The goose is getting fat...

Home made mince pies

      Another week or so of not much activity in the garden. I have raked up a lot of oak leaves and dug out the celery but that is about it! In the poly tunnel I have pulled the remaining beetroot, cooked them and pickled them. So for after Christmas day to accompany the cold cuts we will have home grown and home made pickled beetroot, pickled onions, sweet chutney and pickled eggs!
   There are lots of tidying up jobs to do but the days are short and by the time I get to get outside the day seems to be all but gone. I know, excuses excuses, however, it is time to turn to planning next years planting and sowing. I will be looking for something different to try to grow and there will be the usual - potatoes, onions, shallots, leeks, beetroot, haricot vert, runner beans, squash, pumpkins, courgettes, cucumbers and umpteen varieties of tomatoes to mention a few.
   In our animal world all is well. Geese are looking good, ducks look happy and contented The rams are still showing too much interest in the ewes but the ewes are now tending to stay away, thank goodness. The chickens are now looking like they have finished their molt and the average lay is six eggs a day.
   It is unlikely that I will write a blog entry next week so a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers where ever you are in the world.

Little done, little to say...

Sunrise over Champeau 061215

      The weather has been reasonable this past week. Mild, cloudy and the odd bit of sunshine. Ideal you would have thought to be getting on with tidying up the garden. Oh no fate had other things in store for me this week. So little gardening done, in fact really virtually no gardening done. 
     The sewerage from my house is dealt with by what the french call a fosse septique (septic tank) and the "grey" water, that is water from the sinks, washing machine, showers and bath is fed into a reed bed. Unusual. Normally it is fed into a sand filter bed. Well, luck would have it that the pipe leading from the water trap to the reed bed got clogged up and grey water became backed up. So I have spent all my spare time with a hose pipe stuck down the pipe clearing the blockage. Thank goodness the weather was mild. I would not have liked to have done this if it was really cold. Fortunately I eventually managed to clear it. 
  So what gardening job did get done? I cleared the reed bed of leaves and nettles.
   In the animal world all is fine. The hens are laying well again and even had a couple of days when eight eggs (out of 11 hens) were laid. The geese are getting fat, the ducks are being ducks. Soon be time to dispatch the geese.
   Hopefully over the next week I will get out and about doing gardening stuff. You watch the weather will change and it will be cold, wet and miserable and I will once again get nothing done! Watch this space!

Wet and cold

   Winter finally arrived with a bump. There has been a few of days of cold, frosty and wet weather and that has finished off anything left in the garden and poly tunnel that were not winter crops. So, no more sweet peppers and chili's. It also means that my tidying up came to an abrupt halt as I hunkered down in a nice warm dry house!
   So not a lot done. Cut a couple of outside cauliflowers before they were spoiled by the rain and colder weather. In the poly tunnel the sweet peppers and chili's have now been cleared out. Outside I made one of the vegetable plots a little bigger. This is to compensate for the loss of ground under the oak tree. The cabbages continue to develop well. They are starting to hearten up. The outside turnip/swede are slowly swelling but those in the poly tunnel look wonderful with nice large green leaves but the root is not yet swelling. One good thing that the arrival of the cold weather has done. The cabbage white caterpillars have all been killed off!
  In the animal arena the chickens are now back to laying reasonably well. There has been one day when seven eggs were laid but on average the daily count is four. The sheep, particularly the rams, have been a pain. They are determined to get amongst the ewes and one of the blighters jumped the fence. I had a fun forty five minutes rounding up the ewes with the errant ram and sorting them out! The geese are enjoying playing with a couple of dog play balls that I put in their water. I spotted one in the pond with the ball in its beak! 
   The days are short and getting shorter every passing day. Sunset is now around ten past five and sun rise around seven thirty. Christmas is just around the corner!
   

Ok where did the time go?

   Well I do not know! Time has flown once more and before I knew it I should have already written my blog by now. Now being fully fit I have been taking advantage of the warm and dry weather to get jobs done that should have been done in the September/October time frame. There is now only about one third of one bed left to fork/weed so I am feeling pretty pleased with myself. I have even managed to rake up the leaves under the old apple trees and cherry tree while they were still dry. Problem is the weather is about to break and as I write this outside it is windy with a drizzle in the air being driven by the wind. Day inside methinks!
   I have been harvesting cauliflowers in the outside garden. They are bigger and better than those in the poly tunnel would you believe. I mean they are as big as ones you would buy in the local supermarket. I am very pleased with them. The winter cabbages are starting to hearten up and there are going to be some giant ones! With the warm weather this autumn 

