Pressing on...so I thought!

   Here we are in the third week of February. My tradition has it that by the end of February shallots and onions sets should be in the ground. Well, I made it! Least for most of them. I have planted "pickle" onion shallots Red Sun (round ones), eschalots (ones shaped like a torpedo and are very common here in France) and red onion Karman sets. A good start. Still have a pack of red onion Brunswick sets to plant! My onions from seed are looking good as are the early leeks. In the poly tunnel I have washed down the parts of the inside I missed earlier and this is allowing more light in. It always surprises me how dirty (actual dirt!) the polythene gets on it. I am still resisting sowing my main crop of tomato's but I am twitching!
   Around the garden I have been clearing up the dead heads of perennials and notice that new growth is abundant already. I have crocus bulbs flowering in a pot. The felled fir tree branches and other detritus has been cleared and burnt. I have a nice big pile of wood ash. That will be used when I plant the potatoes. Seed potatoes are chitting away on the dinning room floor.
   
And now everything screams to halt! SNOW. There has been a steady fall of snow over three days and the ground is now covered and frozen. Man! Not a lot one can do but keep warm, confirm the seed sowing plan and watch the birds on the bird feeder from the lounge window! Hopefully the snow will not last long and I can get back to getting the garden in shape.

Wet and chilly....

   The weather continues to be wet and chilly with some morning frosts. Still pretty mild though compared to this time last year! -20C it was last February. 
   Another picking of sprouts. I have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of sprouts I have picked from the plants that were planted late in the season. Note to self. When I see the plants in the market, buy them and plant them. I have weeded and hand forked my herb beds. The herbs are starting to grow and it is time to take cuttings if I want more or replacement plants. I have six rosemary cuttings in the poly tunnel and I hope to get one or two plants from those. The chives are showing signs of growing and the horse radish looks "alive".
     I have sown a pot of early leeks. The idea here is to have leeks from late summer and then continue through the winter with the later and more frost resistant varieties. Thought comes to mind - plans of mice and men....

Three varieties of onions and one pot of leeks!

   I have given in to temptation and sown some tomato seed. Moneymaker, Roma and Coeur de Bouef. I will sow the more unusual ones that I have this year in another week or so. I have transplanted a few Pak Choi to be used as "leaves" and I have some lettuce plants growing but they are looking a little weedy. Still they may yet turn around.

  With the ground still being pretty much unworkable (peas, broad beans, spinach, garlic, spring onions all growing away, chou milan, leeks, beetroot, celeriac all still being harvested along with a few small but very welcome late sown carrots) I have instead been looking at my front drive and excavating to find the cobble drive way. I have been able to do this because the ground is so wet I can dig and scrape away the gravel, mud and weeds to expose the cobbles. The drive is uneven but I do like the look of the cobbles. The picture shows but a small area. Lots to uncover yet!

Exposed cobbles

   As always there is lots to do. Another couple of weeks and I will planting onion sets and shallots! Then the work in the garden gets really busy! Grass cutting is on the horizon.

    

I am resisting....

     The weather has gone mild. I am finding it hard to resist sowing yet I know from the last two years experience that it would be better to leave any sowing until the start of February at the earliest. Arrrrgh! Frustration! There has been more rain so the ground is very very wet and unworkable. That  has been a rare experience. I have seen water running out of a mole tunnel into a small bed. Never seen that before. Just shows how soaked the ground is.
      In the poly tunnel the conditions have still been good for mould and I have lost another cabbage. Again I have resisted sowing anything, however, broad beans are looking good and there is still some lettuce.  In the outside garden the Chou Milan continue to grow and the broad beans look strong and healthy. I think I will  get another picking of Brussels sprouts. These were plants bought from the local market and planted very late for sprouts. They have done well considering and they are probably not done yet. The over winter sown peas (both sowings) are still with me much to my continued amazement. The celery has finally come to an end. The celeriac that I have left in the ground (6) are still ok. There are some late sown carrots that when pulled are very pale and of course small. According to what I have read this can be caused by too damp conditions. I had to laugh.  Over wintered spring onions are still there so it looks very promising that I will get White Lisbon spring onions in the spring! Yeah! The buds on the apple trees and sour cherries are swelling. I guess it is not really that long before the cherry could be in flower.  Seed potatoes have been bought and are chitin on dinning room floor. Usual Rosebelle and Desiree with a new one, a first early, Belle de Fontenay. A very old french variety (1880's). I will also be looking out for an unusual one. In mind is a purple potato, that is, a potato that is still purple when cooked! I did not find one in my first outing but I have another garden centre to go to and I might strike lucky there. All in all though it is too wet to get anything much done! Just for fun I have sown some cress in a polystyrene box and it is now just about ready to eat.

First cress of 2013

    At last I have had one of the large fir trees outside the front of the house cut down. It had a lean on it and it kept a lot of light out of the front house garden let alone from my daughters kitchen. I now have a large pile of branches etc. to clear away and burn. That is going to take a while.