First blast of winter

   I woke up on the morning of the 7th October to see a heavy frost. So that is it then. Winter is knocking on our door. That frost has finished off the squash, courgettes and the noire crimee tomatoes. That pretty much draws this season to a close. It has been a difficult one, certainly the most difficult in the six years I have been growing vegetables in France. The year started out ok but the long spell of dry hot weather just about stymied everything. Looking back to 2015 up to the end of October I was picking tomatoes! Through out this year everything has been two weeks early. Still, despite the frost the sun is shinning albeit on the cooler side.

Frost!

   In the poly tunnel the tomatoes are more or less finished, just a few stragglers.  The chrystal cucumber has been cleared and the tomatoes sorted out with just a few stragglers that may or may not ripen. Japepeno peppers are still  growing and some are going red! The autumn lettuce looks good as does the beetroot.
   Outside the poly tunnel my bantam corn has produced cobs but i fear they will not now have time to ripen. The winter leeks are set as are my small patch of winter cabbage. I have some lettuce that I hope will stand a reasonable frost. Time will tell! The autumn cauliflowers are small but least I will get something. The yellow haricots has been frosted and I do not think I will get anything more from them. Still, I was surprised to get anything considering how late they were sown. Sweet peppers have also been frosted. They have been a disappointment among many this year. Among the courgettes and squashes, now well and truely dead, there are a few volunteer purple potato plants that I hope to get at least a breakfast from! The carrots are standing well as are my few salad type onions that I was determined were going to get to a point that I could eat them. Apples were a bit of a  disappointment despite a good start. The one tree that looks like it may produce a few apples is the late ripening variety but I fear there will be few.
  On the animal from the sheep are now back to eating grass and the rams and ewes are well separated. Unfortunately we lost two Ixworth hens to what we believe was a fox and the remaining two hens and two cockrals are in a secure enclosure. The rest of the flock are not laying well and I obtained two sussex and a cuckoo maran for free with the hope that the egg count can be improved.  A more secure enclosure for them is under construction.

Short tale

   First sorry that there was not a post last week. There was not a lot to say and I was otherwise occupied! So, to catch up.
   On the animal front quite a bit has been going on. We lost two chickens to what we believe was a fox. All that was left was a pile of feathers. This means we are four hens down! As you can realise egg production has fallen right off. Lucky to get two eggs a day! As it happens I was arranging to get some Ixworth hens. Large utility birds with the intention of replacing  our older generics. I have managed to get six birds but at least one is a cockerel and probably a second is too. If there are two then one will go to the pot I am afraid. These Ixworths are true to their breed so we are going to try to bred them next spring. Good layers and also a good meat bird. The coqs can be over four kilos in weight. The two acquired chicks are now integrated into the flock but I fear they are bantam size birds. Our Perdue cockerels will love them no doubt. Man! All the plans of mice and men. All quiet on the sheep front.
   In the poly tunnel all is quiet. Still picking some tomatoes and Chrystal Apple cucumbers but they are coming to an end. Lettuce and beetroot is growing well. Jalapeno peppers are still being produced and I am leaving them to go red. In the outside garden the rain has helped to buck everything up and the grass is growing, darn it! I am picking large juicy Noire Crimee (Crimea) tomatoes and the leeks and cabbage are looking like they will do something. Courgettes are pretty much ended and it is will soon be time to pick the butternut and buttercup squash. There are some poor excuses for a cauliflower and the sweet peppers have been a complete disaster.

Well, it got through the drought!

   So here we are once more at the start of October. The wood for the winter has been delivered and stacked and we have even had a fire or two in the cooler evenings. Days are short and there is, as always, more to do than time to do it.

Ha! It would, wouldn't it!

Giant Squash (yes it is called that!)

