Last winter we did not get much rain in Kea, and this, the 2021, summer was particularly hot for more than a couple of days: for about two exhausting weeks the temperature remaining very high, even at night, something quite rare.  

Back in the spring, we had already noticed that the vegetation was far from lush this year, and  then by June we realized our trees were not doing well at all.  The big fig tree, whose particularly large leaves Costas uses to wrap the sea bass for grilling, had fewer and much smaller leaves, and the figs were tiny and far from abundant.  

And our lemon trees that produce wonderfully aromatic thick-skin lemons look particularly tortured.  

The only thing that is thriving this strange summer is our small, much-pampered vegetable garden, where we added extra compost and organic fertilizer –basically dried sea weeds.

Every cloud has a silver lining

On the other hand, less rain and humidity brought less bugs, and with the appropriate drip irrigation we managed to produce more vegetables. Our heirloom rose bushes, planted next to the vegetable patches along with other flowering plants, and most importantly, various aromatics like basil, oregano, European thyme, mint, and rose geraniums, were thriving as well in our small vegetable garden! And no beetles around to devour the roses, for a change..

As we are collecting our tomatoes, squash, peppers, and Sicilian eggplants, we remember that every cloud has a silver lining; yet still, we do hope for more rain and less heat next year!

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