Outside cauliflowers

there has been an infestation of white butterfly caterpillars. I would not have believed it but there they were munching my purple sprouting. They seemed to have a preference for the purple sprouting. I wonder if it is because the sprouting is a non F1 seed variety whereas the winter cabbages next to them are?
  As the photograph below shows the weed pile is growing. I decided to burn the weeds this autumn rather than compost them as my weed compost heap is getting rather large.
  In the poly tunnel nothing much has changed. The turnip/swede are looking ok as are cauliflowers. The sweet peppers I

Leeks, purple sprouting, winter cabbage

 should really now take up as should the chili peppers. There is a useful crop of beetroot that I need to harvest. Looking to pickle these.
   With the change in the weather it is unlikely that I will get outside very much so the emphasis now changes to dealing with the gathered non hybrid seed. I have already podded the Champion of England peas and have other plants to do. Also I need to exam my seed collection and see if I need to get anymore seed. So still plenty to do!

Growing weed pile

Life gets in the way.

   Well despite my good intentions life gets in the way. Too many jobs to do and not enough time to do them.
   In the poly tunnel the sweet peppers are now dropping leaves which means it has got too cold for them. There is still one or two to pick but the end is nigh. The cauliflower is now bigger than a tennis ball and looking good. In the outside garden I have continued to clear tomato plants and put the poles away in the, for want of a better description, potting shed. All of the tomatoes are now cleared as are the haricot vert. Several beds are now weeded and forked over. Come spring, no doubt, the weeds will have reappeared. I have shortened two of the beds that had a small area under the shade of the oak tree. After a couple of years of trying to grow stuff in these areas I have called it a day. Too much shade and the oak tree is taking too much out of the ground, water and nutrients. The garlic continues to grow.  I have been picking up some windfall apples but have failed miserably to pick any reasonable number from my own older trees. Shame really but the Jerusalem artichokes are benefiting from rotting apples and the chickens have been getting easy access to them too. 
   In the animal world the last the meat chickens have been processed. They were all hens and came in at a good weight - 3.75kg, 3.5kg and 3.5kig. It looks like leaving them a couple more weeks after dispatching the cockerels has allowed them to put on a decent weight.
  To add to my burden the trees have been dropping their leaves and there is now a carpet of them on the lawn. One more job to add to the list.
  To my mind, unusually, there is a borage plant in flower in November. Do not believe I have seen that before!
   The 100 weight pumpkins I grew were cheerfully carved in Halloween lanterns and made a good display on the front of my daughters house.

Borage in flower

Cauliflower in the poly tunnel 

Display outside No 5

For once what I asked for...

   In my last blog I hoped for drier weather. Well, guess what? Yes, I have had a drier week. One night of serious rain but otherwise it has been dry. That meant I could get on with the clearing work. As I worked the soil it was noticeable how dry it is despite the down pour over one night. The sun has been shinning and it has been warm during the day. Fingers crossed I may get one or two turnip/swedes! In the poly tunnel there is a cauliflower! This is much to my surprise as I usually overwinter cauliflowers and they are ready to harvest in the spring. Usually I sow All the Year Round but this year I bought some from the local market. They must have been autumn cauliflowers. Hey ho.
   So what has been happening? The days are short and I tend not to get going until late morning. This is mostly because I am trying not to over do things while I continue to recover from my illness. Tomato plants are being cleared and beds weeded. That is pretty much it. On the animal front one of the meat chickens is producing big eggs and they are double yokers. It is really time those meat chickens headed for the freezer.
   So autumn marches on into winter. The leaves on the trees are now turned to autumn colours of shades of yellow and red and are starting to seriously fall. The weather forecast though is for the weather to stay mild and no rain so I may catch up yet!

Autumn colour

The chicken must has had to really squeeze this one out!

   

At last really feeling up to it!

One Hundredweight Pumpkins

   At long last I feel well and almost back to normal. Of course as soon as I am wiling and able to go work in the garden it rains! Half of the lawn is mowed, the other is growing away quite merrily.  Looking at my garden log what have I done? Picked the last of the tomatoes, pulled some beetroot (poor crop) and dug up a couple of celeriac. Some critter took a fancy to my celeriac this year and many have been eaten. The little devils tunnel under the plant and then eat it from the cover of their tunnel! The  tomato plants have now been frosted and now need to be cleared. I have picked sweet peppers (yes the sweet peppers outside and in the poly tunnel are still producing although I think this will be the last) and gathered up the pumpkins. The pumpkins have been a success this year despite the dry summer. My devious plan of digging out a hole, filling it with manure, covering it up and planting the pumpkin plant on top worked out well! Some 82 kg of pumpkin. One Hundredweight pumpkins came in at 17 kg, two at 16 kg and one at 13 kg. The Justkyn pumpkins are smaller and weighed around 2 kg each. At the supermarket price of two euros ninety nine a kilo that is a tidy sum. Here is hoping for drier conditions so I can try to catch up!

