French Garden in the heat of June

Hooray, it's June at last and the wet May weather seems like a long distant memory.
I have managed to plant my French beans, tomatoes and potatoes.
 Alongside them, I have sown packets of pretty meadow flowers that should attract loads of insects this summer and help pollinate my veg.
I have also sown chives, mint and cucumber and the hot sun has already beckoned them out into the open.
The lawns have had a good cut and the only plants we lost due to the severe frost that we had last winter, were a honeysuckle and some lavander, both of which I have now replaced.
I'm now off to sit in the shade of a sweet chestnut tree with a very chilled glass of white wine.
Happy June everyone!

I have nothing to say on this miserable day!

I'll come back & talk to you when I can get out & plant something, when something flowers or it's just plain sunny!

The grass is peeping through!

Well, the thaw seems to have set in & the grass is now beginning to appear.
The birds that have been flocking to the feeders, have greatly diminished, and now we have the old timers such as the blue tits, nuthatch, tree creepers and of course, the ever present woodpeckers.
The starlings, blackbirds & robins must now be enjoying the fresh insects that are to be found under the crackling leaves of the laurel hedges.
I've cut down the bird food by two thirds, so that's eased the budget a bit this week!
I noticed this morning, that the little wild daffodils & snowdrops are appearing, along with some crocuses.
Can't wait for the colors of Spring to appear can you?
Catch you later.

The slow thaw!

Well, the temperatures are starting to rise above freezing.
The snow is thinning, the bushes & hedges are appearing once more and more importantly, the blackbirds, robins, starling, woodpeckers and thrushes have been able to set about scratching a meal from under the greenery once more.
We would like to be able to get the car out after two weeks, the freezer needs filling, some fresh fruit & veg will be more than welcome and we're going to have lunch out for a change.
Roll on the Springtime!

Frozen gardening in France!

I won't call it gardening at the moment, it's more like ice digging.
The ground is really hard frozen, & with temperatures down to minus 20°c, it's hard to imagine what will survive to see the warmth of Spring.
The tete a tete daffodil bulbs were just popping their heads up before we dropped into the depths of an arctic winter. The crocuses, snowdrops, camellias & even the rhododendrons were all in bud or flower. It can't be doing them much good can it?
The deer that crunch over the frozen snow at night, searching for the smallest patch of grazing, are finding very little. I fear that they will make a very easy target for the hunters (chasse) if they are weak & hungry.
So, with no let up in sight for at least the next few days, gardening is on hold here in the Limousin.
Watch this space, Spring must be around the corner surely.
Inkflo

New Year In France

Hello and a very Happy New Year everyone.
Not much happening in the French garden just now, apart from a bit more leaf tidying and moss killing.
New Year here in France is not terribly eventful. I'm not complaining about this, as it's one of the reasons we came to live here... for the peace & quiet.
At midnight on the 31st January, a local farmer let off his shotgun six times.
Yes, that was it! And I then went back to sleep.
I have never been a great lover of noise & fireworks and the local farm animals really hate it, so I can cope with one local farmer & his six shots once a year!
The chasse or local hunters have been out and about. When we first arrived here, I thought it terribly cruel to hunt down poor defenceless animals, then I realised that these men were feeding their families over the winter, just as their forefathers and their forefathers.
I have also come to realise, that if they didn't keep the wild deer and boar population down, our countryside and gardens would be decimated mud baths before we could say chasse.
So, I have grown to live cheek by jowl with the local hunting fraternity and also to appreciate that their traditions need to be respected and not frowned upon.
It's all done in a humane way, and they are bot allowed to hunt during the time when the animals are carrying their young or until the young have grown and left their mother, and if you ever experience seven wild boar tearing around your beautifully tended garden and vegetable plot and then seen the devastation that they can cause in such a short time, well ... your sympathies may well change!

Happy New Year

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.