       As is the way of things as soon as I post that the drought is starting to cause real concern it rains and the right sort of rain too. Steady and gentle and lots of it! About twenty four hours worth. A few of the water butts filled up so that shows how much rain fell. Everything is the better for it. Mind you it has increased the activity of the feathered fiends.
    On the animal front the rams are now more interested in the ewes than eating! The ewes are as hungry as ever. The chickens are being chickens and egg laying is not so sporadic as it was. Still not as many as I would like. New birds coming in next week so two or three of our current hens will have to go.
   In the poly tunnel somehow the tomatoes are hanging in there and I am still picking Gardeners Delight, Millefleur, Black Crimea and one or two Ethel Watkins best. The crop has been better than I feared although the end is in sight. More beetroot has been planted out along with some autumn/winter lettuce plants bought from the local market. The jalapeno peppers continue to produce well and they are hot I am told.
   In the outside garden I have managed by hook or crook to get some haricot buerre. Two pickings made at least another to go. With this rain maybe more. It will depend on the temperature. The winter cabbage has picked up although the original planting out has been demolished by the chickens. Summer cabbage (what summer cabbage?) is likely to produce enough for one meal. The autumn cauliflowers look sad but who knows! Swedes are swelling and again with the rain the parsnips should be ok. Hope so as they did really look good at one point. I continue to surprise myself with the Touchon carrots. They are large! I do not think  have ever had such a good crop of carrots. The autumn sowing is pathetic with very few germinating. Seed germination has been a real problem this year. The courgettes are coming to an end, both round and straight. They have done well. The aubergines has been a disaster. Butternut and buttercup squash looks good, least there will be some. As you can see from the photo the Giant squash is giant! The apple crop this year despite a lot of promise in the spring is very disappointing. The drought and then insects has destroyed most of the apples that set. I noticed too that the blackbirds are taking an interest in the grapes!
   As I write this there are clouds in the sky and it is cool. Fingers crossed that the average day temperature will remain above ten degrees centigrade. That will give the grass a chance to grow. It should do for a few more weeks.

Desperation is creeping in

   The weather continues to be dry although the temperature has fallen a little and there has been some cloud cover but no rain. I am please about the clouds. They enabled me to shift this years wood delivery without loosing too much bodily fluid! Mind you a pint of shandy afterwards helped to put the balance back!
   On the animal front the sheep are having to be fed hay every day. The chickens are being chickens and the chicks are becoming more independent.

2016 Wood delivery

   Despite the weather I am still picking tomatoes from inside the poly tunnel and of course, jalapeno peppers! Other than that the Black Crimea tomatoes that I have nurtured outside are doing well and I am picking a tomato from the vines most days. All the other outside tomatoes have now died off. A poor year despite a lot of promise at the beginning. The rats have finished off my "animal" sweet corn and I am now looking at the Bantam sweet corn as it comes in flower and cobs start to set. I am determined to get to them before they do! What is the betting that they will not 

Throwing the wood over the fence!

Hen laying her egg

like that sweet corn? I am still digging up carrots of a good size and I have to admit that they have been watered quite regularly.
 The lettuce I bought from the local market a couple of weeks ago, despite being watered, from a growing point of view has just stood still. It seems to be going no where. The squash is maturing well and the giant squash is getting bigger and bigger! Looks more like a pumpkin that a squash. The parsnips look a little tired and they have been watered but not so regularly. Hopefully they will pull through and I will get some. The winter cabbage looks drought struck with very pale almost blue looking coloured leaves a sign of lack of water. One advantage of the drought - no grass cutting!

Drought

Noire (Black) Crimee (Crimea) tomatoes

    In the department of the Creuse the authorities have now declared a drought and that people must restrict their use of fresh water. Not surprising really. My neighbour says that it has been over seventy six days since it rained in any significant amount. The garden and fields reflect this. The picture opposite is an exception. These tomatoes I have been looking after, protecting them from the chickens and regularly watering. They are rewarding me with a good crop of nice sized fruits, deep almost black in colour, hence their name, Black Crimea. The Crimea was were they were found and I think I am right is saying it was not that long ago. Anyway elsewhere in the outside garden I have also been nurturing some haricot buerre and they are showing small yellow beans. I have managed to keep the chickens off these too unlike my poor sweet peppers that have been devastated by the chickens. I have a couple of Giant squash (variety Giant Squash!!) and they are giant! Autumn cauliflower and winter cabbage are hanging in there but really do not look happy as do most of the winter leeks. I continue to harvest round and straight courgettes and it looks like this year there is not going to be an excess. My early sown rows of carrots are being harvested and look very good. I cannot remember ever having so many long fat carrots! 
  In the poly tunnel the jalapeno peppers are cropping well and the report is that they are hot, hot, hot! Chrystal Apple cucumber continue to crop but are coming to an end as are most of the tomatoes. There is a good bed of beetroot growing away and I am hopeful that there will be fresh beetroot later in the autumn. 
  On the animal front the ram lambs have been separated from their mothers as we are now coming into the time of year when the ewes come into season. We do not want lambs this year and are making every effort to make sure they do not happen! Our two chicks have now joined the flock and are roosting with them along with mother hen. They are some eight weeks old and are growing fast. The hens are still laying  outside the coop and only about half of them are laying. A cull is really needed and replacements sought. The poor ducks are molting and look like a moth eaten carpet. Lots of feathers in their enclosure.
   With September upon me it is time to start thinking about next season and what needs to be done in preparation. Only seems like yesterday that I was planning for this season.

