French gardens are a joy. We get the weather that is perfect for growing almost everything, there is so much space and land available, and trees, trees, trees galore. The runner beans are coming to an end now, and I am leaving some on to harvest the bean seeds for next year. The tomatoes are still going strong though, and I can't pick the cherry or cerise tomatoes fast enough. I have been cutting them in half, sprinkling sea salt, olive oil and bay leaves over them and roasting them in the oven for half an hour. Once they have cooled, I spoon them into little bags & pop them in the freezer. Thay make fantastic pizza toppings for the winter suppers. I have some Pomadoro type tomatoes too, but they are still green and if they don't ripen, then I'll be checking out the web for some green tomato tips. The last grass cutting should be at the end of this month and then we have to wait for the myriad of leaves to fall before gathering them all up and taking them to the dechetterie or recycling centre. These will then go to make compost which will be sold cheaply in the local shops next year. The big yellow dahlias that have been flowering by my window since June, are now starting to brown over. One done, I will cut them down to ground level ready for them to pop up again next year. The birds are starting to look for me in the cooler mornings, ever ready for their breakfast. I spotted a robin today, so that's a sure sign that the summer is nearing the end. However, I do love the autumn... or fall, so bring it on, I can't wait.

The end of my runner beans... or the beginning?

Hello all,
The end of August is very near & my runner beans are still flowering, still thick & leafy, but something has happened to them this week.
When the new beans form, they are not young & tender any more, but they make the seeds very quickly, as though they are in a panic to reproduce themselves for next season, which undoubtedly they are.
So, I thanked them very much for giving me such a great crop of Scarlet Emporor beans this year, and I am now leaving them to rest & recuperate and make the big fat runner bean pods that will give me next year's plants.
I estimate that we have picked over 150 kilos of beans this season, our family, friends & neighbours have been swamped by them, as have we. That said, they have been delicious & I have been able to swap them for some other French Veg from our kind neighbours. All of which means, that I haven't had to buy anything from the supermarket vegetable counter for the past three months.
Once the cold nights arrive in September, the leaves will brown & die off & I will harvest the big, fat, pods & dry out the runner bean seeds for next year.
The raspberries are now finished & I need to get out this afternoon & cut out the old wood, then tie in this years shoots to the strainer wires.
These will give us the crop of raspberries for next year & hopefully, loads of raspberry jam like I made this year.
The potato crop has been very good & I am half way through digging them up.
My next job after the raspberry canes will be to peg down the strawberry runners & pot them up for the Spring planting. Which means lots of delicious strawberry jam next summer. Ideal with some home made rice pudding!
So much to do before the onset of winter, but so satisfying.
Catch up with you all soon.

August is humid, hot & sticky.

August has been very hot & humid here, & the green beans are running riot. I fully expect to see them creeping in through the kitchen door like triffids, any day now!
I have donated them to several neighbours, family members, made soup, made pickle, eaten them for many, many lunches and now I am taking out the biggest beans for next year's crop.
I am still making my greetings cards, and now have over three hundred in my card shop.
http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/chezinkflo
The cherry tomatoes have also started to ripen and they are really sweet and juicy. Steak & salad out in the garden with a sprinkling of these, just makes my day.
We're off to the farmer's market this week. They aren't like the ones in the UK, just local organic producers selling meat, bread, wine & beer that you can get cooked for free on a grill & then sit down at long wooden benches to eat the wonderful food, with some very friendly locals.
They are however, forecasting a thunderstorm or two, so let's hope it holds off until we've eaten.

Runner Bean Glut, recipe, & how the bees swarmed in.

Hello,

This year, when I planted my runner beans, I decided to create a small area alongside the bean rows especially for sweet scented flowers.

Runner beans, as you probably know, need lots and lots of water & good pollination.

Anyway, to this end, I decided to plant a row of lavender bushes, some Stargazer Lilies and three wigwams of sweet peas.

The lavender began flowering about two weeks after the beans reached the top of the supports, just in time to coincide with the runner bean flowers appearing.

I first noticed the buzz & hum in the lavender bed, about a week later & then the lilies & sweet peas began to flower.

Now, I can't walk past these flowers without seeing & hearing masses of insects, and the runner beans have flowered and produced the biggest crop I have ever seen.

I planted two rows this year, and from mid June until now, I have harvested more than twenty kilos of lovely, tender beans.

I have also been able to enjoy the prettiest & sweetest smelling veg garden ever!

Just in case you are wondering what I have been doing with this glut of string beans, well, aside from giving some to family & friends, I have been making the most delicious & easy vegetable soup, great to eat now or to freeze for later.

Here is the recipe...

The quantities aren't important, just throw in what you enjoy most of.

 Slowly melt a tablespoon of butter & half a cup of olive oil in a large pan.

Chop an onion & add to butter, keep stirring.

De-string & cut runner beans into small pieces, add to pan.

Peel & chop a medium potato, add to pan.

Chop two or three leeks small & add to pan.

You can add more butter if required.

Add a cup of broad beans & a cup of peas.

Once the veg has started to soften a little, fill the pan with boiling water.

Add a veggie or chicken stock cube, salt & black pepper & some basil ...(dried is fine)

If you have a marrow bone, add it & remove it after cooking, it will give the soup extra flavour.

Bring to the boil, stir, turn down heat & simmer for about 90 mins.

You should have a really delicious summer veg soup, great eaten with croutons or some fresh crusty bread.

Bon Appetit!

My French Garden in Summer

Hello & welcome to my chats about my French garden and France in general.

Having been gardening here for a few years now, I feel I am able to judge what things are best grown in my soil, what will suit the climate in the Limousin and with regard to growing vegetables in our part of France, what is worth planting and what is not.

The first piece of advice I was given when I first started gardening in France, was to check out what my neighbours planted.

This also turned out to be the best piece of advice that I could have been given & it has stood me in good stead each season & saved me quite a bit of money.

It's really easy to get carried away in the garden centres, especially in early Spring when the shelves are loaded with all sorts of tempting flowers, bushes & veg plants. Why then, don't we consider that these things have been growing happily in heated greenhouses, watered & fed regularly and have probably never, in their short lives, encountered a biting East wind blowing in from the French Alps.

It's too easy to hand over the cash, stick the purchase in the part of the garden that will please us more than the poor plant, and, over the next few months, from a nice warm vantage point within the four house walls, sit and watch it gradually wither & die.

Mmm, it's too easy isn't it!

So, hopefully, I will be imparting my little pearls of wisdom about gardens and gardening in France, and I hope they will be, in some small way, a help to you when you arrive at your longed for French House.