[Life in Spain] The tragedy that happened when I started a home garden abroad

Just as I was getting into a daily routine and starting to want a little change or excitement.
There was something I absolutely wanted to do when I came to Spain, so I decided to go for it.
That is...
“Self-sufficiency by growing the ingredients I want to eat in a home garden!”

My husband started a home garden back when we lived in Japan.
The city manages the land, and if you register, they rent out a plot of about 18 square meters (which is quite large).
This was so much fun, and we grew various vegetables every season.
*I only did the watering and sowing... My job was to eat them after harvest. I got the best part. My husband did everything else: preparing the soil, weeding, thinning, and so on. He is a diligent person.

The start of my dream home garden

There is a small trench? at our house, so we decided to put soil in it and make it a small home garden space.
It looks like it might not get much sun, but once the seedlings grow, they will get enough sunlight, and since the days are long in the summer when we expect to harvest, it should be fine.

To start, I tried planting seeds for things like shiso, eggplant, and tomatoes.

By the time I had forgotten where I planted what, they finally sprouted a little, but they showed no signs of growing further and it was a failure.
Maybe it didn't get enough sun.

A big revenge success!?

Thinking that growing from seeds was too high a hurdle, this time I bought seedlings at the market.
This time, it was tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers, and pumpkins.
I spent my days watering them, dreaming of the day when the small trench would be full of vegetables.
Grow big, grow big...

The tomatoes and strawberries, which get plenty of sun, grew rapidly, and it was about time to buy stakes.
I added fertilizer, and even though I occasionally forgot to water them, I watched them grow every day,
cherishing them like my own children.

Just when I thought, 'Okay, everything is going well,' I suddenly noticed something.

Is it the season, or is it the garden?

The 'Aren't there a lot of fruit flies lately?' problem

This must be because of the season.
It's been nearly 30 degrees lately and it's hot.

Before I knew it, I was clapping my hands together to kill bugs.
I have always hated bugs.
Once, I tried to brush a bug off my father with my hand, but I accidentally killed it, and I was so surprised that I smeared it on him. I'm sorry.
One day, a spider appeared, so I sucked it up with a vacuum cleaner and let it go.
This is a common experience for people who don't like them, right...?

But this time, there were so many flying around that I couldn't even say that, and I couldn't concentrate on my studies, so I had no choice but to gain the strength to exterminate them.

This must be because of the season.
It's not the garden's fault.

The first harvest is my favorite OOO!

By the time killing bugs became a daily routine and I got used to it,
the time for harvest finally arrived!
Here is my beloved child!!

It's a tiny little strawberry!! 🍓
My favorite treat.
Back when my husband was living alone, he harvested one berry from his balcony garden, so let's call this one the second generation.

It feels like a waste to harvest it.
I want to keep watching over it carefully forever.
But I felt bad about missing the perfect time to eat it, so I made up my mind and snip! ✂️

We'll share it between the two of us.
As for the taste...

This surely isn't because of the season.

Celebrating the first harvest of my long-awaited home garden boosted my motivation even more.
Since the soil dries out easily, I watered it frequently and added nutrients, and before I knew it, it became part of my daily routine.

However, I had already realized something by this point.

“Fruit flies are growing right along with the garden, aren't they?”
This surely isn't because of the season

Every time I opened the window to water the plants, they would fly around energetically.
I'll skip the details because just writing it down makes my whole body itch.
I tried various methods to exterminate them.

1. Buy insect repellent gel
   It didn't seem very effective, so I didn't buy it.

2. Put ponzu in a container.

3. Put wine in a container.
   Both are said to be substitutes for pesticides. Low effectiveness.

4. Place an insect repellent ring
   It stopped working immediately.

5. Just swat them
   High temporary effectiveness. High effort.

Even so, the situation didn't improve at all, so I decided to take the final measure.

Thank you, my fleeting paradise.

After spraying plenty of insect repellent to prevent them from entering the room,
I threw away all the soil, which was over 30 kilograms.

Getting rid of it was harder than the effort it took to bring it in.
I felt sad seeing the tomato seedlings growing well even though I had stopped watering them for a while, but there was nothing else I could do.
And I was a little tired of the days spent being at their mercy.

The space that used to be my home garden is now completely clean
and back to how it was without a trace, but the battle with the fruit flies has come to an end, and I can live in peace again.
It's lonely, but I'll use this experience to consider a different location next time!

Like finding a plot of land a bit further away from the house.
For now, I've started hydroponic cultivation of shiso leaves, which don't seem to attract bugs.
I hope it goes well this time! ♩

If you have any good methods or if you've tried home gardening yourself,
please leave a comment.

Goodbye!