   

Brown grass and dry soil

Brown grass

   So where is the rain? No where to be seen. It continues to be dry and the fields are now brown and parched. The sheep are finding it hard to find forage and I am now starting to give them some hay. The ducks are fine and the chickens are trying to find any green stuff they can. They love the sweet pepper leaves and make a real effort to break into the area where they are growing. There are not many leaves left on them now! The chicks are now nearly eight weeks old and being on the small side they are sneaking into places I would rather they did not.
   In the outside garden watering is a priority to keep plants alive let alone trying to get them to grow. The main tomato patch is an area of desert with few tomatoes and no healthy plants at all. Even so I am picking a few tomatoes. I have a little patch of six noire crimee tomatoes that I have been looking after and they have a good crop of good sized tomatoes on them. The chickens, I am sure, are eyeing them up! Courgettes continue to crop well and the squash is looking good. They too are being watered every day. Just a very small patch of potatoes left to dig up and that will be the end of the potato crop. Not the best this year but reasonable. Outside cucumbers are now finished. I have started to pull up carrots and they are really good. A home grown carrot really does taste good. Rats have destroyed my "animal" sweetcorn, not a great loss as far as I am concerned. I have just started to water the Bantam sweet corn in an effort to get something out of it. The haricot buerre are in flower and I am hopeful for a reasonable late crop of yellow haricots. In the poly tunnel Wautoma cucumbers are finished and the Chrystal Apple cucumbers are producing well but are coming to an end. The tomatoes despite blight are managing to produce a reasonable amount of fruit. I picked the first Jalapeno peppers and the feedback is that they are HOT!  Have to laugh. All the melons have now been picked and are being eagerly consumed in this hot weather. There is a growing number of empty beds.
  Autumn and winter crops are looking very sad. Cauliflowers and leeks are stunted. The cabbage is growing but looks like it could do with a good soaking of rain to green up the leaves. No sign of turnips yet. I am hoping for some rain but the forecast is not looking good. It will get cooler but no significant rainfall.

Its tipping over!

   The weather has turned from hot to what I would describe as normal late August weather and the sense of autumn is in the air. Cool, but warm. Nice. Anyway still very little rain so that means the chore of watering takes over from grass cutting. The grass still being brown and not growing at all.

Jalapeno peppers

   In the poly tunnel there has been an invasion of chickens. My fault. I left the barrier open. But still the little so in so's destroyed my newly transplanted bed of beetroot and had a good go at eating my lettuce! Man. Wautoma cucumbers are now at an end and the Chrystal Apple will not be far behind. The outside, La Diva cucumbers, are also at an end. I am picking tomatoes enough to eat but I do not think there will be much of a surplus, to much blight. I need to disinfect the tunnel and I have the stuff to it! Job for the autumn. 
   In the outside garden the sweet corn has been attacked and not the chickens this time. The cobs are too high for them. I suspect rats. Carrots, courgettes, potatoes and melons are all being harvested. The squash is looking  good and the poor old winter leeks are just sitting there hoping for rain. As the instruction said on the packed I have sown sown over winter onion on the 18th August. I wait to see what happens. Apparently by sowing the 18th August you give the onion seed chance to germinate in the warm soil but you are giving it a long growing season so in theory one should get bigger onions! Yeah right! Believe it when I see it. Looks like I will get some autumn carrots as at last I have managed to get some more to germinate.
   On the animal front the chicks are now six weeks old and we need to consider introducing them to the main flock. The sheep are being sheep and the ducks being ducks. Lets hope for a bit of rain, not too much but some is really needed.

Better a little late...