Justkyn Pumpkins

Still little done...

   The illness lingers on and I am not able to do as much as I would wish. New arrivals at Watermeadows. Two Pardoue cockerels and three Indian Runner ducks. The cockerels have been named Wellington and Bonaparte (what else?).

Wellington (light coloured) and Bonaparte)

   A week flows by and I find that I have not achieved much at all! Looking at my garden log all I read is "pulled carrots, picked tomatoes". Oh I sorted out some seeds that I had drying in the poly tunnel. Bit of grass cutting. That exhausted me. Damn bug.
  On the weather front it has got colder. There has been an air frost which has killed off the cucamelon plants and I am sure set in motion the end for most other tender plants.
 The temperature during the day is now cold enough to justify lighting the wood burner and  as I am feeling under the weather I need that comfort! Silly me tripped up while chasing chickens and landed on my side bruising my ribs. Just as I was feeling more energised.

   Over the next week the weather is staying on the dry side and getting a little warmer so I  should be able to finish cutting the grass. 
   The winter veg continue to grow although the early broccoli has been attacked by caterpillars, probably white butterfly. Most of the cabbages are looking very good.
   Nothing new in the poly tunnel other than I am now closing the doors at both ends most of the day if not all day and night. Frost threats are increasing although there is not anything in the poly tunnel that would be a great loss to frost.
   With the end of October looming the real winter starts here in La Creuse. Wonder what is in store?
  

Powering on

   OK! I am now reasonably recovered from my illness. Still have a bit of a runny nose and a little phlegm on my chest but most certainly an awful lot better.

Turnip/swede

   I have started to catch up on jobs in the garden. Of course I had to cut grass and if the weather stays dry I suspect I will have one more round of grass cutting to do. I have been sorting out some of the vegetable beds. The turnip/swedes have been thinned and weeded. The carrots have been thinned and weeded. The winter cabbage is looking very good and is well established. Just need to keep the chickens off and the white butterflies away until it gets colder. Just to see what happens as I have missed out on planting Christmas potatoes I have put some turnip/swede plants in the poly tunnel.  I have prepared the garlic bed and planted it with Violet garlic bulbs. Maybe this season they will not get rust. The outside tomatoes are still ripening fruit but the plants are definitely on their way out. So far some thirty eight kilos (approx 84 Ibs)of tomatoes picked.  The pumpkin and squash plants are have now died away leaving a lovely collection of 100 weight and Justynka pumpkins. The butternut squash has been disappointing. The plants were good but the squash did not set well. I think the plants did not like being under the branches of the oak tree, however, buttercup squash has done very well. There are plenty of apples about and I have been busy picking some. I have four varieties in my pantry and still one more to add. I am not convinced that it is worth picking a lot of apples as they do not get eaten even if made into apple mush and put in the freezer. I have also been looking at the quince tree in my neighbours hedge. There is a lot of fruit on it but quince is one of those fruits that I am not convinced is really worth doing anything with.

Bed one of winter cabbage

Getting active at last

Collection of sweet peppers

     The frustration of being ill continues. I have had little inclination to do much in the garden bar pick or pull some vegetables. Much to my surprise the few Touchon carrots that germinated are proving to be really good sized carrots. The most I have done is to clear out the cucumbers from the poly tunnel and tidy up the winter cabbage patch and put a net around them to keep the chickens off. Oh I did cut some grass too.
     So what else have I been doing on my road to recovery? Well I have pickled shallots, made several lots of pasata and made a cake. I have now pretty much caught up with the tomatoes. Should be a few more to come if there is not a frost. So far 34+ kilogrammes harvested. Not sure if I am pleased or disappointed with that total. As you can see from the picture the sweet peppers are coming in strongly, again much to my surprise. This is the first time I have grown chocolate sweet peppers. Quite amusing really.
   The chickens have continued to disappoint. On average we are getting three eggs a day out of eleven hens. One of the hens is still broody and if she does not buck her ideas up soon she will have to go. I am sure that many  of them are molting as there are lots of feathers about. So far this year they have produced some 2096 eggs. 
   Hopefully by the time I write my next blog I will be fully recovered and hard at it in the garden and trying to catch up with all the work I have that has not been done over the last three weeks. 

