During our return journey from Istanbul via the Dardanelles towards Izmir, we also passed the region around the tourist town of Ayvalik. Like almost everywhere in Turkey, the construction industry is booming here and this is why there is often serious clear-cutting in nature, even if it "only" consists of huge groves of thousands of olive trees.

Our hike up to the Walmendinger Horn was not only an experience because of the truly indescribable view of the mountain panoramas in the area, but also the multitude of plants and herbs, some of which showed their full blooms, were simply fascinating in the variety of their variations.

Right at the beginning of our project trip we met in Vienna the responsible coordinator and organizer of the Roman festival in Brunn am Gebirge, Dr. Krickl, who will also involve us in the upcoming Roman festival of 2015 in Brunn as we develop further contacts and share our common interests.

On our tours through small towns and communities, we often noticed linden trees that had been planted in village squares for special occasions and therefore, in addition to their function as a source of shade and oxygen, must have other meanings in the lives of the residents.

Almost every Turkey lover knows the small Turkish dwarf banana from the Riviera coast, which is so wonderfully sweet and tasty on the markets and vegetable bazaars.

We were guests of friends in Alanya and were invited to dinner with homemade avocado cream as the conversation deepened. At first, the idea of ​​going to a restaurant was in the foreground, but the conventional German-style “evening meal” was quickly preferred.

We were traveling with our friend Ricky from Izmir on the Çesme Peninsula when we drove into the town of Alaçati during lunchtime. In addition to the obligatory tour of the town, we also wanted to have lunch here.

Preservation and protection of nature are important issues on the agenda of many people today. Unfortunately, however, the protection of animals or plants is often misunderstood, namely when the species or genus does not actually belong in a region or can even have a significantly negative impact on the region and thus contribute to the extinction of other species.

A dry-looking, herbaceous tuft in the slightly dark storage room had caught our attention and so the question arose as to whether this tuft should be disposed of with the biological waste.

Arabica coffee, also known as mountain coffee, is the economically most important type of coffee. Coffea arabica is said to originally come from southwestern Ethiopia.

Like often before we were going shopping at the weekly market in Cikcili / Alanya to buy couple of  fruit and vegetables for the coming days.

Every year there are several thousand tourists who combine their vacation in Turkey with the purchase of still cheaper textiles.

We were on our weekly shopping tour of the Antalya bazaar when we came across the fruit and vegetable vendor's stall offering the fruits of the prickly pear (group of Opuntia) for tasting and sale.

Only a few sites of this bizarre species of tree you will find anymore that once was responsible for the success of maritime trade but also contributed so greatly to the navies of the ancient Great Powers - the cedar of Lebanon.

Those who drive across the country these days will not infrequently marvel at the gleaming red splendor of the poppies on the edges of the grain fields, which have meanwhile found their way into many gardens.

Just slightly cloudy skies and not too powerfully warm sunshine had once again tempted us to hike to the forest swimming pool near Rastenberg, which we wanted to reach via the now well-signposted donkey path above Billroda.

The tour around the weekly market, which is still limited, shows, despite Corona, that there are also some imports possible every year despite many bottlenecks, including rhubarb, whose time is just beginning for us.

I can well remember when, as part of a carpentry project, I suggested making a model window out of robinia. In its time there was a great contradiction and objections came from all sides: absolutely twisty, hard and hardly machinable, high wear of the tools, etc.

Many gardeners see thistles just as weeds, but there are very attractive species and varieties that even enhance gardens and plantings.

Among all the hazelnut exporting countries in the world, Turkey took first place in the world with sales of 1.29 billion US dollars, the country supplied about 90 other countries with hazelnut products.