   Ooops I am a day late with my blog! The weather continues to be sunny and hot. As nice as

Blacktail Mountain Water Melon

it is prolonged hot sunny weather is not so good for the garden. Its as bad as prolonged rain!. The water melons have benefited and there are at least six that will be edible. We have had one and it was delicious! Other crops in the garden are suffering. I do not water my outside the poly tunnel tomatoes. It would be just a waste of time as I could not get enough water on them. Tomatoes need a lot of water. They are producing some fruit but after the blight hit there is not as much as I would have liked. The bantam sweet corn looks good as does the haricot buerre. The La Diva cucumbers, much to my surprise, have gone over quite quickly despite watering. Courgettes, round and straight and the squash are loving the sunny weather. These I do water. The winter leeks are stood still and the aubergines are a right off this year.  My carrots are looking good. I have been digging up the potatoes. Good crop of Bonnette Noirmoutier, Belle de Fontenay and Desiree. A disappointing crop of Corolle. Guess you cannot win them all!
   In the poly tunnel despite tomato blight there is an increasing amount of tomatoes to pick. The Wautoma cucumbers have been disappointing and are showing signs of going over. The Chrystal Apple cucumbers are at last producing but again they are showing signs of going over. I think the tunnel has at first suffered from high humidity, hence fungal attacks and then too hot from the continuous sunshine. Still, the jalapeno peppers are coming along and the beetroot has done particularly well. 
   My attention is now turning more and more towards autumn and winter crops. Autumn cauliflowers, winter cabbage planted out, carrots, turnips, swede and spinach all sown. I am going to try sowing winter onion seed this season. They will be sown on the 18th August!
   On the animal front the sheep go and  hide during the hottest part of the day. The pasture is brown. Good job these are hardy sheep! The last four meat chickens have been processed, one being a real skinny bird which I quickly BBQ'ed. The other three were decent weights, x2 @ 2.5kg and one at 3.5kg. Unfortunately one the egg laying hens decided it was her time to go to pastures new and took herself off to a corner of the coop and died overnight. No obvious cause, all the others are fine. She was probably one of the oldest. Her time had come. Mother hen and her two chicks continue to do fine. The chicks are now just over six weeks old.
   Hate to say this but I hope we get some rain soon.

Well, it did for one day....

     Did what I hear you ask? It rained. Yes, it rained, well, steady drizzle for a number of hours and a bit of a down pour over night. Cooled off the weather a bit but did little to affect the garden.
   The main function of the week was to plant out 170 winter leek plants. I would like to say that I grew them but no, they were bought from the local market. Tomatoes (increasingly), cucumbers, beetroot, potatoes and courgettes are being picked, cut and dug. The bed of Bonnette Nourmoutier  has now been completely dug up and I have started on the Belle de Fontenay bed. With the continued hot and dry weather I am endeavouring to dig up the main crop potatoes, Desiree. As they are they are dry and the skins are firm, good for storage. Hopefully I will have them all  up in a few days. The first jalapeno pepper in the poly tunnel has been sighted!
    On the animal front a battered and somewhat de-feathered cockerel appeared in the garden one evening. I fed him but he has seemingly gone away. We believe he belonged to the people at the top of our road. I did not see him in the morning.
   It is very hard to know what to do in this hot and dry weather. The ground is dry and hard to work, even digging up potatoes is hard! I guess I should be attacking the overground bushes and hedgerows. Oh well.

Sweet Bantam sweet corn

Ain't half hot mum!

  The weather continues to be dry. There are been no significant rainfall for quite some time. That means two things. One, the grass stopped growing (hooray!), two I have to water more of the garden than I would like.
   In the poly tunnel nothing much has changed. I am now picking a few tomatoes and the number is increasing every day. I am picking cucumbers and pulling beetroot. Even managed to cut some cabbage. It has been a poor year for cabbage.
   Outside the poly tunnel weeding continues albeit with difficulty as the ground is now becoming very dry. The last of the Bonnette Noumoutier potatoes have been dug up and I have moved on to the Belle de Fontenay bed. The onion crop is going to be very poor this year. Lack of rain has meant the bulbs have not swollen as much as they should have. The shallots have been harvested, sorted and topped and tailed ready for pickling. Nice crop. Still need to look at the tree onions to see what crop I have there. Winter leeks have been purchased (150 plants) and most have now been planted. The are more than enough round and straight courgettes! I have not yet pulled any carrots. Must do so and see what they are like. They look good. The first ripe tomato has been picked from the outside plants and guess what? The chickens have already noticed. In the melon bed blacktail water melon and troubadour melon are springing up all over the place. I guess as long as I keep watering they ought to do well. They have really liked the hot and sunny weather.
   On the animal front I accidentally killed one of the chicks. The other two are thriving and growing fast. The sheep are being sheep and are enjoying being able to wander over the large field. Looks like the chickens are getting back into laying eggs. It has been a poor month for eggs, only some one hundred and thirty eight eggs in total (includes broken ones).

Troubadour melon

Blacktail water melon

Those feathered pests!

Caught in the act!

Newly planted lettuce bed. What is that I see?