Nothing done!

   It has been a bad week. I have gone down with bronchitis and it has knocked me for six! As I write this I am getting better but energy levels are low. Of course, sod's law dictates! The weather has been good enough to get things done over the last week and now that I feel that I can get on with something it rains! The rain is welcome but it is so frustrating! Looking at my gardening log over the last week there is only one entry for the 21/9/15 - Picked tomatoes and peas. 
   What is going on then? In the poly tunnel most things are now gone over and there is a few autumn/early winter crops growing quite well. I have missed out due to being sick! In the outside garden the leeks and winter cabbage are well established and growing well. I managed to get them in before falling ill. What is left of the celeriac looks good and the pumpkins are fantastic. The french beans are coming to an end. Who knows if they will do anything but there are some carrots. Might get a few small ones, you never know! The tomatoes are entering their final stages but as long as it stays mild I ought to get a few more. Chilli's are looking good and many are going red. What do you do with lots of chilli's! Lol! Aubergines have done well. So far I have managed to crop (poly tunnel included) some thirty one kilos of mixed variety tomatoes. It could have been so much more. The apple crop is looking good. Certainly there are plenty of wind falls. Hopefully I will be able to get some picked before they all fall off.
   It will be a few more days before I am back in the saddle properly. I have lost some three weeks at least and it will be hard to catch up.

Yes it rained!

  Soon as I write that is has not rained for a while, it rains. The rain is welcome and will perk up the winter vegetables I have no doubt. Still need more though.

RAIN!

   Autumn jobs are piling up. I have been unwell this last week and continue to be so. I am desperate to get outside and get on with these jobs. Along side outside jobs I need to make pickled onions and process some tomatoes and help to deal with the remaining meat chickens. Must get better soon!
   The melons have now come to an end as are the cucumbers and tomatoes. I need to clear them from the poly tunnel and plant some Christmas potatoes. It is getting a little late for those but hey ho I will give it a go.
   In the outside garden the winter vegetables (cabbage, cauliflowers,leeks) are well established. Who know if the swede will do anything. Carrots are not good despite sowing four rows over the summer. Hopefully I will get some small ones at least. Squash, melons and pumpkins are also starting to come to an end. The dip in the temperature switched their growing clock I fear.  I have some good examples of Hundredweight pumpkins this year. The celeriac continue to be attacked by little burrowing critters and I think I will be lucky to get two or three. They looked so good and I have spent a reasonable amount of effort watering them! The remaining tomatoes are struggling to ripen and it will not be long before I pick those that are turning and put them in the poly tunnel to hopefully ripen.
   In the poly tunnel the cucumber plants are now finished and need removing. The sweet pepper results will depend on how long the weather stays warm. I have had a few but the orange and chocolate ones have not liked the heat at all. Cauliflowers and the latest transplanting of lettuce is now established and they have welcome the cooler conditions. The basil is looking long in the tooth and it will not be long before it comes out. Nigel's Green chili continues to do well.
   On the animal front the sheep are fine but the grass is a little thin to say the least. The geese are getting fat despite lack of grass and I have introduced wheat in buckets of water to supplement their diet.  Still have three "meat" chickens, all hens, all looking good and happy to be without their male counterparts! It is the time of year for egg hens to be fussy. I have one hen that insists that its wants to hatch out an egg. Another is in moult and I suspect several others are too. Currently getting fiver or six a day out of eleven but if you take out the two moulting hens and the broody one I guess that is not too bad.
   I am looking forward to being well enough to get on with the garden. I have lost a week so far and likely to loose a couple more days. With the recent rain I should be able to get the garlic in. The bed is all but ready just to rake and plant.

Where is the rain?

