Darn the grass!

Toasted buttered English muffin, asparagus and poached egg

Well all I can say is "Damn the grass!" It is that time of year where the grass grows almost as quickly as you can cut it. Now both of my mowers are out of action and I need to cut the grass!

  The weather has been really good. A couple of days of hot beautiful 

Early purple sprouting and savoy type cabbage

sunshine with others a little overcast but warm and very pleasant. Lots of blossom on the apple trees.

Lots of jobs done, lots of jobs still to do! As the picture shows the first asparagus has

Parsnips Jersey Royal

been cut and eaten! Lots more coming on but a cooling of the weather slowed it up. Even thought it is spring thoughts already turn to autumn and winter vegetables. Early purple sprouting and Piacenza savoy type cabbage have been planted out and the two small rows of parsnips look well established. The potatoes are now coming through and among the evening tasks is earthing up to protect from any frost. Frost is possible till the middle of May in this part of France. I have also transplanted beetroot to an outside bed and I need to transplant the spouts as soon as possible.  Once more I am trying to grow my own leeks from seed and I have sowed a couple of small rows in an outside bed rather than in the poly tunnel. We shall see! Inside the poly tunnel we are pulling radish and lettuce. I have been transplanting tomatoes and I have getting on for eighty or ninety done. Still more to do!  More weeding and forking done, more grass cutting until my mowers broke! Yes, mowers. Both my normal petrol mower and my bush whacker are in need of some loving care. 

Our two lambs (so far)

   On the animal front another lamb has been born, another ewe. The female runner duck still has a dickey leg and our Buffy hen got abused by the Ixworth coq and is now being kept away from him while she recovers. Hopefully she will be fine. Egg production is an average of four a day. Not excellent but is meeting our requirements. Four new point of lay hens have been ordered. My daughter Sophie has taken it upon herself to try and hatch out some Ixworth eggs and has a dozen in an incubator. I guess we will now find out whether or not Mr Ixworth is firing blank shots or not!

At last!

   I am sitting here typing this and the sun is shinning (17th April). I am feeling mellow after lighting up the BBQ and having had a burger and a glass or two of rose wine for lunch. Guess what? Not much done in the garden this afternoon!
   I cannot believe another week and more has passed. Work in the garden has involved transplanting tomatoes to pots, digging up leeks, pulling radish and sowing a whole range of seeds! (Cucumber Wautoma, La Diva, Gergana (new this year), courgettes, basil, water melon). I also transplanted some Jack Ice lettuce to a small poly tunnel bed. We have now started to eat the lettuce I bought a couple of weeks ago at the local market and transplanted into the poly tunnel. The early potatoes are now showing and I now must check them every evening and cover up if they show themselves. Frost can be expected in this part of France until mid May.
  On the animal front normal weekly maintenance (clean out coops). Three ewes have been moved to my back garden to get the grass down. Today (17/04) a ewe gave birth to a ewe lamb. Our female duck has a poorly leg but she is  getting around ok. The chickens are laying reasonably well but could do better.
  As always lots of work to do. More seeds to sow, more grass to cut, compost heaps to relocate and a host of other jobs to many to mention. 

Emerging rhubarb

Early potatoes start to show

Go! Go! Go!

   It is all go in the garden. Even the cherry trees are now showing signs of going into blossom burst. Onions, shallots, lettuce, radish, parsnips all growing away! I have even seen one (yes only one) pea popping its head up. Seeds in the poly tunnel are germinating and it will only be a couple of days before I will have to start transplanting tomato plants to individual pots. Finally got the last of the potatoes planted dodging rain showers at the end. First lot of carrots are in along with some spring onions. Spring onions (White Lisbon) are a hit and miss in my garden. The only success I really had was when I grew them over winter,  however, it has been wet so a sowing is worth the gamble. Just the melon bed now to clear of weeds. A mammoth effort this last week in getting the last large plot cleared. Among the weeds were a good crop of carrots! I had forgotten about them and the weeds had hidden them from view.
   On the animal front the egg production this last week has been an average of three a day. Not brilliant but good enough. Hopefully now the weather is getting warmer and drier more of the hens will lay consistently. Sheep are being sheep and are enjoying the sunshine. The ducks are being ducks. No duck eggs yet though.
  As a comparison the pictures are of Red Sun shallots taken on the 22nd February and the 7th April. 

