August & September #7: The Returnal
I told you last time that it was going to be a while. It’s been a long but swiftly paced two months. Out of the eight weeks, I’ve spent almost four of them abroad. In mid-August, I left for my annual vacation to the beautiful island of Tenerife. It wasn’t my first or second time there—it was the fourth time I visited this place of inner peace. As usual, I spent almost three weeks there doing a whole bunch of nothing, just enjoying the moment. After so many years, it doesn’t feel like I’m going to a new and exciting place awaiting discovery; it feels like a retreat to a family cottage. The difference is that the house isn’t mine, and neither is the family. I like to stay in very rural areas near the sea, with minimal tourist flow, and thankfully, there is just the right place in northern Tenerife. I will not disclose it to keep it safe and for me only.
And just as I thought I was heading home, a business trip to London popped up on my work calendar. Let me tell you, I can say as many bad things about London as I can say positive things about Tenerife. But to give the city some credit, the Ealing area is lovely and livable. I could imagine living in such a neighborhood—if only it weren’t in London. I even had time to visit the famous Kew Gardens, and I enjoyed it immensely. It’s the best botanical garden I’ve ever visited, and I absolutely love the old, massive Victorian greenhouse, the Palm House. If only I had the money to build something similar for myself here in the Czech Republic to grow bananas! That would be amazing.
But now, let’s finally take a look at my garden!
the midseason
I left my garden fully automated. I only tasked my mom with minor duties but aimed for as much automation as possible this year. The self-watering pipe—or AquaPipe—I installed in the pumpkin field paid off. The soil is always moist, and the plants love it. I’ll also use the same irrigation in the greenhouse and the cucumber field.
In the greenhouse, just as a last-minute surprise when all hope for melons was nearly gone, a single melon appeared! My hopes for its survival were low, but as you’ll see later, it was delivered! The Red Robin tomatoes were taking off, and I harvested many of them just before leaving for vacation.
Two days before my departure, I removed my pickling cucumbers and planted the kohlrabi I sowed in July, giving them a hefty sprinkle of Ferramol for the slugs.
the departure
I’ve spent much time describing what I love about Tenerife, so here are just a few strange highlights. Last year, the island went through one of the most catastrophic forest fires in recorded history. Much of the national park, Corona Forestal, burned above the La Orotava Valley and around the TF-24 road. The fire raged for almost two months, and many areas await recovery. This year, I could visit several affected places, even though they’re officially closed but accessible. On the one hand, I felt sorry for the burned trees, but it’s nice to see all the new growth emerging, creating interesting patterns on the hills.
Since I could travel to Teide Park this year, I had to test the night mode on my phone by doing casual astrophotography in the desert. I was pleasantly surprised by how much detail the phone captured, though the reality is still quite different—you have to see it with your own eyes.
There was one place on the island I was determined to visit this year: the Semaphore of Anaga. It’s an old maritime semaphore used to signal information about a ship’s nationality, size, and other details to the port of Santa Cruz and relay weather and entry permissions to the ship. This building is located on a very steep cliff on the easternmost side of Anaga National Park. The semaphore was eventually closed, but not until 1970—long after radio communication became standard.
the homecoming
My plane landed at 11:30 p.m., and right after a painful gym session and a quick lunch, I had to check on my garden. The weather had been harsh. When I left the island, it was pleasantly warm, around 28°C, but the Czech Republic was experiencing a severe heatwave with highs reaching 36°C. The heat wouldn’t have been the worst, but it had been almost a week without rain, and the forecast wasn’t good. The situation was dire, especially for my hydroponic tomatoes, which had nearly run out of nutrient-rich water. Without rainwater, I couldn’t make more. I have a deep-drilled freshwater well, but it’s full of dissolved iron and doesn’t yield much. Despite that, the tomatoes were thriving—even the ones infected with potato rot back in July. This year is truly the year of the tomato.
The tomato on the right was hit by rot back in July.
The main attraction was in the greenhouse—a sight to behold. When I left, I expected the bell peppers to mature and my mom would harvest them, but they waited patiently for me. All the peppers were showing off their colors—the beautiful yellow of Habaneros, the angry brownish hue of Nagabrain, and Tabasco peppers' ornamental red and orange. And the tiny melon from earlier? It’s huge now!
