The sun continues to shine

Tomatoes!

    Yep the sun continues to shine and the temperatures hover in the mid twentys (centigrade). Phew! And its only May!
   I planted out a few more tomatoes and thought to myself "How many have I planted out now?" So I counted them up and I have planted out ninety nine plants. Man! I need to find a space for at least one more somewhere and I did. In fact another twelve!!
   More forking and weeding (never ends if the truth be told) done. Four more cucumbers planted out this time variety Marketmore and I also have sown four more Marketmore seeds in pots, the idea being, to get a longer cucumber season. Had to do some resowing. One Waltham butternut squash seed which had failed to germinate and a good few sweet corn seeds that had also failed to germinate. Lost a couple of lettuce to heat so they too were replaced. Poor germination in my Hope cabbage so they also have bee resown. I have started to transplant the Mammouth leaf basil plants. I have had a colorado beetle free day and I am hoping it is going to stay that way.
   The cherry trees have been a disappoinment this year. Many have split and of course the birds have had their share. 
   Sheep are being sheep and chickens are being chickens. Still laying five or six a day. 
By the next blog I should have some news of the hatching of the second batch of eggs.

Chick hitches a ride on mum...

Too hot ?

   Just as one thinks that the weather is against one either too hot, too cold or too wet it changes. The last week has been warm to hot and dry. I was about to get my concerned hat on and the weather has gone cooler and it has rained. Excellent. Most things are growing well and now with the bit of rain the transplanted plants and newly sown seeds ought to get moving!
   Spotted the first colorado beetle on the 17th and have now started to patrol the potato patches to try to catch any. So far I have caught and squished a good number.  First volunteer (that is potatoes that have grown from spuds not harvested last year) potatoes dug up. These were purple ones, variety Violet. I have also dug up some Volunteer Desiree potatoes too. All in all several free kilos of spuds! The squash bed is now fully poputated with varieties American Tonda and Kuri added to the Sibley and Waltham butternut. The second sowing of broad beans has now been picked and cleared. Over two kilos of shelled beans harvested and froze!  I have created a small seed bed at the back of my poly tunnel where is it shaded most of the day. It is getting too hot in the poly tunnel for seeds. I have sown Great Lakes lettuce and some 18Jour radish in this bed. In the place of the broad beans (once forked and weeded!) I have put my first lot of cucumbers, variety Tamra. New one to me. Hopefully they will do ok outside. Last years cucumbers in the poly tunnel were a disappointment. Winter vegetables have been now been transplanted into my winter vegetable bed. This bed has been prepared with manure over winter and then lime added when planting out. Found this worked well last year with my Early purple sprouting. So, two varieties of Brussels sprouts and Early Purple Sprouting have populted this bed. One variety of Brussel Sprout is a dutch variety. My early sowing of haricot vert and buerre has been very disappointing. I have resown with a hope they do better in the warmer soil. The borlotti beans have not done much better and I will resow in the gaps.
  On the chicken front Mrs Brahma sits tight although she has been seen off the nest (quite normal). I had to put one chicken down who was suffering from some respiratory ailment and she had lost a lot of condition. We have also swapped our plastic coop and the old duck coop and moved the flock that has been using it. This is to allow us to move Mrs Brahma and her chicks (and maybe before) to a more safe environment. 
   So onwards I go! Lots to do and not enough time to do it all in. Oh well one can only do what one can do and I try hard not to over do things.

Shelled broad beans

Pumpkins on top of the Hugelkultur bed

Desiree potatoes 

First lot of Brussels sprouts planted out. That white stuff is lime.

   

Cool and damp but ....