   Well those feathered pests finally got their own way! They have managed to destroy my lovely lettuce bed. I have now cleared the bed and replanted with bought (oh I hate having to buy lettuce plants) lettuce plants. See that chicken in the lower picture? Already eyeing up the lettuce.
   In the outside garden the round and straight courgettes are now starting to come in. Also the outside cucumbers, La Diva, have produced a couple of cucumbers. I do like the la Diva and Wautoma cucumbers. Digging of potatoes continues with the Bonnette Noumieters just about finished now. Next lot are Belle de Fontenay. I have protected with netting my fledgling haricot buerre and a planting of savoy type cabbage. The cauliflowers are now well established. I am watering every day at the moment. Soon be time to pull carrots methinks and harvest the shallots.
   On the animal front the chickens are being a pest, the mother hen and her chicks are sweet. The mother hen is now not so aggressive with me and the chicks have really grown some. Finally we have finished sheep shearing. 
  Least with the sunny weather the grass has stopped growing. No so the weeds and I am playing catch up.

The last fleece

Sun but it brings its problems!

Green Top Swede

   The sun has really got his hat on. The weather has turned to being hot. Now we turn from the ground being too wet to being too dry! I tell you you cannot win in this gardening lark!

Water Melon patch

   In the poly tunnel the cucumbers go from strength to strength. The Wautoma variety has produced two cucumbers and more to come. The Chrystal apple variety has lots of male flowers and very few female. Still, I am hopeful for a good crop. The tomatoes are well formed and have turned from dark green to light green. Cannot be long now before they are ripe. Blight is a problem but I think the fruit will ripen before the blight gets a real hold. I am now regularly pulling beetroot and I have cut what little cabbage there was! Not the most successful effort this year. More beetroot sown in modules along with Great Lakes iceberg type lettuce and Little Gem lettuce. The chickens managed to get into my lovely bed of Great Lake lettuce and destroyed at least six beautiful lettuce. They do like their green stuff these chickens.

Wautoma cucumber

   In the outside garden the tomatoes are really suffering from blight and I am not hopeful of getting many tomatoes. Potatoes are being dug and it is a good crop. The melon patch is exploding with water melons and troubadour melons which are growing madly. The onion patch looks ok and the swedes and parsnips well established. I made a mistake with my first sowing of sweet corn. I bought seed that was to grown sweet corn for animals! Looks good though. I have now sown a "human" variety and it is established. Hopefully there will be enough time for it to mature. Should be. Gaps in the sweet corn and the haricot buerre patches have been filled. Hopefully I will keep the chickens off the haricots! I have picked sugar snap peas and haricot vert which the chickens had missed! Winter cabbage, Piacena, savoy type, has been transplanted along with some early sprouting purple broccoli. So here we are about the middle of summer and the winter crops are starting to be planted. I need to keep an eye out in the local market for leeks as they need to go in in mid August.
   The weather is set to be sunny and no sign of rain in the forecast for at least a week if not longer. That means hauling about watering cans full of water to not only water the plants but the animals too. All is calm on the animal front. The chicks are now developing bigger feathers and are becoming more adventurous.

From rain to drought...

   The weather over the last week has been hot and getting hotter although as  write this the forecast is for cooler, more cloudy conditions. I do not want to say this too loud but a little rain would help move things along. Despite the hot days if I turn the soil over the soil is damp so plants are not yet suffering from lack of water. I am watering the melons and lettuce but that I expect to have to do. I also water the cauliflowers because that is what is advised to do. Cauliflowers like to be kept damp. The squash and courgettes have now taken off with small "8 ball" and straight "bush" courgettes showing. It will not be long before I am cutting them I am sure. I am now picking sugar snap peas. The melons have flowers on them and the outdoor cucumbers are looking good although I have yet to spot any. I have, as is usual at this time of year, more potatoes than I know what to do with. The onions I reckon could have done better but hey they still have a month to swell. Fingers crossed. Looking at my garden log most of my time has been spent weeding and there is still more to do. Also the never ending task of grass mowing. Hopefully the hot weather will have slowed it up. I can but hope! The lettuce look good and unfortunately blight has set into the tomatoes. It will be a race to see if I get any or not. Finally managed to get to the grape vine after the new septic tank  system had been put in and prune it. Does not look like there will be much fruit this year. The cherries were a complete wipe out. The apples are looking reasonable but we are only just coming into the "drop" season.
   In the poly tunnel cucumbers dominate along with the tomatoes which have also started to show signs of blight. These plants are far more advanced with lots of fruit already set. The jalapeno peppers look good and the cabbage a little sad but I should get some! The beetroot is ok and I have started to harvest it.
   On the animal front the sheep continue to be sheep, ducks are being ducks and meat chickens are being chickens. Our adopted chicks have adapted well and are now free to roam the garden with a very attentive mother hen. I can only guess that the hot weather has put the chickens off laying and of course the septic tank work was being done right outside their coop which would not have helped. 
  So as always too much to do, not enough time to do it. Hey ho!