   Here we are past the first week of September and still no rain and no rain forecast. For some plants in the garden it is becoming desperate and I fear I will loose some soon.  The temperature has generally been in the mid twenties and as low as six by dawn (centigrade). The grass needs mowing, more likely tidying up as it has grown in sheltered spots and not at all in exposed areas. 
   In the outside garden the watermelons are now all picked, the brambly apples are now all picked (trying to get a few before the insects do), buttercup squash has been cut, more haricot vert picked, more troubadour melons cut. There are only a couple of these melons left now.  Finally I have managed to get some Champion of England peas to grow to the point of producing peas. A real effort of love I can tell you.
   In the poly tunnel the cauliflower has settled in well. The cucumbers are all but over and the tomatoes have now been removed. A few sweet peppers are being picked and the beetroot looks like it might do something. The basil is probably now past its best. The chili's continue to produce chili's and they are turning red.
   On the animal front three meat chickens are now in the freezer. Three to go. The sheep are ok but are on pasture that has not seen serious rain for weeks. The geese are managing ok but even their patch of ground is starting to look bare. The hens have been sentenced to three days behind doors due to them not laying in the coop. Found over twenty eggs in a nest outside the coop. I suspect it is something do one of the Limousines who just will not give up being broody!
   You know autumn has arrived when the wood man calls. The wood has been delivered and stacked. A two day job of huff and puff. It heralds cooler days and nights.

Water and water and water again

  The weather continues to be hot. There has been a little rain but nothing of any note. So the main work in the garden has been to water. It has been too hot to do much else.
   Water melons, cucamelons, cucumbers, tomatoes, haricot vert, wind fall apples, "local" peaches, aubergines, cabbage, potatoes and even a few small carrots have all been dug, pulled, cut, picked or picked up over the last week. The major crop to harvest has been the Desiree potatoes. While digging them up I have added yet more of my sweat to the soil!! A good crop though.
   The weight of grapes on the vine caused part of it to fall down so repairs were in order. Minor damage done to the grapes. The grapes are swelling nicely despite the lack of rain 

Ripening grapes

Winter leeks

Chou Milan (Savoy type)

and are now showing signs of ripening. 
   Another disaster in the garden has been the celeriac. Voles have been burrowing under the plants and eating them. One does not notice that they have been attacked until the leaves go limp!
   There are plenty more tomatoes ripening and I am hopeful that I will get a lot more before they give up completely. 
   Buttercup squash has been a disappointment despite watering the plants. One plant had lots of squash on it but they all just shrivelled up!
   On the animal front no issue with the sheep or meat chickens. The hens have for whatever reason taken it upon themselves to stop laying. I am only getting up to three eggs a day instead of six or seven. I have not yet been able to tell if they are laying elsewhere. Maybe it is just the weather.
    As I write this it has rained a little but it was just a little and really not enough. Forecast is for cooler days and nights but no rain. I fear for my turnip, carrot and turnip/swede cross seedlings.

The sun continues to shine

      The sun continues to shine although there is rain and thunder in the forecast for the week end. I hope it does rain yet despite everything the ground once you get through the top couple of inches is still damp.
   The summer harvest continues. Gardeners Delight, Galina, odd Ethel Watkins best and Millefleur tomatoes are being regularly picked along with cucumbers, courgettes, lettuce, haricot vert and Troubadour melons! Onions have now been gathered in and sweet peppers are close to being big enough to cut. Aubergines and chili's are now ready to cut.  I still have potatoes to dig up. The biggest disappointment this season has been the Gigante runner beans. I had high hopes for these but the chickens thought otherwise.
   In the poly tunnel the cucumbers are coming to an end as are the tomatoes. The sweet peppers are very close to being able to be picked. Of course Nigel's Green chili's are thriving! Beetroot and lettuce is now well established. I have sowed some winter lettuce seed in the hope to continue having lettuce available at least into the autumn. Bought cauliflower plants have also been planted.
   In the outside garden more Great Lakes lettuce has been transplanted. I am eating these lettuce before they are mature but hey ho there is enough of them. Winter vegetables have now been planted which included winter leeks and two varieties of savoy type cabbage. My winter cabbage and swedes grown from seed have been a total loss. 
  On the animal front the sheep are now more happy having been moved to better pasture. The geese continue to grow. At least one of the cockerels amongst the meat chickens is trying to crow. Processing date is about two weeks away. The hens are going through a non laying phase and the average egg laying is down to about five a day. One hen has now been broody for about two weeks despite being thrown of the nest regularly.
   The steady march to autumn continues. Our wood man has called and we will no doubt get the wood delivered in a week or two. My back aches are the thought of having to move it into the hanger.

Summer suddenly seems to be ending...

