Cool and damp

     The weather does seem to be a major topic these days. This last week has seen the weather get cooler and wetter. Not that the vegetable garden minds (nor the weeds and grass). Everything is growing well including the colorado beetle and grubs which I look out for to squish every morning and evening and whenever I am walking through the garden. They are definately more prevalent. 

    The broad beans are now finished with around nine kilos in the freezer. Very pleased with the broad bean crop this year. Their bed has been forked and weeded and haricot vert sown, sanquine beetroot transplanted and the last three Black Mountain water melons put out more in hope than really expecting anything from them. They will have to take their chances as no special treatment has been given to them as I did with the other plants. Also put out were some probable chilli plants with some sweet peppers. They have not grown well in the pots and I believe the seed compost was rubbish. By now they should have been quite large plants. Cabbage cut, ANOE potatoes dug up and mangetout picked. Nothing quite like frying up a pan of cold new potatoes with a couple of scramble eggs! Champeau breakfast!!

   On the chicken front we have chicks! Eight out of ten hatched. One did not make it completely out of the shell and one we had to rescue. We believe it was the last to hatch and did not get under the hen succcessfully and got cold. I rescued it and my daughter warmed it up with a hair drier and it recovered. Twenty four hours in the incubator to make sure it was ok and alert enough to rejoin the group. It is now back with mum who has accepted it without issue. An improvement of egg production this week with an average of 2.7 eggs a day. Still not as good as it should be!

   Plenty to do and as always not enought time or decent weather to get it done! Hey ho!

Mother hen and chicks

Hot then wet

     The weather takes the biscuit again this week. Starts off hot and sunny ends up wet and cool. Grand growing weather, grass, weeds and oh the veg too!

     So, this week has seen the usual tasks being done....mowing grass, hoeing and weeding! Along side also picking broad beans, cut a cabbage, pulling lettuce, picking peas, digging new ANOE potatoes and picking delicioius Maris de Bois strawberries. I have been very pleased with my strawberry "no dig" bed despite the pain of weeding it. The strawberries have been excellent and the plants are continuing to produce more strawberries. Runners have been thrown out so that means I will be able to fill up the bed with new plants. Fingers crossed next year could be a bumper crop! Some transplanting done. Three spaghetti squash, the last of the tomato plants, a couple of Burpee tomato shoots that I managed to get to root and my very miserable looking Perfection cucumbers. I have been very disappointed with the cucumber plants this year. The season marches on and the Colorado beetles have appeared. So it is out and about squishing beetles, eggs and larvae when found in an effort to at least contain the outbreak. 

    Chickens are being chickens and unfortunately I had to despatch a hen who to me had given up on life. She had had an injured leg (too amorous cockeral!) and seemed to be recovering. The broody hen is still sat tight and it is possible by the next blog entry there maybe some chicks. Egg production has been poor more likely due to the hot weather. Average daily amount: 2

Pea vines

Broad beans

Burpee tomato plant

Oh no!

    Not good. Ran out of english beer! How can I garden in this heat without the thought of a cool english bottle of IPA at the end of it! Oh well I guess I will have to manage till I go shopping again.

   Good morning (12th June 2021) from a sunny and very warm Watermeadows in Champeau de Bas, La Creuse! 

Mara de Bois strawberries

First dig of ANOE new potatoes

   I am feeling quite please with myself with the no dig bed constructed last autumn now producing delightful Mara de Bois strawberries. More than I thought there would being it is the first year.  The first dig of new potatoes has been done with 1.70kgs dug up with the help of my youngest grandson, Toby. Prehaps a little disappointing at the quanity but hey not bad! This was eighty two days from planting to the first dig which is at the top end of when they should be ready. 

   Ok that was the exciting bit. More weeding, more grass cutting. I have set up a framework for my cucumbers which are being very reluctant to grow to a point where I am happy to plant them out. If they do not buck up soon they will go out regardless! My Touchon carrots have done well this season and I have three rows germinated with another row sown this week. I have had to sow a couple of 5 Dessert melon seeds to replace a sickly  plant in the hope that they catch up. Nothing ventured nothing gained! Autumn cabbage plants bought from the local market, Chou Brady, planted out in the brassica bed. I have transplanted some Great Lakes lettuce in an outside bed but I am not hopefull. Too hot! I have dug up my Champeau Violet garlic (Champeau violet because the bulbs were from garlic grown at Watermeadows last year and not bought in ones) and it is drying in my porch. Oh my my the smell of garlic waffs into the house!

  Busy busy time with lots to do as always and never enought time or energy to do it all! Hey ho all work and no play.....

  On the chicken front Mama hen is sitting tight! I have had to despatch one sickly hen. She had suffered a top of the leg injury some time ago and looked like she was recovering but over the last week or so gave up on life. Otherwise all is ok with an improved average of eggs laid this week of 3.29 daily.

Looking good

Batavia Blonde Lettuce

    The weather this spring has been very good for the vegetable garden. It has rained at the right time (least for me it has!), it has been warm at the right time and despite the poor germination of some seeds most seeds have germinated and the plants are now well established and growing well. As can be seen from the photos below lettuce, peas, potatoes and broad beans all growing well. It will not be long before I will be digging up new potatoes and very likely withing the next week. My experiment with spacing out main crop Desiree potatoes in the large triangle is looking very good with the plants really large. Fingers crossed for large potatoes. 

   So what has been going on this last week. More transplanting, Aurora bush tomatoes and  sweet peppers and the usual mowing grass and weeding! That is one downfall of the wet and warm weather....grass and weeds. Sowed an unusal herb...Stridolo Sculpit Silene Inflata. An realively unknown herb grown in Italy used to flavour pizzas, quiches and risottos. Going to be interesing to see if it germinates and grows. Most plants are looking like they are about to burst into growth. There are peas on the pea vines and the mange toute is going well. My experiment with spacing out main crop Desiree potatoes in my large triangle plot is looking good with the plants large and about to flower. I have found one or two Colorado beetles but so far there is not an infestation. Unfortunately beetroot plants that grew over the winter and I transplanted went to seed. Also the same has happed to parsnips I transplanted. Still I have some parsnips that did eventually germinate. Finally got around to making some Comfrey tea. This will be a liquid fertilizer that I will use for my tomatoes particularly those in the poly tunnel. 

   Chickens are being chickens although they have really slowed up this week with laying. I suspect the weather has not helped. There have been some quite servere thunder and lightning storms and I think that has put them off. Also I have noticed that the rats are back and maybe they are nicking some too.  Another hen has gone broody and I have put ten eggs under her. She has made her nest in the plastic coop which at least means she has more protection from predators overnight.  Average lay this week 2.6, roughly half of last weeks average. Still, not complaining have plenty to eat anyway!

Broad beans

Peas

Desiree main crop potatoes