Bonnotte Noirmoutier potatoes

Courgette bed

Green top swede

Melon flowers

Good grief!

   I cannot believe over another week has gone by. The weather has been kind and the rain has stayed away. So lots to do, lots done!
   On the animal front sheep shearing of the ewes is well under way. Half of the woolly jumpers have been done. Some of them are proving to be a challenge! Three cockerels have been processed. Three new arrivals, three chicks for our broody Sussex! She has taken to them well and fingers crossed they will be ok.

   So what has been going on in the garden? Grass mowing, of course, beer drinking..ooops and lots and lots of transplanting and even some sowing.
   This years garlic crop has proven to be good. The bed used by the garlic has now been sown with sweet corn and haricot buerre.  Four varieties of sweet peppers have now been transplanted to outside the poly tunnel beds, some fifty plants all told. I have started to harvest the Bonnotte Noirmoutier potatoes and am starting to pick the sugar snap peas.
      In the poly tunnel Cheltenham Green Top beetroot has been transplanted from modules. I am fed up with the chickens eating the beetroot leaves so I am growing it in the poly tunnel instead.  The first lot of beetroot, grown in the poly tunnel, variety Sanguire, is now ready to harvest. The tomatoes are doing well with fruit set and swelling. I have noticed some spots of blight but I am hopeful that I will get ripe tomatoes before the blight takes hold. Cucumbers are now in flower, however, the are mostly male flowers! I am sure they will come eventually. Having written that I checked again and yes there are cucumbers!

Flowering cucumber

Violet garlic crop

   More carrots sown. I have three rows growing so far each at different stages. I am going to continue to sow more as each row germinates in the hope of getting lots of carrots!
   Of course there is more weeding to do than I can catch up with and that dratted grass which has not yet slowed up! The weather is getting better with day time temperatures now in the twenties.

Time flies!

   If anyone is out there reading my blog apologies for being a couple of days late. No excuse, just forgot!
   Transplanting outside the poly tunnel continues at pace. Aubergines, Waltham butternut squash, 8 ball courgette, Green top Swede, Noire de Crimee and Cocktail Clementine tomatoes, Great Lakes and Little Gem lettuce, Troubadour and Blacktail water melons. Other jobs done: tied up the Gigante runner beans as they were reluctant to wrap themselves around the poles; first garlic dug up -not quite ready but very close; resowed sweet corn only to discover that I had bought animal maize! Darn. 
   In the poly tunnel the tomatoes and both varieties of cucumbers are growing really well.  More lettuce transplanted also although lettuce is now being transplanted outside the poly tunnel so I will use the space for something else as they are eaten. I have now transplanted some basil in between the plants. Basil and tomatoes go well together. My crop of cabbage is looking good and will start to be cut.
   There is much to do, far too much. It will  not be long before I can dig up the early potatoes. They are in flower and I noticed that the sugar snap peas are starting to show flowers. The good old grass needs cutting again but the weather has turned hot and humid. 
   On the animal front all is well. The Sussex hen continues to sit on her eggs and the lambs are growing. I managed to break my sheep shears just as we started to do the ewes. I have managed to borrow another set so hopefully we can crack on. The time has come to process the meat chickens. We have three cockerels out of the eight birds we have, annoyingly the two Maran's are cockerels. 

Transplant time!

   Looking back over my garden log for the week I have done a lot of transplanting! Wautoma cucumbers, cocktail clementine tomatoes and jalapeno peppers to a bed in the poly tunnel, sweet peppers to larger pots, butternut squash and courgettes to an outside bed!

  Of course there was the compulsory grass cutting, edge of bed cutting and weeding! Gaps in the bolotti beans and coupion french dwarf beans were sown with more seed. There has been a fair number of bean type seed that have not germinated this year probably I think due to the cold wet earth more than anything but some have been taken by slugs.  I think I need to replace my bean seeds with fresh ones. Another section of garden bed sow with haricot vert. My daughter said grown more beans this year. Ha! If only she realised what she is going to get!

