Orto di Casa Cecconi

My first allotment, and then one thing leading to another…

L’orto di Casa Cecconi Plants Recipes Me & Kew One Year at Wisley

Tag: pests

  • When pear shoots go black

    After coming out green and fresh, full of life, pear shoots can suddenly turn black and droopy. The sight is quite dramatic but can really signify anything from harmless to “quick, remove that and burn it!”. Below are two of the most frequent reasons, starting with the harmless one. Pear shoot sawfly (Janus compressus) Not…

  • Pear pests and diseases

    One of the joys of horticulture is the continuous learning process you go through while caring for and observing your plants through the seasons, year after year. One of the frustrations is that we seem to know rather less than we think we do about plants and the environment: it is sometimes difficult to be…

  • PD&D: pests, diseases and disorders

    As part of my coursework for the certificate, I had to write a Pest and Disease project. I researched 15 of the most common pests (vertebrates and invertebrates that feed, inhabit or otherwise live off plants, damaging or killing them) and diseases (caused by microorganisms such as fungi, viruses and bacteria), choosing ones that I…

  • In the veg garden

    Sowing sowing everywhere, then thinning out, planting out, covering, watering… it’s a busy time in the veg garden where the spring rush is on to get the beds filled and looking lush! That is what I have been doing over the last two months in the veg garden particularly, and below is more information by…

  • The mint collection

    It was the end of February when I helped in the herb garden to remove the mint from its bed for propagation purposes. I was struck at the time that you could count be so many different scents of mint, but there was not much left in the pots that we removed from the ground…

  • Indoors trained vines – part 2: spring

    … go to part part 1: winter Buds breaking on a spur As I was saying, now that’s spring, I have spent a couple of days training the new shoots, born out of the embryonic buds, to the wires that will help bear the weight of their large and perfect-looking grapes. How can I impress…

  • Indoors trained vines – part 1: winter

    After tending to Vitis ‘Muscat of Alexadria’ as one of the first things when I arrived back in September, I have spent more time in the greenhouse, tending to the very demanding crops that indoors vines are. After all grapes are picked, the greenhouse’s vents were opened, so the chill coming in stimulates leaf drop…

About Me

M.Paola M.Paola, that’s me

I got my first allotment in the UK in 2007 and started gI got my first allotment in the UK in 2007 and started growing my own food. Learning as I went along was not enough, so I studied horticulture. Faced with the horticultural warfare, I became a conscientious objector: I use no chemicals and support organic principles and regulations.

Brexit gave me a new life in the Netherlands, three new plots by a nature reserve and an MSc in sustainable food systems.

I write in my personal capacity and, as a language perfectionist and a non native speaker, I keep reviewing my entries’ text for clarity.

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