   The weather has entered the cool and cold middle of May. In France the ice saints dates are the 11th, 12th and 13th May when there could be frost. No frost in my neck of the woods this year and local lore is do not plant anything out until the 15th May. Over recent years I have taken a chance and planted out tomatoes and cabbages during the first two weeks of May and have got away with it. Climate change? Who knows but when I first moved here ten years ago and started planting veg I would not have dreamed of planting out until after the 15th May although I have always chanced my potatoes and mostly got away with it.
   Lots of weeding and grass mowing. It is the time of year where everything just grows very fast. I am already thinking of autumn and winter. Champion Red Top swede sown in modules in the poly tunnel (which by the time I publish this blog have germinated), more 18Jour radish and a french cabbage variety whose name translates to Hope. More tomatoes transplanted to pots and the count of those transplanted or waiting to go out stands at sixty one! I think it will be unlikely that I will bother to transplant more seedling to pots as the total tomato count stands around one hundred. The pea/mangetout bed has been weeded and where there were gaps seeds have been sown. In my mind is the idea that I need to sow another lot somewhere! More tomatoes transplanted. In this tomato bed I have made an effort to allow two feet between plants, horizontally and vertically. This will allow plenty of space for airation and reduce the spread of blight. Least that is the theory! My squash patch is all but ready and I had started to transplant Sibley and American Tonda squash. Much to my alarm I had forgot to sow butternut squash in the poly tunnel. Hey ho! I have sown swom seed in the squash bed. They should be ok.
   As always lots to still to do and the weeds and grass do not let up!

AGATA second early potatoes

Cabbage patch

Busy busy busy.....

  

     New arrivals at Watermeadows! Nine chicks have been hatched either by our hen Mrs Buffycross or in the incubator. Mum and chicks doing fine!

     It has been a busy week. I am usually wary of planting out until the middle of May which is when the last frost date is for the area I live, however, it has been mild and sunny with showers and the forecast for the next week is for it to continue to do so. A little risk maybe but I think only a very very small one that there might be a frost. 
    So what has been planted out? A old favourite of mine - Greyhound cabbage. This is a pointy summer cabbage that I have grown successfully over the years and have decided to give it a go here in France. I have transplanted tomatoes to an outside (the poly tunnel) beds. Varieties (all Champeau seed!) Jens Orange, Gardeners Delight, Crimea Noiree, Potiron Ecarlate, Noire Crimee). In the poly tunnel a couple of unkown tomatoes types and Great Lakes lettuce. Seedlings are coming along nicely. A number of sweet corn seedlings have been move outside in a sweet corn bed. Half of it is sown seed and the other half will be seed germinated and grown in the poly tunnel. In theory the sown seed should catch up with the transplanted plants! I have noticed the early potatoes in the poly tunnel are very close to flowering. I am still harvesting lettuce and radish from the poly tunnel and broad beans outside although they are starting to come to an end now.
  Other jobs? Well, weeding, mowing grass and I have finally lit my bonfire! Plenty to do and lots of plants to set out.

 

Transplanted tomatoes

Preparing to transplant tomatoes

Donner und blitzen!

    Yes, thunder and lighening, wind and rain! It has been that sort of week, however, much has been done despite the weather.
   Haricot vert, haricot buerre and borlotti beans have been sown. Very poor germination of the parsnips this year so gaps in the row resown and fingers crossed!  More Touchon carrots sowed. More weeding (never ends!) done.  Over winter leeks have now gone to seed and have been removed. In the poly tunnel tomatoes and basil transplanted to pots and Sanquine beetroot sown. First lot of beetroot did not germinate so fingers crossed for this sowing. Next sowing goes outside the poly tunnel. Brussels sprouts and early purple sprouting thinned out. More grass mowing but I broke the handle again. Managed to get it repaired pretty quickly and once I resummed mowing it rained! In between rain showers I managed to tranplant some more Glory of Enkhuisen summer cabbage. Picked a good number of broad beans although a disappointing crop. My first over winter sowing of broad beans looked really good but they were hit by blight (rust) and a lot of the plants died off. My second sowing is looking a little happier and fingers crossed I will get a bigger crop off them.
   Hens are laying well and Mrs. Buffycross still sits tight. Hopefully next week I will have some news to report of newly hatched chicks.

Emerging Violet (purple) potatoes

Picking of broad beans