    Well the weather has gone from hot to hot and humid, to warm and wet, to cool, cloudy and wet. It has been a while since I posted my last blog. We have had visitors here at Watermeadows and have been have a great time enjoying the sun, food, beer, wine and messing about in the river!
    What has been going on in the garden? I have had to water regularly through July and well into August. That has meant pumping water from the well to refill the water butts on a regular basis. You would think the poly tunnel would benefit from the hotter weather. It did not. Temperatures in the poly tunnel got so high plants were just turned to dust (almost literally!) Fortunately the weather has changed just about in time to cooler and wetter. Some crops have benefited from the hot sunny weather and I am reaping the result of my persisting watering. The cucumbers in the poly tunnel have not done well. Outside they have been amazing! I have picked lots and lots. I have also managed to keep a succession of lettuce going so we have had enough lettuce. The tomatoes inside the poly tunnel have done well with copious amounts of watering with lots of Milfleur, Gardeners Delight (Irish) and Calina being picked and eagerly devoured by adults and children alike! Outside not so good. Not surprising really as I have not watered them, however, a reasonable amount is starting to be picked. One success this year is that I have managed to grow Couer De Boeuf tomatoes to a point where I am picking plumb ripe red fruit! One up to Rodger over the chickens. The potato crop has been good with the Binje and Charlotte potatoes now harvested. Desiree still to be done but the tops are still green so I am leaving them for now. Haricot vert are now coming on stream with over one kilo picked in one session. Plenty more to come. Good ole Nigel's Green chili's have come up trumps again this year with the poly tunnel and those outside cropping well. I grew a different onion set this season called Sturon. They have done really well despite the dry weather. Hindsight says I should have planted more! The shallots have also done well and are waiting to be turned into pickle onions! Squash, pumpkins, courgettes and melons are doing very well having been watered every day with the first Troubadour melons being pick on the 14th August. It should not be long before the water melons are ready. 
    Sowing for the winter has at last started with carrot, fennel, Gilfeathers turnip-swede, and Giant Limousin turnip sown. For once I got the seed in just before the rain started. 
    On the livestock front for the first time since we have had the sheep we have fed them hay and they ate it. The pasture has suffered badly in the hot sunny weather. Having said that as I write this blog the weather has turned cooler and wetter and the grass is already growing again. The geese are growing well and the second batch of "meat" chickens are thriving and putting on weight. One of our laying hens has gone broody and has to be removed from her nest as often as possible until she snaps out of it! Egg production is fast reaching the 2000th egg laid this year.
     So the summer is coming to an end and autumn is fast approaching. Blackberries are being picked and the apples and grapes are swelling. It has been a good year for my apple trees that I planted with a good number of good sized bramleys. I am hopeful for a good apple crop among the older trees assuming the bugs do not get them first of course.

Shallot harvest

First picking of tomatoes

Nigel's Green Chili

100wt pumpkin (its bigger now!) One of 5!

Sweet pepper in the poly tunnel

Troubadour  Melon

Its a desert!

   Well the weather has gone cooler but no sign of any serious rain. Least I do not have to cut the grass! The ground is dry and most crops are suffering. I am keeping the melons, cucumbers, chili, cucamelon, lettuce, aubergines, celery, celeriac, squashes and pumpkins going but most anything else, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, beetroot, sweet peppers, french beans, gigante beans, Jerusalem artichokes and peas is having to take its chance. Fortunately the potatoes had pretty much finished  growing and are now being dug up which I might add in the dry soil is not always easy! My lettuce rotation continues to work although I think I might be about to hit a patch without any available to pick for a few days. I have put up netting around the outside tomatoes to keep those feather beggars off. 
   In the poly tunnel things are not much better despite regular watering with well water. The tomatoes are starting to crop well, mainly Milefleur, Galina and Gardeners Delight. The Roma tomatoes look a little sad to say the least. Blight is starting to take hold so who knows how many more tomatoes I will get. Sweet peppers and chili look good. The cucumbers after an initial flush have slowed up and is also beginning to start looking sad. I have planted out beetroot in the poly tunnel in an effort to get some beetroot this year. Least I can water it without the chickens eating the leaves! The hundredweight pumpkins continue to do well. 

100wt Pumpkin (one of 5)

   I found this woodpecker under one of my nets. It was interesting to be so close to it.

   

Ain't half hot Mum!

   The weather continues to be hot. No rain at all. Even the morning dew is light. So every evening I am watering all the melons, pumpkins, squash, chili's, aubergines. celery and celeriac with now and then whatever else takes my fancy!

Troubadour melon

 The melons are loving the hot weather. Water melons abound (current count is 7) and Troubadour melons are just prolific (current count 17). The photo does not do justice to the number of melons there are. 