But it’s not all fun and sunshine. The cucumbers, as were the Red Robin tomatoes, were practically dying at this point. I can’t complain, though—both had finished their season. They produced a nice amount of fruit, and now it’s time to remove them. The method of coiling cucumbers worked well, and the plants grew to about 3 meters without shading anything in just 1.8 meters. Next season, I’ll probably move the cucumbers outside. Summer temperatures rise yearly, and the plants don’t like it—they produce deformed fruits.
I’ll clear some debris in spring next year and build a makeshift greenhouse with removable panels just for cucumbers. It will provide enough protection in late spring and enough cooling through the summer, and I’ll apply the same method to the melons.
Because of the warm spring and hot summer, my apples ripened more than two weeks earlier than usual. I was worried that leaving them on the tree would cause them to fall, and since I had already lost enough fruit this year, I decided to harvest them. It turned out to be a smart move because soon after, we received some bad weather news.
the second departure
The heatwave we experienced in the first half of September was abruptly cut short due to global warming. A disruption in the Arctic jet stream “streamed” cold air across the country. This caused the hot, humid air to condense into heavy rainfall, dropping temperatures as low as 8°C. Rainfall was predicted to exceed 300 liters per square meter, triggering one of the most destructive floods in the past 20 years. I live in Prague, which is well-protected by a series of dams up the river and my home’s location on a hill, but many people weren’t so lucky and lost their homes.
And right in the middle of this weather, I had to leave for London. There wasn’t much I could do to protect my garden from the rain. I collected as many tomatoes as possible to prevent them from rupturing, shut my greenhouse to keep the inside warm, and hoped for the best.
Since the trip to London was purely business, most of my days consisted of commuting to the office, trying (unsuccessfully) to get wasted on British beer, and taking late-night walks back to the hotel. On the last day, I had the chance to visit Kew Gardens—the beautiful botanical garden filled with greenhouses.
the end is nigh
The second half of September usually marks the end of the season for most crops, but not this year. I still have plenty of tomatoes ripening! For the first time in my life, my tomatoes are still going strong into October! I must have done something right this year, and I hope to repeat the success next year. It’s probably the location I chose this year. The tomatoes I left in the old spot aren’t doing particularly well. The hydroponic tomatoes have used up all the nutrients in the water, and I’ve refilled the reservoir with just rainwater. The coco coir I’m using is great at holding nutrients, so there’s no need to keep feeding them at this late stage. I plan to dump the used coco coir into the pumpkin beds and possibly use it for garlic and onions next year.
Speaking of pumpkins, I’ve harvested them all. The first frost is forecasted for the first night of October, and I don’t want to lose them. I’m slightly disappointed in the Sweet Meat Oregon homestead pumpkin—I got only two. I had a few more, but they didn’t make it to the end. I’m not sure why. Those plants produced a lot of male flowers but very few female ones despite having the same conditions as the butternut squash. Conversely, the butternut squash went wild, and I think I’m set for winter. The final yield is 18 squashes of various sizes.
I harvested the one and only melon I had. It was deformed due to the conditions in the greenhouse. A friend of mine grew up in the same variety outdoors and had better success. The fruits were smaller but more uniform and actually yellow. Despite its name, Banana melon, it tastes like a sweeter cantaloupe. It’s the first melon I’ve ever grown—not bad!
The kohlrabi field is now the only thing still growing. Thankfully, kohlrabi and beets are very cold-hardy plants and will continue growing even with temperatures in the low single digits. Both are forming bulbs nicely.
The only question is what I’ll do with them! The beets will likely serve a demonstrative purpose in my upcoming post about fermentation. That post will showcase some of my other ferments and include a recipe for my extraordinary Mango Habanero sauce. I hope laziness won’t get the better of me.
But despite the approaching end of this season, it’s not the end of these posts! I’ve already sown 9 Bird's Eye peppers and 9 Micro-Tom tomatoes, and I have no space to put them. I’ll use my HydroHALLBAR featured in this post.
Jakub Dušek
I’ve refined the design and am almost happy enough to release it. However, the tiny LIXHULT won’t be able to house them all, and I’m also running some other systems!
Spoiler alert: I’m already eyeing the BROR shelving unit.
Member discussion