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How To Master A Summer Cottage
How To Master A Summer Cottage

Video: How To Master A Summer Cottage

Video: How To Master A Summer Cottage
Video: COTTAGE TOUR | English Country Cottage Tour 2024, March
Anonim

Six years of work and creativity at their summer cottage

Six years ago, our friends bought a plot in the Vyborgsky district, near the town of Svetogorsk, and persuaded us to go and see the neighboring one. We really liked the nature there, there is a river nearby and many lakes. And now we are neighbors in the country.

gardener on the site
gardener on the site

But the acquired plot itself was in an ugly state, there is enough work there even now. We have 16 acres of land, besides, the soil is loamy.

Any person who has received land for a summer cottage is probably impatient to immediately start doing something. With great enthusiasm, we took up the cleaning of the site, started building beds, erected a large glass greenhouse and a greenhouse under the film, as well as a house with a small veranda. A bathhouse was built below, and a room was made upstairs. We planted bushes of currants, gooseberries, pears, viburnum bushes, yoshta, Kuril tea, jasmine, elderberry and other plants. And we inherited apple trees from the old owners.

greenhouse peppers
greenhouse peppers

We plant many different crops: beets, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkin, zucchini, potatoes, onions, garlic (before winter). Therefore, we have enough reserves for the winter. Probably every gardener plants these crops, but I want to try something new every year. We are interested in amateur gardeners who are testing new varieties and sharing their seeds. By correspondence, they sent us a lot of seeds of different crops from the Moscow region, from Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Lipetsk, from the Republic of Mordovia … It is very interesting to grow a new crop from a seed.

Last season, cucumbers made us happy with a record harvest. We collected them in buckets. Everyone probably remembers that May and June were cold last year, but that did not stop us from sowing cucumbers for the May holidays.

In fact, we start taking care of the future harvest in the fall, when the present harvest is being collected. From the varieties we like, we get the seeds ourselves, and choose them from the front of the fruit (2/3 of the length from the "nose"), the back is rejected, from the seeds located here, bitter and weak cucumbers can grow. During the growth period of zelents, we choose the specimens we like, mark them with a red cloth and leave them to ripen on the plant. It is from them that after that we get the seeds.

In the fall, add sand, humus, leaves to the beds. We bring fallen spruce or pine needles from the forest. Our beds are raised, and the soil is inside a wooden frame. In the spring we dig up the soil, lay hay, moss. The first time we heat the bath and spill the beds with boiling water with potassium permanganate and copper sulfate. Add urea, dolomite flour. The ends are completely covered with film, you can not remove them for the winter, and we close the sides in the spring. After treating the beds with boiling water, we cover the ground inside with a film, and from above it is already stretched too. So the earth warms up faster. Then the preheated seeds, processed in a solution of potassium permanganate and hatched, are planted in the holes. Additionally, we install plastic bottles cut from both sides, the seed is inside them.

We also plant seeds in the greenhouse immediately in separate cups for safety reasons, so that later on as little damage to the root system as possible. In our northern climate, this will not hurt. When the cucumbers grow up, if the weather conditions permit, we remove the plastic cups and open the south side more (we twist the film onto a block). Our cucumbers grow by themselves, we do not tie them up. Our grandmother used to plant this way. Moisture evaporates less, and with their leaves they cover the root system from the hot sun, and it is more interesting to look for them in the thick of leaves. Last year, we opened both sides of the garden, and the yield was bigger. But we do not always do this, it depends on the weather.

country house
country house

It is also convenient to grow cucumbers on a grid, they are well ventilated. And the ground can be covered with hay or moss.

We planted many different varieties and hybrids, but we made sure that it was better to collect our seeds. Last year, we tested the seeds of the selection of Pavel Yakovlevich Saraev. Back in 1937 gudu, he began work on the selection of cucumber and tomato, aimed at increasing cold resistance, drought resistance, tolerance to major diseases, as well as improving taste.