Nigels Outdoor green chili

  My Nigel's Outdoor green chili's are doing well in and out of the poly tunnel. It is going to be a bumper year for chili's I think. Maybe next year I will try a different type as well.
   About half of my celery has gone to seed despite regular watering. I have left one to gather the seed from but I have dug the rest up. It did look good but I guess once again its the weather that is playing havoc with the veggies.
   My rotation of lettuce is still going well despite that fact I lost a number when I transplanted them and the next day the air temperature hit 42C. They just shrivelled up and turned to dust. I had to wait for a cooler day. Still at the moment the lettuce bed is fully occupied with lettuce being pulled as required. 
   With the rapid growth on the pumpkins, squash and melons I had regularly checked for set fruit and then cut off the growing tip. Hopefully this will encourage larger produce but I fear it will also encourage side shoots.
   Despite the weather I still had to bush whack the grass and ferns down by the river.    The grass was not overly long but I had to use the bush whacker to get the ferns down. That activity desired beer I can tell you! 
    The sheep, geese and chickens (meat and hen) are holding up well. Unfortunately we lost a ram lamb to reasons unknown. Our speculative thought is that there is a congenital problem as we lost a ram lamb at the same time (week earlier) last year. 
    The weather forecast is for continued hot weather with a possibility of a thunderstorm and a little rain. I will believe it when I see it. 
  

Tom diddy tom tom...

First picking of tomatoes

   The tomato season is upon me! The first tomatoes have been picked all 205g of them, followed a couple of days later with another 220g. There are many more to come and fingers crossed they will ripen before anything gets them (chickens, blight, fungus, slugs etc etc).
   In the outside garden it is water, water and water. All the melons, cucumbers, squashes and pumpkins all need to be watered at least once a day. That means every three to five days I have to refill my water butts from the well. Despite the chore of watering everything looks good. Very pleased with the basil, early radish aubergines, chili peppers, courgettes, pumpkin's, potatoes, tomatoes, melons, french beans, shallots, onions, cabbage, early purple sprouting, lettuce, potatoes and disappointed with the runner beans beetroot, carrots, parsnips and peas (damn them chickens!). I have undertaken one more attempt at growing Champion of England peas and this time I have put up a netting fence to keep my two legged egg laying feathered friends off. The shallots have been dug up and are being dried off as I type. The weather in La Creuse has been sunny sometimes very hot with no rain and little cloud. Plenty of weeding done and I have all but caught up with it and I now wait for the next rain fall to germinate the next lot of weeds. Another sowing of french beans has been made this time just plain old green ones rather than "gourmet" fillet type beans.
  In the poly tunnel cucumbers are being picked along with the tomatoes. Beetroot seedlings have been planted out. Pipache, Mexican coriander, has been transplanted with some going outside the poly tunnel to see how they do.
   In the squash come pumpkin come courgette bed the pumpkins (particularly the 100 weight variety) are just going mad. Lots of pumpkins setting along with many strands of vine! The job I need to do soon is to cut off the growing tips. I have watermelons set with one the size of a tennis ball. 

Shallot harvest

Its tropical!

Wautoma cucumber

   Over the last week or so the weather has been tropical! On average the temperature during the day has been in the mid to upper 30C and at night in the low 20C and humid. Not good for transplanting lettuce as I found out to my cost. The plants just shrivelled up and turned to dust, almost literally, within twenty four hours. Anyway, other plants loved the hot weather. Courgettes, pumpkin, squash, melons, tomatoes all have grown well. There have been some days where I have not been able to work the garden and others where I have just "melted".
   In the poly tunnel the Wautoma cucumbers have gone mad and I expect to pick the first one by the 6th July. The sweet peppers have flowers and Nigel's Green chili has chili's! The tomatoes are doing well but I fear blight is 

Nigel's Green Chili

beginning to take a hold. Fingers crossed the tomatoes are advanced enough to produce fruit unlike last year where the blight very quickly wiped them out. The Wautoma cucumbers are looking fantastic.  I had to resow my savoy cabbage and swedes after the original sowing ended up in the bottom of one of the water butts! I have grown a new herb this year called Pipache (Mexican coriander) which I have now transplanted to pots and expect to plant out in the poly tunnel. I have taken advantage of the hot weather to dry some herbs and make some mixed herbs for the kitchen (Common thyme, marjoram, blue sage, golden oregano). I have another lot drying this time to include basil and parsley. 