  My feathered friends (not!) the chickens have discovered my beetroot and have eaten every single leaf. You just would not believe it! I am going to have to keep any more I sow covered up. 

  On the animal front my daughters adopted chicken, Henri-etta, was killed by a neighbours dog. She had wandered into their garden and the dog was an ex-hunting dog and was only following its instincts. Still, upsetting. Sheep shearing season has started with six rams done to date. Only eleven ewes to do! I cannot remember if I mentioned it before but one of our chickens has gone broody and has now been sitting on what may be fertile eggs for some ten days. Time will tell.

Sheared Rams

Estimated twelve inches of rain!

   The weather has just be terrible. Lots of rain. We estimated we have had at least twelve inches. As you can imagine the ground became saturated to the point that water was just running away on the surface and the beds were turning into liquid mud! To add to that we have had thunder, lightening, heavy rain and hail stones!

Rain storm and hail stones

   Despite the bad weather I have managed to get on. In the poly tunnel Great Lakes and Little Gem lettuce has been transplanted and Mammoth basil transplanted to pots and also amongst the Galina tomatoes. Wautoma cucumbers have been transplanted to one of the small beds. Kyoto Green Leaf onions has been transplanted to the end of a path as an experiment. These are Japanese bunching onions and I want to establish a colony so that I can transplant them to an outside bed. The tomatoes are now requiring to be tied onto their guide strings and it is a daily job to look for side shoots. 
   In the outside garden I have transplanted more tomatoes along with butternut squash and courgettes. There is plenty of weeding to be done! The grass what with all the rain had grown so long that I have had to mow it with the bush whacker. Least I managed to get down by the river as well. 
   The asparagus is now all but finished. I continue to pull lettuce in the poly tunnel but the radish is now also finished, least in the poly tunnel. The early new potatoes are in flower so it will not be long before I will be digging them up. Only seems five minutes since I planted them.
   On the animal front the sheep and lambs are fine. We have lost another chicken this time to a neighbours dog. Our chicken wandered into their garden and was attacked. She was used to dogs and did not expect to be attacked. Another chicken, our Sussex, has gone broody and is currently sitting on nine eggs. I do not know if there will be any chicks as our cockerel's are only little blighters and I am not sure if they are capable of completing the act!

One more time..."Singing in the rain, just singing in the rain..."

   After a few days of nice weather, in fact, two were quite hot, the rain has returned with a vengeance. In the space of an hour wind, rain, thunder, lightening and hail! And it continues to rain. Hey ho!
   My little feathered friends (not!) have now pretty much given up on the potatoes. I guess they are not tasty anymore. The tomato's I have thrown netting around. Ha!
   On the nice days over the last week I have managed to achieve a fair bit. Lots of forking and weeding and also getting the melon bed cleared.  I have sowed another row of carrots with the first two having germinated. I thinned out the earliest sown row. More tomato's transplanted to the outside bed making a total of some ninety seven plus sixteen in the poly tunnel, 113 to date! Probably about another fifty plants in pots not yet big enough to transplant and yet still more to transplant to pots. Yet more haricots sown. This time a yellow haricot called Minidor. The seed is a couple of years old so it may not do anything but hey if you do not try... The lettuce I had transplanted to an outside bed with plastic bottles over have now been uncovered. The last frost day has now gone.
   In the poly tunnel I have set up some netting and transplanted Chrystal Apple cucumber and of course more tomatoes to pots along with All the Year Round cauliflowers. The tomatoes in the poly tunnel are doing well with flowers already blooming. The cabbage patch looks good as does the lettuce and beetroot. Everyone has stopped eating radishes. Cannot think why! So I have stopped sowing them for now.
  The french transport strike has hit home! I cannot get any petrol in a container. What with the wet weather this means the dreaded grass is not being cut. It is going to be fun (not) when I can cut it. 

Poly tunnel cabbage patch

Cucumber Radish Lettuce (front to back)

Poly tunnel tomatoes

Those little ********

    It was a good start to the week. Another of our ewes had twins, both ewe lambs. That is two of our ewes that have had twins this year.  Only two ram lambs has been born which hopefully means we can more easily sell on the ewe lambs in the autumn. 

   As for the "little ********?" That is the chickens. They have been creating havoc among my potatoes and transplanted tomatoes. If it is one thing a chicken seems to like and that is a mound of loose earth to scratch over or young green leaves. They are very  good at reducing a heap of dirt to a very level piece of ground. It is quite impressive really.

