The first grape berries rise

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With the beginning of June the first grape berries rise.

The vine is subject to attack by many pests or diseases which must be protected specially in the vegetative cycle.

Weather conditions greatly influence the mode and intensity of the attack, but the conduct of the vineyard, its sanity, the quality of prevention and caste whose resistance to diseases and pests can be very different from each other, also determine the severity of the occurrence.

The primary treatment phase takes place in a relatively short period of time: from the cotton bud till the closure curl, i.e. the first 3 months of vegetative cycle. The long, hot and dry Summer, main characteristics of the Mediterranean climate, usually does not require treatment between the close of the berry and the painter (the moment when the berries come color), and from then to the proximity of harvest limits the application of most treatments.

Potatoes branches to be buried

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This year the potatoes were not watered. The weather was very rainy, and too much water does not favor a large production of potatoes, in addition of being smaller than in previous years. After potatoes uprooted from the land, they were left a day in the sun to dry. The next day they were collected, cleaned and stored in a clean and no light environment, while the branches remained on the surface of the ground to be buried in the future.

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Hydrangea

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Known by the name hydrangea or hortênsia, it is native from Japan an China but now is cultivated as an ornamental plant in all temperate and subtropical regions. There are different species presenting blue flowers or pink ones depending on the soil PH, in acid soils there are blue flowers but in alkaline soils are pink ones. My hydrangeas are pink so it means the soil is alkaline. You can have a multicolored field of hyndrageas (hortênsias) if you control the ph of soil in different areas. Hydrangea can be shade or semi-shade plant. It is very difficult to have beautiful hydrangeas on a dry environment, hydrangeas only can survive on a hot and sunny climate if it has high humidity. Attention to winters too, they can't be too cold, temperatures lower the -3ºC the hydrangeas can freeze and burn because of it. They can recover just with a heavy pruning. In colder environments we can protect the stems with leaves wrapped in plastic from the late spring frosts. Thankfully in Portugal, this winter wasn't too cold and it was full of rain so we'll have beautiful hydrangeas because the well is full too for the summer.