[svalli]

Thank you all for the compliments. Actually the zone here by the west coast is not so bad for gardening. Summer here is short, but we are so close to the sea, that the late frosts seldom hit us. My main vegetable garden is 120 km inland, and it is totally different zone with colder winter temperature and threat of frost through summer.

This summer has been something exceptional with dry and hot weather continuing for weeks. Last week we hit the record of 33,7 °C here in Vaasa. We are now on summer vacation and it has been way too hot to do any work around the house, which we usually do during our vacation. Wild blueberries are ripening, but even the forests are too hot to go to and there are a lot of all sorts of biting flies, so I have not done any berry picking except strawberries from the garden. Most of my time home seems to watering the greenhouse, raised beds and potted plants.

If I knew the this year is so hot, I would have tried some more exotic plants. A colleague brought me seeds from China and I tried the Luffa first time, without expecting any harvest. The plants are now climbing on the greenhouse beams and I have been able to pollinate two of the first female flowers. The first fruit is now week old and is growing rapidly.