Shallots 070418

Shallots 220218

POTATO PLANTING

Potato planting. This plot is main crop DESIREE

   Well between dodging tempest and chickens I have been planting my potatoes over the last week. Varieties I am growing this year are early NICOLA, second early RIKEA neither of which I have sown before and main crop DESIREE. I have also sowed a row of early peas. This variety of pea I have overwintered in the poly tunnel and tried to grow outside over winter. Poly tunnel sowing is very successful, outside was good until the pigeons found them after the wind blew off the netting. So I am hopeful for an early harvest of peas. Sprouts, cabbage, sweet peppers, aubergines and Tyme de Provence has all been sown and placed in the poly tunnel fleece cloche. Tomatoes, cabbage, thyme and beetroot have all already germinated. 

   All quiet on the animal front. The chickens egg laying seems to be picking up and the rams are more or less behaving themselves. 

  The weather has not been very kind. Mild but rain and rain showers have kept me off the garden. There is plenty to do and time is marching on. 

Sowing in ernest!

        So onwards and upwards! Good number of seeds sown over the last twelve days. De Louvier, Golden Acre, Piacenza (savoy type) cabbage and Brussels sprout, Sanguine beetroot, sweet peppers, Alberto Locoto pepper, Tyme de Provence, Aubergine and white celery all placed in half seed trays or modules in the poly tunnel. I have once more constructed a poly tunnel cloche to give added protection and warmth. The weather remains cool with warm sunny days and also rain. 
I also bought some Batavia Blonde lettuce plants from the local market and transplanted some into the poly tunnel and some outside  under cloches. Maintenance jobs also done. Replaced fence posts and cleaned out the fowl coops. The first mowing of the grass has been done, here we go again!
        On the animal front one of the sheep spiked herself above the eye and an infection set in. We managed to clean it up and pumped anti-infection stuff into the wound. As far as I can tell as I cannot now catch her the eye looks good. Two new arrivals - a pair of Light Sussex hens. The hope is to improve the egg count as these two are about a year old and were laying before being moved. The number of eggs being laid has improved but should still be a little better. The decision has been made to remove the Ixworth coq.

Spring has sprung

BOING!

   As seems to happen here is la Creuse winter has switched into spring within a few days. The days are longer and warmer. Of course, there is still a threat of frost up until the middle of May but every day brings that month closer and lessens the change of a prolonged cold spell.
   So with the milder weather I have taken the plunge and sowed my parsnips under cloches. I learnt that parsnips will germinate at two degrees centigrade. I do like to sow them early and give them the maximum amount of time. Last lot of onion sets planted, a variety called Sturon. I have grown them before and I am hopeful that they will be a larger onion but who knows? Tomato seed sown. Seven varieties. Lettuce sown. Moss curled parsley sown and a hot pepper. The hot pepper, purple Tiger, I have brought into the house to germinate as they require a much higher temperature. Dug up carrots, parsnips, swede and leeks. Cut cabbage. The winter vegetables are now coming to an end.
   On the animal front the hens are laying 2 to 4 a day. I discovered that one of our Buff Orpingtons is a coq! So now the decision has to be made as to which one gets the chop! The buff Orpington or Ixworth coq? My bet is on the Ixworth as I am convinced he is infertile. The sheep are being sheep. I have had some interesting episodes with escaping rams. I think there will be one or two late summer lambs. The female duck has not yet started to lay but it cannot be long.
   So onward with the garden. Lots to do and fingers crossed it does not rain!

Cold winter days

    Since the last blog the weather has not been kind. It has been cold particularly when you take into account the wind chill factor. Having said that I managed to get one day on the garden and planted my shallots and most of my onions. I also hand forked and weeded the garlic bed with my new patent pending hand fork! In the poly tunnel amazingly coriander is starting to grow. The cold weather though has slowed up the 18 Jour radishes.
    As I write this the weather has taken a turn to the milder side. Yesterday it was a freezing -7C today a balmy 13C and the outlook is for the milder weather to continue. No doubt it will rain and once more stop me from getting on. I have dug up more leeks and carrots. The carrots are now pretty much done. I also managed to cut down a small fur tree that has been annoying me for years. Now need to get the stump out! More fencing posts obtained which means work in the fields putting up posts before the ground gets too dry. 
   On the animal front the hens are laying more regularly with the longer days and now a return to milder weather. At least two a day, more often three and now and then five. I expect to be getting four a day soon. The chickens are being chickens and turning over any ground I dig or fork. The sheep are surviving and grass is  getting very short.

Garlic bed

Shallots