2013 Season underway!

   I have closed the book on the 2012 season and have started a new one for 2013. We continue to have meals of  everything on the plate "produced and raised at Watermeadows".  Latest has been a turkey casserole. For the 2013 season I trying out seeds from the Real Seed Company. They sell rare and unusual varieties but the main thing is they are not F1's. This means I can save seed from them for the next year and also bred my own if I want to. It will be interesting to see how the seed fair. I noticed that a good number of the seeds originated in France!
   In the outside garden the garlic are now showing and the De Milan rouge turnips have germinated. Peas and broad beans are doing well. Chou Milan looks just fantastic and the late transplanted Brussels sprouts are also putting on growth.  I fear my packet of Limousin turnip seed has past its best as the row of Limousin turnips sown at the same time as the Milan rouge ones is showing no signs of germinating. I am pulling lovely carrots that number three grandson Toby is starting to enjoy. The game with the nettles around the reed bed continues and slowly but surely it is looking better. Lots of nettle roots to dig up and fortunately they are not too hard to get up as nettles tend to have roots that do not go too far down. Trouble is there is lot of them.  I am going to have to prune my black currant bushes and as a matter of urgency there is one that is crying out to be pruned! Having returned to this posting the one black currant has now been pruned. A new battle has been engaged with the fight for who gets the strawberries under way! Two rows have been protected with netting, so chickens go hang!                       

Two strawberry beds protected by netting

This autumn/winter I am trying out a green
manure called Luzerne (or Lucerne). I have wondered about green manures over the years and have never had the opportunity or space to try it out and it so happens that I have managed to work a couple of beds so that I could try out planting a green manure. It is already germinating and I have read that chickens like it! Darn! They would, wouldn't they! 
  The grass has now grown to a point where it once more needs to be mown, however, it is too wet! Fingers crossed for a few days of warm dry weather! The grues (cranes) have been gathering overhead and that is a sure sign winter is not far away.
  In the poly tunnel I have harvested another 2.5kgs of ripe tomatoes and there are a few more that have a chance to ripen before it is too cold. All in all I have been pleased with my poly tunnel tomato crop. There are also two cauliflowers which look like they will turn into something decent.  I have managed to clean the outside of the p/t and some of the inside. What a difference! It is amazing how much dirt (soil mainly) accumulates on the roof and sides. Rain is dirty! 
 Outside work has slowed up due to the weather but the forecast is for cloud/sunshine so I am hopeful to get moving again. In the poly tunnel I am making internal draft/frost doors and not being the most handy of handy man it is so far not looking too bad!

Autumn? Winter? False spring?

   What can I say? In the last couple of weeks the weather has swung from very warm and dry to freezing cold to warm to damp to flipping soaking wet! Of course, the grass which has lain dormant for at least two months sprang into life and I had to mow it (13/10/12). Hopefully that is the last time this year but I fear if it stays mild it will not be!
   Two nights of mild frost killed off my haricot vert /buerre and my runner beans which had just started to set beans again. So they have been cleared away! I have sown outside over winter peas (which have now germinated) and White Lisbon spring onions (which have now germinated). Chou Milan and Brussels sprouts planted out a few weeks ago are thriving. The Chou Milan are going to be big cabbages! I think I have lost the potatoes that I was trying to grow for Christmas dinner. It was a chicken strike! I have several rows of carrots ranging from fully grown to just germinated. The just germinated carrots are a hardy variety that I have grown under a fleece cloche which in theory should stand over the winter! Celeriac and the remaining stands of celery are still looking ok. I have had to resow the Limousin turnips (only two germinated!) and I have added a row of Milan rouge turnips just because I can. Final harvest made of the sweet peppers (over 2 kg) and they have been cleared also. They were disappointing, a bad year for sweet peppers. I have managed to clear the nettles from the reed bed and I am now starting to dig up their roots. That is going to be a long job. 

Clearing nettles from the reed bed 

   I have dug up one bed of strawberries (virtually non existent due mainly to the dry summer) and replaced them with Mara Bois strawberry plants. I took out a big pile of stones from this bed!

Rocks removed from strawberry bed number 2

   In the poly tunnel tidying up is the main preoccupation There are more tomato's to pick. I picked 500grams of yellow toms today (14/10/12) and I reckon there is at least two or three kilos of reds to come  yet. They are defying the cool nights (down to zero degrees at times). With the mild weather and the damp fungus has been an issue as it was last year. It has attacked my flat leaf and curly parsley. Nothing I can do about that except clean up the mess! Transplanted some Kohl Rabi and All the Year Round cauliflower. Lettuce, beetroot, coriander are growing nicely. Winter leaf lettuce and Red Salad bowl are doing fine. The basil has been removed and there are spaces in the borders!
  It is only a matter of time before the cold snaps in and everything slows really down but meanwhile plans for next year are hatching! The garden is still producing leeks, carrots, beetroot, potatoes and celery. We had eaten our first "all grown and raised" meal of chicken, potatoes, peas and carrots! RESULT! 

Normal?

   Rain! It has rained here in Champeau de Bas and a reasonable amount too. That is going to help the winter cabbage, carrots, turnips and swede. It also means the grass will grow!. So, not a lot done in the garden due to the rain. Continue to tidy up between showers and take a look at other clearing jobs that have been ignored over the summer. I have a large area of nettles that need to be tackled and really should be done before the end of October. We shall see. I am waiting to sow broad beans and peas until October but the temptation is great! Some of the potatoes I planted for Christmas are showing so with a bit of luck and plenty of fleece we may have new potatoes for Christmas. Chickens willing! Spring onions sown. More weeding and forking done. The outside garden is starting to look a little bare. 
   In the poly tunnel all the plants continue to grow but I am very concerned about the cleanliness of the plastic. I had bought a cheap "squeezy" mop but that was a mistake and it was broke before it got used! Serves me right. Generally, you get what you pay for! I threw some coriander seed saved from last year in part of a small poly tunnel bed just for a lark really and it is doing well! Best sowing of coriander this season so far. I have sown some winter leaves. Mixed result last year so I am not too hopeful. Latest batch of salad bowl is taking off. 
   I have discovered that the aubergine variety that I planted in the poly tunnel is a french variety that was developed to grow outside! Pooh!
  The weather has turn fair but the days are short. Sun rise is around 0750hrs and sunset at 1930hrs. Makes for a shorter working day!

Cleared and dug courgette plot