We liked his varieties Krepysh and Uchitelsky less, but Soldier and Kholod-25 turned out to be more productive in our conditions.

With cucumber (a green cucumber, and a ripe one - like a melon) so far we have not succeeded, but we do not lose hope.

But we really liked the lemon cucumber, interesting fruits in shape (like lemons) and taste. And this plant is unpretentious.

The Apomixis Konyaevs variety was grown (origin without fertilization). This variety is of the female type of flowering, which means there will be fewer barren flowers. The fruit is a long, dark green cucumber with thorns.

We salt, pickle, make salads. For example, we really like pickled cucumbers: Here's how we cook them:

At the bottom of the jar we put garlic, lovage (leaves), dill, currant leaves, black and fragrant pepper, cloves.

The composition of the marinade (per 1 liter of water): 50 g of granulated sugar (2 tablespoons); 50 g of salt (1.5 tablespoons); 2 bay leaves, 5 pcs. carnations, 3 pcs. pepper (peas), pour in 2 tbsp. tablespoons of vinegar.

A novelty of the last season was the kavbuz. This is a hybrid of pumpkin and watermelon, bred in Kiev at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics.

pumpkin
pumpkin

Kavbuz occupies one of the first places among plant sources of carotene, the presence of which provides an antitumor effect, is used for the prevention of atherosclerosis, and is useful for everyone who suffers from diseases of the liver, kidneys, cardiovascular and nervous systems. The pulp is orange, very sweet, the fruits are large.

Grow it like a pumpkin. We plant pumpkins every season in the same beds as cucumbers, or on compost heaps. In early May, at the dacha, so as not to transport the seedlings, we soak the seeds and sow the hatched seeds in cups filled with fertile soil. As soon as shoots appear and even the first real leaf, we plant the seedlings from the greenhouse under the film. In such conditions, the plants will survive the spring frosts, and with the established heat they grow and twist in rows. Female flowers require additional pollination. The most important thing is to keep the distance between the plantings of pumpkin, zucchini and squash.

Add fresh pumpkin to salads, fry in slices, make pancakes. It turns out very tasty puree from pumpkin and potatoes in equal parts.

We cannot do without "experiments in the garden" with tomatoes. Perhaps none of the vegetable crops (after potatoes) is as popular as tomato. And this is understandable. They are delicious, rich in vitamins, perfectly tolerate culinary processing, turning into a great variety of dishes, they are well ripened, which means they can be removed green.

This culture requires the constant attention of the gardener. The whole season - either watering, then weeding, then loosening, then hilling, then pinching, then installing supports, etc.

We grow tomato seedlings at home. In advance, in the fall, we harvest the land, take it from the forest and bring it home. We store it on the balcony. We mix this land with coconut substrate, peat, dolomite flour. We add AVA fertilizer to the cups, and fertilize Kemira Lux with fertilizer. We sow tomatoes, from February to mid-March, illuminate them with lamps. Before sowing, the seeds are kept in a solution of potassium permanganate, and after swelling in a nutrient medium, we harden them in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. When sowing, we use seeds with high germination energy. We plant plants in May-June, depending on the weather, every year in a different way. Our tomatoes grow in a glass greenhouse and under a film.

Before planting, we also pour boiling water over the ridges, add dolomite flour, urea. We plant plants in a checkerboard pattern. We make the holes deep, plant tomatoes in them just below the level that was in the glass, compact the ground around. We put the middle of the plastic bottle on the plant before or after planting, insert the edges into the ground, and cover the tomato stem, which is in the cup, with earth or humus. In this cup, additional roots are formed on the plant. We tie up the tomatoes from the ground to the top of the greenhouse.

We tried to squeeze many different varieties: both short and tall. And every season we select the more productive ones.

Last season, the Graceful variety turned out to be fruitful, Red Alert was also tried - very high, the fruits were picked green. I also liked the varieties of P. Ya. Sarajeva: 0-33, CX-4 - undersized, many fruits, amazing taste and smell.

The varieties were planted Buyan, Cardinal, Oxheart, King of Giants, Miracle of the Market, Lionheart, Sloth, hybrid Kaspar F and others. This season we will try new varieties of Sarajevo selection.

In the spring, while the tomato and cucumber plants are small, we sow radishes and lettuce in rows between them. While the main plants are growing up, the radishes are already ripe, they have enough heat and moisture, and they ripen faster.

Black nightshade was a gimmick of the season. All parts of this plant, except for ripe berries, are poisonous!

Ripe berries are eaten fresh, they make infusions. Berries have a beneficial effect on eyesight, have a laxative, antiseptic effect. Leaves - wound healing, anti-inflammatory action. This plant requires caution when applied. Sow nightshade and plant seedlings in the ground at the same time as tomatoes. This plant is tall, dotted with black berries.

Nightshade grew up in our greenhouse. It was interesting to try a curiosity. We made an infusion of berries.

We also tried to grow a tomato relative, Red Eggplant. In appearance, it resembles a tomato, very tasty. True, few fruits grew, but we left the first of them for seeds, and the rest were used in cooking. We use the collected seeds this season, maybe we will get a bigger harvest.

Last spring, we received new varieties of seed potatoes from Mordovia. We ordered them one tuber at a time, for divorce. Each variety has shown itself in a different way. We left the grown tubers with a neighbor in the cellar, so this season we will definitely continue testing them.

And the varieties are: Ruste (Ireland) - very early (small tubers have grown); Fairy tale (early maturation) - I liked it very much; Early yellow (yellow pulp) - three large tubers have grown; Asterix (early ripening, red skin) - small tubers; Linzer Bleu (Germany) - flesh like red beet, very unusual. Four small tubers have grown.

Shaman (blue-eyed) - smooth, beautiful tubers; Duckling, Ramsay, Daryonka - early varieties. Bred in the Penza Research Institute of Agriculture. We liked it very much.

We plant potatoes every year, about two hundred square meters, the harvest was good (42 buckets). Therefore, I want to try something new in our loamy land.

The "sweet" harvest last season was small. We collected some currants, strawberries, gooseberries, there were also few apples.

But on the other hand, there were so many mushrooms in the area that many different very tasty preparations could be made. For example, caviar from mushrooms and tomatoes.

Turn 1 kg of boiled mushrooms and 1 kg of tomatoes through a meat grinder, add a glass of sunflower oil, salt to taste. Put the caviar on the fire for 15-20 minutes, and then transfer to sterilized jars and roll up.

And here is another original recipe. By the end of the season, each gardener has 3 kg of tomatoes, 1 kg of apples and onions. Cut sweet tomatoes and apples into 2-4 pieces. Chop the onion finely. Put everything in a saucepan and cook over low heat for 30-40 minutes, until the apples and onions soften. Then rub the mixture through a sieve, discard the waste.

The sauce is almost ready, put it on fire and evaporate the water from the vegetables to thicken it. Season with salt and sugar to taste. Dip 2 bay leaves, 10 peppercorns, a little cinnamon and cloves into a saucepan. Pour in vinegar, first half a tablespoon, and then add more to taste. When the sauce thickens, remove from heat. Pour into jars and roll up.

And what delicious canned tomatoes! 1 liter. water: salt - 1 tablespoon; vinegar - 2 tbsp. spoons; granulated sugar - 1 tbsp. the spoon; bay leaf - 1 pc.; peppercorns - 5-7 pcs.; cloves - 2 pcs.; dill - 2 branches; currant leaf - 5 pcs.; onions (rings on top) - 1 pc.; garlic - 1 small head.

I think every gardener has many delicious culinary recipes. All of us have one thing in common - the result of our creativity, the fact that we managed to find an exciting activity for ourselves - cooking tasty, healthy, hearty homemade food from vegetables and fruits grown by our own hands.

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