Autumn

I love autumn more than any other seasons. It provides serenity in deep warm colors and shades. Taking a walk in the forest with only the sound of your breath as your companion is the closest way to get to know yourself. The view of 360 degrees at Monte Fogliame is extremely breathtaking. I took a Polish girlfriend recently there and she deeply felt like she was walking in the forest back home. Despite the wet season that we are experiencing now, the season never fails to reveal its beauty.

Kiruna,Sweden ....above the Artic Circle

The places on Earth are extremely fascinating with so many different ways to explore the beauty of it. Kiruna is more than 100km above the Artic Circle and around 1200 km from Stockholm and it is absolutely offer you a different way of seeing how you should take a look at your life. We were there recently and we experienced what I called 'real geographical moments' and now I really understand what I learned in geography textbooks.

Since we were there early June, the 'midnight sun' is our highlight of the visit. As the name suggests, the sun never sets! We had the sun and the sunlight in 24 hours! Gosh.....I really had a hard time to sleep at night (or at least what appeared on my watch).

The temperature was around 5 to 8 degrees Celcius and we had good weather throughout our stay.We drove to the Abisko National Park which is located around 100km north west of Kiruna. The vegetation and the landscape is totally make you wonder the force of every living element on Earth to survive in a harsh condition when the temperature can simply go down to more than -40 degrees Celcius in the long winter months.

I have never seen what I called "pussy willow' trees covered almost every inch of the ground....they are everywhere! The warm season is yet to come there but I could see the vegetation is changing rapidly with the advantage of the midnight sun!

May is one of my favourite months because it brings hints of romance in the air....with my roses in the garden. They are so lovely with layers of petals and the sweet perfume is absolutely beyond any descriptions. A simple arrangement of roses freshly cut early in the morning could brighten up my days ahead.

Alluring Aquilegia

Aquilegia is one of the plants that enriched the corner of every garden. They love partly shaded area and not fussy about the soil.The name aquilegia is derived from the Latin word for an eagle as the spurs resemble the talons of an eagle). I have a few aquilegia with different colors like deep red, white, purple, dark purple ( the very popular 'Nora Barlow' named after the granddaughter of Charles Darwin). It has layers of deep dark purple petals like the ruffles on a Flamenco's skirt. As aquilegia comes later in spring, I mix them together with small petticoat daffodils and snowdrops that come earlier in the season so they could become the cover plant after all small bulbose plants fade.

Peas

It is quite pleasant to work in the garden nowadays eventhough, the weather can be very deceptive. The humming of the bumble and honey bees are constant companion while weeding and it is really a work of art of these 'insects' that we could have different fruits or vegetables in different season. The pollination that is done by this 'creative creature' is nothing but a genius symbiotic relation that we have to appreciate.

Peas are in season now, and this year I have planted my peas everywhere in the garden and even in my flower beds. I have planted the real climbing peas. This type of peas do not generate plenty of yields as compared to the 'low creeping' peas. I had the creeping peas in my kitchen garden until last two years. No doubt, they gave us crates of peas to shell but that also caused me 'huge back pain' when picking them from the vines. I am happy with less crops, as long as my back pain is at shore.

Iris

I should say that I am very proud of my irises especially the double colors. Iris does not need particular attention and it is really suitable for any type of soil and resistant to drought, cold and any kind of diseases. In my garden, I combine my iries with roses, daffodils and this year with climbing peas. In short, iris is such a lovely plant and I have them almost at every corner of my garden.

Spring is always an intermediate season for my kitchen garden, when I have only a few vegetables in my hand whereas my body needs a lot of 'freshness' and loads of vitamins. However, my peas are coming up and I have eaten it fresh from the pod yesterday. The sweetness of the peas eaten straight from the vine is absolutely every kitchen gardener would enjoy. This year, I planted the climbing peas together with my mixed borders and they look lovely with the bearded iris.

I also have some rocket plants and some spring onions. Rocket or arugula is best to be eaten now, as the leaves will be hardened later in the season.Yesterday, I had some rocket salad with carrots and spring onions together with shaved parmesan. The taste is really fresh.