   In the outside garden the chickens continue to play havoc with some crops. My beetroot took a hit and the small row of spinach. They love to make dust baths and their current favourite spots are at the end of a row of tomatoes and at the side of one of my butternut squash plants. I have tried to cover crops up but they are persistant and at the end of the day they do need to dust bathe so I tolerate it to a degree. I noticed that Troubadour and Black water water melons have set as have courgettes, pumpkins and squash. Early days but I am keeping my fingers crossed! There are lots of tomatoes and I am hopeful of a good crop from the outside plants. Of course the weeds are growing well but the grass has slowed up.

  As I come to finish this entry the weather has become more cool and thunder storms are passing over. Not a lot of rain has fallen. The garden could do with some even if only to ease my need to water!

Sun, sun, sun....

   So much sun does get a bit boring really. Over the last week there has been a few rain showers and a day or so overcast otherwise it has been sun all the way! That means watering and lots of plant growth. I am now spending the better part of one hour in the evening going round the plants watering. Still, the results are very good so I will persist.

Galina tomatoes in the poly tunnel

 

Nigels outdoor green chili (actually outdoors!)   

    The tomatoes are loving the warm to hot weather. The plants are looking good and every day there are more tomatoes set. The Galina tomatoes which were the first to start to set are now starting to ripen. They are a yellow grape variety although on the larger side. The outside tomatoes are doing well and I am watching out for them as the chickens will be at them as soon as they show any sign of ripening. I have supplemented my tomato plants by taking some of the shoots that would normally be thrown away and potting them up. They soon produce a good root system and at the end of the day they are "free" tomato plants. Much of the transplanting is now         done and my attention turns to things like    "sorting out the compost heap" which I have  done and pruning the vine, also done. That  involves getting out the long ladder and  being perched some twenty feet up in the air
 reaching out to cut off the shoots with a pair    of secateurs.  

Wautoma cucumber in the poly tunnel

   I have sorted out the meat chicken coop  and the associated run and also cleaned out  the turkey coop which is housing two geese  this summer. Six more meat chickens have    now  arrived and two geese.
   Charlotte potatoes are now being dug on a   regular basis and it is a good crop. I am      sure it will improve as I make my way down the rows. A new sowing of coriander has been made in the poly tunnel and the peas there are now coming to an end. More lettuce transplanted and I am fearful of a lettuce shortage with the failure of  the salad bowl and Little Gem lettuce which was supposed to be a stop gap between the last of the Jack Ice and the start of the Great Lakes! The next sowing of lettuce has germinated but it no where near ready to transplant yet. May be we will not eat very much lettuce? Experience says if I have a shortage whatever is short will be required. All in all its go go go!

Thunder! Rain! Sun! Whats next?

   Weeds. That is what is next, weeds. Bit of sun, bit of rain and you get weeds. Lots of weeds not to mention the grass! So a fair amount of time has been spent weeding. Having said that everything is growing away madly having loved the sunshine and then really enjoyed the rain to put on a big spurt in growth. 

Troubadour water melon patch

Blackwater water melons

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   I have sorted out the melon patch in between down pours. This involved digging out the dirt and putting a layer of chopped Comfrey (a green manure), a layer of earth, a layer of cow manure, a layer of earth, more cow manure, more earth. Hopefully they will like that! Melons like their roots to be warm, hence the plastic covering the patch. Elsewhere I have planted out Blackwater water melons which have been very successful for me over the last two years. This year I have five plants. Fingers crossed that I get some big water melons.
   The year is moving on and winter vegetables are being sown already. Savoy cabbage, swede and purple sprouting have been sown in modules or pots and are well established. I have continued to cut lettuce and more has been transplanted and also sown to continue the succession. Vegetables are being harvested, in particular cabbage and peas. I have sown another row of carrot with my first sowing not germinating at all. At last the beetroot has put its head up and there is a good row. I will need to protect them from  my feather friends, the chickens! All the squash plants (Waltham butternut and  Burgess buttercup) are now planted out and established as are the two varieties of pumpkin (Hundredweight and Justkynka).       Out side the poly tunnel cucumbers, La Diva, are also out and established along with the cucamelons. Courgettes, two varieties, Straiato di Napoli and Milano have also been planted out. Two more varieties of peas have been sown to accompany the Champion of England already growing (both are home gathered seed, Oskar and a sugar snap type).   
    In the poly tunnel the tomatoes are thriving and I am watching them for the first signs of blight. There are many tomato's set and the variety Galina I think will be the first to ripen. Wautoma cucumbers are rapidly reaching for the roof and the bed of sweet peppers are growing well. I am on the look out for cucumber flowers.  Good old Basil, Mammoth, Lemon and Sweet Genoese is now established. Nigel's Green Chili's are looking good!