Leave about 10:00am back at about 5:30pm . . . . Cost? Including all food . . . . just £20 each person. Great value!

Above: Mrs Musa making a splash in Ceneviz Bay

Above: Mrs Musa on the starboard bow

Finally . . . I mentioned earlier that Ali had sold his tour-boat Dazler. He still has his fishing boat ‘Rose’ and we saw him out fishing whilst on one of our voyages on Nihalim.

Above: Ali fishing

Holiday Adrasan Summer 2010 – Part 4

Chill House

Not content with going to the same place year after year for our summer holiday, we also tend to follow a predictable life when there! How sad!

When not out on boat trips or going to the market or doing other ‘away-from-the-bay’ type things, we tend to go to the beach. More precisely, we tend to go to the Chill House Beach! There we enjoy the comfortable sun-loungers, cushions and sun shades provided and go for the odd swim. By about 1:00 pm the thought of a cold beer leads us up to the Chill House . There we have the said beer or two, a light lunch and enjoy looking out across the bay, Musa Dag and perhaps meeting up with friends. I’ve probably said enough in previous posts about how good the Chill House is and what a good bloke Musti the owner is. This year was no exception Musti and his staff made us very welcome either at lunchtime, on the beach, at dinner or when we called in just for a late-night drink. One evening we all helped save hatching turtles from being squashed by passing cars and directing them to the sea.

The following are a few photos of Chill House life from this summer’s holiday:

Above: Chill House Beach

Above: Chill House Beach from the sea.

Above: The Chill House ‘Crew’ – Sezar, Musti, Mustafa and Sahin

Above: Mustafa pours the Efes

Above: View from the Chill House – Musti and the Mountain (Musa Dag)

Above: Mrs Musa enjoys a cold beer – a very cool bookshelf behind (an old Coca Cola fridge!)

Above: Ferhat and Mrs Musa

Above: Emel & Musti

Holiday Adrasan Summer 2010 – Part 3

Arikanda River Garden – Nights

To continue on the holiday and particularly Arikanda River Garden theme . . . .

There are a number of good places to eat in the bay. I think probably the best is the Arikanda, the food is good and the atmosphere is great but it is the staff that really make it. Vahit, Felamez (must try and get this spelling right!), Akif , Mehmet and all their brothers and relatives are great fun and eager to please. Tables are set on wooden platforms in the river, joined by wooden walkways. The river water is very cold and, therefore, helps to cool down the otherwise hot summer evenings. You can also throw pieces of bread into the river whilst eating and feed the fish, eels and terrapins.

Above: late night at The Arikanda River Garden

The Arikanda make fabulous Pide bread , a type of flat bread, in their traditional stone pide oven. Great big plates of this bread, freshly made and hot are served to all customers along with ‘dips’ at the start of every meal and it is free! In my local restaurants in England one has to order and pay for bread with a meal. However, I do wonder if by serving this tasty starter free, the Arikanda are not doing themselves out of selling more food as the Pide is very filling!

Above: Pide!

The family are from the Kurdish region of Eastern Turkey and love their traditional culture including Kurdish music and particularly dancing! Mehmet (one of the brothers) has learnt to play the Saz – a sort of mandolin / guitar – although he never has a full set of strings! Once Mehmet has finished his kitchen work, it takes very little persuasion for him to join us with his Saz, in fact, the whole family will join us and whilst Mehmet plays and sings the others will play drums, join in the singing and dance.

Above: Mehmet plays the Saz and sings

Above: The family join in

Above: After-dinner entertainment

As I said above, the family that run the Arikanda are Kurdish. I don’t know enough about Turkish and Kurdish history and politics to make any comment on what does seem to be a divide in Turkish society. However, what I find truly amazing is how much the young lads at the Arikanda really love their culture. It seems quite strange in my eyes to see teenagers who look exactly like UK teenagers be so obviously in love with their traditional music and dance. Whilst staying in Adrasan I read Jeremy Paxman’s book ‘The English’. In the book he debates why the English, as opposed to the Scots, Irish and most other countries, do not have any real national music, dance, dress or other cultural identity. He concludes that the English, having not been conquered for a thousand years and having once been the most powerful nation in the world have no need to be concerned with ‘national identity’ in the form of music etc and do not even have an English national anthem. He reasons that national identity is more likely to be of importance amongst people who find their way of life under threat. For myself, I feel I have no need for nationalism and do not even particularly like the waving of the Cross of St. George which I still associate with far-right politics. Jeremy Paxman’s reasoning does seem to apply though, very well to the Kurdish people.

Holiday Adrasan Summer 2010 – Part 2

Arikanda River Garden - Cool River

Although we did not stay at the Arikanda this year, we still visited frequently for dinner in the evening and a couple of times for lunch. It is one of the best places to eat in Adrasan for excellent food, great location and friendly service.

As you might expect from our frequent visits to Adrasan, we have a few repetitive routines and habits. One such is to go to the market in the village on Sunday mornings followed by a couple of lunchtime beers at Ramasan’s bar in the village and then on (by dolmus) to the Arikanda for a light lunch and relax by the cool river. On one such Sunday this year I noticed a chair in the river and decided it would be ‘cool’ to sit on it. This aroused some interest and amusement from Akif, Felamez and their various brothers / cousins etc. We soon had a bench in the river and even a floating tray for my beer glass!: