Late Merry Christmas

    Eleven days since the last blog. It is getting a bit of a habit only producing a blog nearly once a fortnight. At the end of the day there has not really been a lot going on. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year readers.
  Well I guess you get what you wish for sometimes. The weather has been very damp and mild to date (27th December 2019). In fact so damp that when I went to fork up the parsnips for Christmas dinner the ground was almost liquid mud! So, little work done on the vegetable garden. There is some to do in the poly tunnel but I have not get there yet!

Christmas dinner parsnips

I do not know what has got into the chickens. A new record set for this lot! Nine eggs laid in one day at the end of December! A record. Confused chucks methinks!
  I am looking forward to some drier conditions and to be able to get on with clearing the vegetable beds. The leeks are looking generally a little sorry for themselves. The broad beans look good but will a sharp frost knock them down I wonder. Colder nights are forecast. Early purple sprouting is taking everything in its stride and is looking very good. Still some cabbage left and the garlic is well established as are the over winter onions. It will soon be time to think about sowing tomato seeds! Where does the year go?

Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!

   Well I got a tree and its up and decorated.
  This years chicks are really coming into lay. I am now getting up to five eggs a day from them and they are coloured white, blue, light brown and dark brown.
    I am still  getting produce from the garden. Cabbage, few small carrots, parsnips, leeks and various herbs. Be nice if the chickens left the beetroot alone but those leaves will recover eventually. Broad beans are standing the weather well but their testing time is yet to come. A little more weeding but the ground is really saturated and I really need to avoid stepping on it. I have straightened up edges of beds taking advantage of the soil being diggable! The chickens love me when I do this. Lots of worms get turned over and they dice with being speared or chopped by fork or spade!
  The weather remains wet and mild. There was one morning of frost this last week but so far it has been a mild winter. Trying to get out there and fork/weed what I can. The coldest part will be in January to March no doubt.

   Not gardening but it is interesting. A grey partridge came to visit as per the photograph above.

Damp and cold

The rising sun

   The cold mornings (there were a couple of mornings of frost) and damp weather along with the days getting shorter and boy are they shortening fast now are a big discouragement to going out and doing stuff in the garden. 22nd December is the shortest day. Anyway, despite that, I have managed to do some weeding and forking along with help of my feathered friends, the chickens who have merrily run the risk of being spiked by my fork to get a worm or two. I have cut another small cabbage left over from the summer drought and there are still a few more that are of an edible size. Plenty of leeks and a few carrots by the look of things in the ground and in storage I have onions and potatoes. Oh, must not forget the squash! Must make soup!
   For reasons only known to a chicken I am now getting five eggs a day. Usually at this time of year one expects one or two if one is lucky. I think it must be because this years chicks are coming into lay.
  So, still much to do but hey ho what gets done gets done. Next years vegetable seeds have been ordered and arrived post haste much to my pleasant surprise! Christmas is starting to take over and I need to go get a tree!

RAIN!

    This last week the weather has been miserable. Heavy showers, wind and too wet to work the ground. Well, what can I expect for November? Least it is not cold and snowing! Temperature wise it has been above freezing and into the teens. Not unusual for November in this part of the world.

Two forked and weeded plots

Big Plot waiting attention!

   Despite the wet and cold progress has been made on weeding and forking beds. I have even had some help from the chickens! I have taken the opportunity to straighten up the beds as over time the edges tend to creep in narrowing the bed.
  Took a look through my seeds and went ahead and ordered more for next year from Real Seeds. It is my assumption that I will still be here next year. Just cannot resist buying vegetable seeds.
  On the chicken front hens continue to lay reasonably well despite the short, wet and cooler days. Usual cleaning out of the coops done.

My helpers....

FROST!

   Well there has been a couple of days of frost this week. I am not surprised it is about the right time of November for frosts to start in my neck of the woods. These two days have been proper frosts, icy and wide spread. Broad beans hit but they will survive. Very tough plants broad beans.

Serious frost

   My bushwhacker has been fixed! New belt put on and off I went and cut the grass. Not before time! Nothing done on the actual veggie beds, too wet and the days too short to be honest!
   On the chicken front the new chick flock has started to lay. Found four eggs but unfortunately  no idea how old. I will now be keeping a daily eye open. Of course whichever hen it was and I have a good idea which one it is, did not lay where she should have! 
   It is about time to start planning next years seed sowing and I think I will be looking to get fresh tomato seed for starters.

More rain and its turning nippy!

   Well it is the middle of November after all. Below zero temperatures forecast for the week end which if I am honest with myself is pretty normal for la Creuse at this time of year. There is a hint of snow and ice in the forecast but if it does then I do not think it will last.
   I have actually had a productive week in the garden. A couple of outside beds forked and weeded. The soil is a little on the heavy side but still workable but I am getting on with it.  I have cut another "summer" cabbage. It was a useful size for one person and will do me a couple of meals and that will actually mean a half plateful of cabbage for each meal. There has been a little wind and my early purple sprouting having managed to survive the heat of the summer and growing a little tall were blown over. I have had to tie each plant to a tomato stake. They should straighten themselves up.

Tied up early purple sprouting

   On the chicken front the "chick" flock have now moved into a new phase. Well one or two have. The coq is now showing more than an interest in them so maybe some eggs soon? He is also crowing. All the chickens are enjoying being in the garden and there are happy hens bobbing up and down finding bugs and worms.

Got what I asked for

      The rain continues. I must not complain but the grass is now getting so long! Hey ho!  The weather continues to be mild and wet but the forecast is for the temperature to drop below double figures over the next few days. Pretty much the norm for this time of year. A  new arrival at Watermeadows. A Brahma hen. She is a nice bird and is settling in well.
    In the outside garden the winter vegetables have really welcomed the rain. My first sowing of broad beans have taken off well and I now fear they will be too advanced to over winter well. Time will tell. The second sowing has just put there heads up. The garlic and over winter onions have put down roots and are sprouting. Good sign. In the brassica bed the winter savoy cabbage is playing catch up and the early purple sprouting is reaching for the sky! The summer cabbage (that's a laugh!) is also playing catch up and I am about to cut the first head. Winter leeks and parsnips have recovered well from the drought and I am expecting a good crop assuming that critters do not eat them first!

Latest addition Brahma hen

First sowing of broad beans

Garlic and onions

Savoy winter cabbage and early purple sprouting

Cabbage

Winter leek bed

Parsnips

Its dark and quiet...BOO!

   What can I say? The days are short and there are lots of jobs to do and they are not  getting done. Pooh. No paparticular reason. The weather remains mild with a little dampness so I cannot even use that as an excuse. Have one for not cutting the grass though. The drive belt on my mower snapped and I am having to get a new one online. That is going to take a few days to arrive not helped by the fact that the first site I choose is closed for a vacation!! Its OCTOBER!
    In the garden the brassicas continue to recover well from the drought. Excellent early purple sprouting and winter cabbage. The summer cabbage, of course, now late, are doing their best to produce a head and a good number of them are going to succeed. Beetroot is still growing and I guess will continue until it gets really cold so there is a chance of a few more yet. No sign of the winter onions sprouting yet or the garlic. 
    Chickens continue to be chickens and are one is escaping the coup just about every day. I found her old laying spot but she is wise bird this one and I am guessing she is now laying somewhere else yet to be discovered. In the chick coop the little blighters continue to escape and I just hope they grow a bit and put on some weight so that they will be discouraged from trying to fly out of the coop. No eggs from that bunch yet!
     Happy Halloween.

Singing that song once more...I am singing in the rain....

   What can one say? It has been raining, a lot! Very welcome although a little heavy at times. Thunder, lightening, the lot! My neighbour's trench he had dug from the drainage ditch to his pond (bit larger than a pond but not big enough to call a lake I guess) has taken the worst of the deluge away from coming down my way. So that is a benefit.
   I have sown more broad beans and planted out garlic and Stuttgart over winter onion sets. Mind you the rain has all but buried them! I have also put a few onion sets in the poly tunnel. It will be interesting to see how they do.
   My youngest daughter and her children have been with me this last few days. Nice to see them and the eldest, Evie, was keen to pull carrots, beetroot and a leek!
   I need the rain to ease up as the grass needs cutting (again!!).

Stuttgart onion bed in the poly tunnel

All quiet

Oct 2019 wood delivery

Squash harvest various varieties this year

   Oh dear what can I say? The week has flown by and when I look back at my garden log what do I see? Nothing. Squat. White space. So what did I do this last week? Well I guess two days were taken up with moving and stacking the winter supply of wood for the wood burner. One day taken up grass cutting. Yes you read it right, grass cutting. After the rain the grass has gone from crispy brown to bright green and needing to be cut. Oh my poor hand! I have a blister in the middle of my left hand from cutting the grass. Usually by now my hand would have hardened up but of course the grass has not been cut for probably three months. Oh well. The other picture here is of my squash harvest and this is despite the drought. I did not water them at all. So there is Crown Prince, Kuri, Butternut, Long Island cheese. Do not ask me which is which because the weather destroyed the labels! Note to self get a better means on writing on labels next year. My pumpkins for halloween were a waste of space again because I did not water. In the poly tunnel everything is now done for bar some parsley and thyme. It has been a poor year. Outside the brassicas (summer cabbage, winter cabbage and early purple sprouting are all doing well! Looks like I will get some summer (laughable is it not?) cabbage after all. That will make up for the loss of my cauliflowers.
 Chickens are being chickens and are still laying two to three a day. Suits me. I am going to be inundated with eggs when the chicks come in to lay which should not be long now. Still have one hen escaping. She does like to get at the green grass! The chicks are still managing to fly out of there coop, well three or four of them on pretty much a daily basis.  I need to trim their flight feathers but that is a two person job. 

Close down time...

Last of the tomatoes

   Well I cannot say it has been a busy week in the garden. I seem to have spent most of my time zooming up and down the motorway to visit the hostpital in Limoges! Nothing serious, checkups.
   I have now picked the last of the tomatoes. A unexpected reasonable crop despite the hot weather. These as shown in the picture are the most unusual ones. Blue/black in colour and goodness knows what the variety is. I thought they were all Noire Crimee where I planted these and maybe they are but just small round ones rather than pointy ones! Oh well such is the joys of gardening. I sorted out my late sown Sanquine beetroot and transplanted some seedlings to another bed. Never know they might do something early next spring. Always worth a try. Over winter broad beans sown and my early purple sprouting has flourished with the recent rain and I am hopeful of a decent crop come next spring. Other cabbage is showing signs of recovery and with a bit of luck and mild weather I may  get something off them! 
   Nothing much going on on the chicken front other than a number of them have taken it upon themselves to get out the coop and go wander the garden!! One from the main coop has also decided that outside is better than inside. I guess it is possible that the cockeral is bothering her and she is just trying to get away from him.
   So I head into autumn and as always at this time of year plenty of tidying up to do. How much will  get down will depend on the weather. It is damp at the moment and the grass has turned from crispy brown to bright green and is growing fast. I may even have to mow!

Rain, beautiful rain..

   Well it finally arrived. Rain and it has gone cooler. Enough rain to fill the 1000 litre container I have and my five what I guess are around 500 litres each water butts. Of course, I will not need them now will I?

   Here are two photos taken before the rain river at the bottom of my field. I have not seen the Petite Cruese as low this in the nine years I have lived  here. The recent rain will help but it is not enough. Now need to get my winter onions and plant them and also sow some broad beans. Hopefully the hot weather will not return but it will stay mild for a few more weeks yet.
   In the garden I am still picking courgettes and tomatoes but both are coming to an end. I have harvested more than I thought I would from both. Oh, I managed to dig up a few very thin carrots. They provided me with a second vegetable for a couple of meals so I must be grateful. With the rain the parsnips should pick up and the remaining beetroot may still get a little bigger. Hopefully the leeks will now start to grow. I am amazed they have survived but they will continue grown even when it gets cold.
  Nothing new on the chicken front.

I am now learning the desert song....

  

Mixed squash harvest

   The drought continues. It is still sunny and there have been two days of thirty degree centigrade this last week. Temperatures continue in the mid to upper twenties and a very very vague hint of "light rain" sometime in the near future!
     There is very little in the vegetable garden now. A few tomato plants still giving me a few fruits which is fine by me as too many means I have to find something to do with them! A mixed bag of winter squash has be gathered, crown prince, long island chess, butternut to mention three. Still one or two to gather but those are on plants that are still hanging in there and I am reluctant to harvest until the plant gives up.

  The photo is of my Bedfordshire onions grown from seed. I am quite proud of them.  Another couple of courgettes picked. The plants are showing signs of giving up now. There is little I can do in the vegetable garden. Even clearing weeks is not a good think to do and it just disturbs already dry soil and digging or forking is definitely out! I would like to plant some over winter onion sets. They are not in the shop yet but again I am reluctant to do anything until there has been a bit of rain.
   It is time to think about gathering seed and I have some parsnip and moss curled parsley already. Need to get some tomato seeds especially the black Crimea which have done so well in the dry conditions.
    Chickens. Oh yes chickens. Feathers everywhere! You would think the fox had been at them but no they are moulting. One or two look a right mess with bold patches and feathers hanging in ready to fall out. Lucky for them it has not been cold. Still getting two to three eggs a day which does me fine. The chicks are growing and it cannot be long before they come into lay.
    Just took a look at the weather forecast a week out and rain is forecast for Sunday 22nd September. Believe it when I feel it.

GASP!

   Ok folks still no rain and now the first frost! That is early! Just gone through a couple of days of lot cooler weather but the forecast is for the temperature to rise into the 20's so here is hoping winter stays away a little longer but boy could do with some rain!

Unknown tomato variety...black!

   So,  over the last week what has been going on? Not a lot. Picked a few courgettes and tomatoes and looked despairingly at the other crops. The ground is just bone dry now and there is no sign of any rain in the forecast. The river at the bottom of my field is as low as I have ever seen it and to honest I am glad that I no longer have any sheep.

Bedfordshire onions grown from seed

   I have managed to produce some pickled beetroot. The beets have been various in size from tiny to medium and I made a jar of whole pickled beets which I have never done before. In the poly tunnel the last lot of lettuce have all but given up despite being watered regularly. Still some tomatoes hanging in and my market maker cucumber is also just about holding on and I may get another one or two. 
   On the plus side I have never seen so many blackberries. I have an enormous collection of them outside my front door! I have frozen some and prepared some apple and blackberry mush for a pie or crumble.
  Well my tan is being maintained but little is being done in the garden though there are as always jobs to be done!

Water! Water!

   The drought continues. Tichy amout of rain in the last week. Not enought to do anything really other than cool things down a bit.

Drought affected cauliflowers

  The last of the second earlies, variety Anoe, have now been lifted. Somehow the last couple of feet of the bed has been overlooked until now. As the photograph shows the drought has badly affected my autumn cauliflowers and the whole crop is a right off. Sun,bit of rain, sun really did not agree with them at all. Still picking the outside the poly tunnel Wautoma cucumbers which are now starting to show signs of coming to an end. They have been one of the plants that I have watered using my precious supplies of rain water and once again they have been very good. The courgettes are still producing with two or three this last week. Enough for my consumption! The second sowing of haricot vert managed to produce a crop certainly enough for two meals! The last of the melons have been picked and despite the drought they have done ok. A decent seed tray of tomatoes picked. I am grateful for any tomatoes to be  honest given the poor start to the year. The winter brassicas are hanging in but I fear if we do not get some rain very soon they too will be a complete loss.
   On the chicken front the chicks have settled into their new enclosure with one or two deciding that outside the wire if better than inside! Still getting two to four eggs a day from the other flock which is fine for my use.
   The weather forecast over the next week is for some light rain at the week end but that is still a few days out so it cannot be depended on. Will the sun ever go away?

What is there to say?

  It is hot. It is dry. You walk on the, ahem, grass and it crunches beneath your feet! It is generally too hot to do anything too much in the garden after about 1030, so one gets a bit done and then heads inside to keep cool.
  This blog pretty much covers two weeks. In that two weeks I have managed to dig up the main crop potatoes, variety Desiree. Good crop despite the drought. It would seem my planting was timed correctly to catch the most of what rain we have had over the last couple of months. I have picked melons, a little on the small side but sweet and very edible. Wautoma cucumbers continue to produce, these and courgettes and poly tunnel tomatoes (only three plants!) are the only plants to get watered and I am running out of rain water. Only the onions grown from seed left in the ground and those are there because the leaves have not yet started to turn brown so there is some hope they may get a bit bigger. Shallots have now all been processed into pickled onions and are under the stairs in jars waiting for Christmas. Picking the odd courgette which for me is fine. One or two a week as far as I concerned is more than enough. A few tomatoes continue to ripen and there are still quite a few to come but with the continued dry weather who knows how they will do. I bought another fifty winter leeks from the local market and planted those out more in hope than expectation.
  On the chicken front another chick has been lost to a predator of unknown type so the rest have been moved to what is hoped to be a more secure compound. 
  No sign of the weather letting up. The Creuse is the driest department in the whole of France and Gueret, the capital of the Creuse is running out of water. The mayor has declared that water for drinking will be pumped from a lake in the city. Dire times. It has been stated that the aquifers are at their lowest level for two hundred years. Does not bode well for the garden!

Harvested Red Sun shallots

Peeled and salted shallots

Rinsed and dried shallots

Jars waiting to be filled

The end product, pickled onions!

Conserve that water!

1000 ltr tank with down pipe feed attached

   The drought continues. There has been some rain and the new 1000 litre water container brought by my daughters boy friend has been set up and is about one third full! Very pleased with my Heath Robinson setup!
   In the poly tunnel I have transplanted some savoy type winter cabbage and wait to see how they do. Harvesting continues - tomatoes, carrots, peas, courgettes, potatoes, onions, cucumbers and a melon! Major effort now to get the main crop potatoes up before the is any serious rain and get the onions dried off for storage.
  Nothing going on on the chicken front. No further losses and those that remain are growing. 
   Autumn is getting closer!

Desiree main crop potatoes

Change is afoot!

    

Batavia Blonde lettuce

So here we are at the end of the first week of August. Autumn just around the corner. Hardly seems like summer has got started! Dry, hot and mostly sunny here in La Creuse, central France. The Creuse is the driest department in France. There are major water restrictions and appeals for people to save water at every opportunity. Fortunately it rained a fair bit just recently and I managed to refill my water butts, however, I fear the dry spell will outlast those. My eldest daughters partner brought me a 1000 litre water container which I have hooked up to my most productive down pipe. Rain water from the  barn roof goes down this pipe. Now need it to rain to fill it up!

   The sheep have now gone. No more sheep. It is likely I will sell up and move at some point but that could be a couple of years away and at least a year. Property does not sell quickly here. The chickens are fine and one of this years hens has come into lay. She produced the smallest egg I have ever seen.

Savoy type cabbage Milan

    August is time to harvest shallots and onions. I think I am a week or two early but I have now pulled all the shallots and they now need to be pickled! Onions I am gradually pulling as the leaves die back. No point in pulling them too soon in this dry weather. The sun might as well dry them off. During the week I have picked courgettes, cucumbers and Noire Crimee tomatoes. I have dug up ANOE potatoes which are now all but finished. One more lot will see them done. Desiree main crop are waiting to be dug up! I gathered some coriander seed for next year. I had very few coriander plants this year. The poly tunnel has been a disappointment although lettuce and a few tomatoes have done well. More preparation for winter with savoy cabbage, variety Milan, planted out. I now need to wonder about whether or not to plant more leeks. 

Start of drying out the onion crop

2019 Red Sun shallot harvest

Ain't half hot mum!

    Well the week started at a reasonable temperature and then steadily climbed to reach the maximum at the front of my house of 44C on Thursday! Then it rained and very welcome it was too. All water butts now refilled to maximum! The temperature has really cooled down and is much more comfortable and I have actually been in the garden today (Sunday 28th July) digging potatoes and doing some much needed weeding.
     Enough of the weather. Last of the cabbage has been cut, Wautoma cucumbers picked, haricot vert picked, potatoes dug, peas picked, onions pulled and courgette's cut, (long and an unexpected round one). Not bad but should be better! After the rain I have sowed a small row of Great Lakes lettuce in the hope of producing a few before autumn. The ground is now dry despite the steady amount of rain. In la Creuse water restrictions are at there highest level and good part of France is also under some sort of restriction.

Squash on one sort or another!

Squash on one sort or another!

Squash on one sort or another!

Too much of a good thing you know....

    The sun continues to shine. The ground is getting drier but there is only a little sign of stress in the vegetables. The forecast is for another week of high temperatures and I fear for the veg.
   Lots of veg being picked, pulled, dug and cut. Carrots, beetroot, haricot vert, potatoes, salad onions, onions, lettuce and at last Wautoma cucumber!

Parsnips

    The grass has stopped growing but the weeds have not, typical! My daughter and her children wanted to have a picnic by the river so I had to cut the grass there. First time this year. The river is very low.
   Will the peas do anything? I am still hopeful as there are peas showing and maybe, just maybe, the peas in the pods might swell.
   On the animal front no news from the sheep. Mr and Mrs Ixworth have been moved back to their original coop to allow the chicks at number five to be moved to a larger enclosure. I am trying to find a home for the Ixworth coq. He is too nice a bird to cull at this point in time. 

Courgette

    There are severe water restrictions at the moment and are likely to remain for the foreseeable future. Does not bode well! I still have several  butts of rain water but it is not going to last long. I have restricted my watering to the cucumbers (outside and in the poly tunnel, courgettes, melons and inside the poly tunnel tomatoes). The squash is looking good but for how long?

Ripening tomatoes

First Wautoma cucumber of 2019

The sun has got his hat on! Hip! Hip! Hip! Horray......

    Yep, the sun has been shinning every day over the last week with some odd clouds making an appearance. In my department, La Creuse, a major drought has been called and severe water restrictions are now in place. The Petite Creuse river which runs at the bottom of my property is low for July. It is at the level we would normally expect to see in August. Does not bode well. Currently I have a reasonable amount of water in butts but I am rationing that to my melons, cucumbers, courgettes, my three poly tunnel tomatoes and recently sowed carrots and lettuce (carrot seed needs to be keep moist until it germinates).

Low river level

Low river level

So, what has been going on in the garden? Me dodging the sun mostly! Looks like the grass has decided it is time to slow down, no mowing! First of the second early potatoes have been dug up and the crop is very promising. More weeding (what else would  you expect?) and some more sowing. I have sowed more Touchon carrots, haricot vert and beetroot. I am still pulling lettuce although I fear I am going to run out before the next lot mature. Succession planning failure! The mange tout is now finished and has been removed. First lot of haricot vert is coming in and I should pick the first lot in the next few days. One row of carrots has been thinned out and the row looks very good. The squash is rampant and the outside tomatoes are doing well including the freebies I planted out the other week. Maybe a ripe one or two by the time of the next blog? I am hopeful for my outdoor (Wautoma) cucumbers. The poly tunnel ones were overwhelmed by white fly so the outdoor ones are the only cucumbers I have. The onion crop looks very promising with a large number beginning to swell. The main crop potatoes, Desiree, are starting to go over and it does look like the Colorado beetle strike has abated. My persistence in squishing larvae and beetles has paid off.
  On the animal front sheep are being sheep chickens are been chickens and chicks are escaping!! The chicks are growing fast.

SQUASH PATCH!

Latest from the Champeau vegetable garden

     Ok, so I am now back on track!

Latest planting of Batavia Blonde lettuce

A melon. Will it set?

   This blog will cover the seven days (1st to the 7th July) which will mean I am back on track to do weekly blogs at last.
   So, over the last week the weather has been hot and there has also been thunder, lightening and rain! The rain has been welcome despite the fact it will encourage the weeds and goodness knows they do not need encouragement! Pulled Touchon carrots, Batavia Blonde lettuce, rhubarb and dug Anoe potatoes which are now finished. I now move onto the second earlies which are Belle de Fontenay. This potato can also be regarded as a main crop potato. I am not expecting such a good crop as the Anoe as the Belle de Fontenay is an older variety and comment has been made that Anoe are more heavier cropping than Belle de Fontenay. We shall see. More of the usual, that is , weeding (but no grass cutting!) and tieing up of the outside tomatoes which are doing rather well.

Colorado bettle larvae munching my tomatoes!

   Chickens are being chickens, chicks are growing, sheep are being sheep.          
   The weather is forecast to continue to be hot and dry and in my neck of the woods it is humid.