Ex-lurker in central Europe

[Bren In Pots]

Hello and welcome to the vine Zelenina

Its easy to lurk but its much more fun to join in and post at this rate it wont be long until you qualify for the VSP

[Zelenina]

Its easy to lurk but its much more fun to join in and post at this rate it wont be long until you qualify for the VSP

Yes you're right, it's much more fun . Don't know why I was so shy. And if I'd joined in sooner I could've had a few entries in the virtual show. Never mind, there's always next year.

[Noosner]

Hello Zelenina. Great that you have emerged - looking forward to hearing about how things grow in your neck of the woods. Sounds as if you have your hands full over there!

[Zelenina]

Thanks everyone for all the great welcomes

Nicos - I'm not sure if the way I do gardening qualifies as skills and techniques I certainly keep an eye on my veggie-gardening neighbours and try to learn from them.

Some differences from the UK:

Slovaks don't dig with square spades but pointed ones similar to Irish shovels. They use hoes for digging too, but not usually forks.

With the hotter summers people grow stuff outside here that's marginal in most of the UK. Lots of tomatoes, peppers, corn and cucumbers. Some aubergines, and squash and melons. Peach, cherry and apricot trees are common. Grapevines too. But also plenty of more ordinary stuff like spuds and carrots and onions for winter storage, and cabbage for fermenting.

There doesn't seem to be an awful lot of successional planting. They mostly just grow a big glut of stuff in the summer, then pickle it or turn it into alcohol.

Grapes are grown for wine, but almost any other kind of fruit is turned into hard spirits. Pears, apples and apricots are the favourites. They do the fermenting at home and then take it to a local distillery. This is then served to visitors in small shot glasses.

Garlic is about the only thing grown over winter. Lots of garlic. Sprouting broccoli is totally unknown, and kale not at all common.

Runner beans are grown for the seeds to dry and put in soups. Nobody eats the pods. French beans are mostly dried for soups too.

It was only when I saw two lots of "parsnips" in the same shop one day, with two different names in Slovak, that I realised most of what I'd previously thought were parsnips were actually root parsley.

Celeriac is also very popular (I don't know why) and kohl rabi, but I've never seen a swede. It is possible to buy one variety of swede seeds here, but I think they don't grow well in this area. I'm going to try it anyway.