   In the poly tunnel I have tomato's in flower and there two varieties of lettuce, beetroot and three varieties of tomato growing away. I am pulling little gem lettuce along with radish. There are many seeds in modules and pots that have germinated. There are several varieties of cucumber that have now reached the two or three leaf stage. Cauliflower, more lettuce, peppers, squash and all sorts either sown or germinated. I have now transplanted to pots one of the more unusual tomato plants, Noire Crimee (Black Crimea).

   In the outside garden the sugar snap peas are going well and to my delight the chickens have stayed away! With the first row now up and established I have sown another along side. I have also put up some wire fencing to act as a support for the growing peas. Most of the transplanted beetroot has survived a warm spell and has also survived the attentions of my feathered friends. The haricot vert I sowed has mostly germinated but some seedlings have been munched probably by slugs so I have resown in the gaps. I have sown sweet corn, a variety called "Zea May Maize". I just happened to pick it up from my local agricultural dealer when I was getting some wheat for the animals. When I looked it up I was surprised to find that it is the most grown variety in the world! More tomato plants have been transplanted to the outside bed this time Millefleur and Galina. I have sown Gigante runner beans this time directly into the ground rather than starting them off in pots in the poly tunnel. It will be interesting to see the results as long as I can keep the chickens off! Of course there has been the usual grass cutting, weeding and forking which never ends. The asparagus continues to go from strength to strength with more spurs being cut.
  So it is all go and will be for the next couple of weeks no doubt.

You know that headless chicken from last week?

   Yes it continues! Headless chicken mode! As I type this it is the latest frost date and guess what! The sky is clear and the forecast is for an overnight temperature of zero degrees. If I had a hat I would be holding onto it.
   Sowing continues apace outside and inside the poly tunnel. Outside a row of Nantes 4 carrot sowed along side the already germinated Touchon carrots. I have sowed borlotti beans and continue to cover up the potatoes as best I can. Inside Green Top swede, Great Lakes lettuce, Little Gem lettuce, Precoce de Louvier cabbage, Eight Ball courgette (round ones!) and Cheltenham Green Top beetroot all sown in pots or modules. Other work done in the poly tunnel has been to transplant moss curled parsley to pots and aubergine to pots, Milfleur and Galina tomatoes have been transplanted from pots to the long poly tunnel bed. Phew! 
   Oh yes, cut the grass and its needs doing again! I continue to pull radish and cut lettuce and asparagus. I also have been forking and weeding beds. There are fifty Ethel Watkins Best tomato plants that need to be transplanted outdoors and that is a priority job! 

Volunteer tomato about to flower

Tree Onions

It is headless chicken mode time!

   May is always a busy month in the garden, especially here in central France. In my part of the world the last frost is in the middle of May so if you are cunning you sow your more tender plant seeds towards the end of April, beginning of May, protect them in the poly tunnel fleece cloche and all being well they will be ready a little earlier. About a week ago I sowed cucumber seed and helped by warmer weather they are already germinating. Nature is amazing except when it comes to grass!
   What has been sowed over the last week? Lots. In the poly tunnel, mostly in pots, Clementine (millefleur type) and black tomato seed, persil (flat leaf parsley), All the Year Round cauliflower, Mammoth and resowed Lemon basil, Blacktail water melon, Troubadour melon, dwarf bush courgette, Waltham butternut and Burgess buttercup squash, Blue Banana squash and Justynka pumpkin. I have also transplanted beetroot and sowed Oregon sugar snap peas in an outside bed.  Weeding and grass cutting continues without saying really!
   The threat of frost is now less but I did cover up the potatoes one day and yes there was a frost the next morning. The potatoes are now growing at a pace and soon I will not be able to cover them up except with fleece. Only a week to go to the last frost date!
   It is proving to be a good year for the asparagus. Cutting began about a week ago and already I have cut a dozen spurs with plenty more to come. At last I am able to pull lettuce from the poly tunnel and hopefully I will manage to get a succession for at least a few weeks. Of course, you know who's law will be enforced and when one really wants lettuce one will not have any! I have also transplanted lettuce to an outside bed and used my bottom cut off plastic bottles to protect them from any frost. May work, may not.
   My four "volunteer" tomato plants in the poly tunnel have been joined by eight others, four Gardeners Delight and four Ethel Watkins best. Two of the volunteers have flowers forming. Never had a tomato looking this good so early. More tomato's to plant in the poly tunnel later.
   The apple trees are a picture. They are full of blossom and fingers crossed it could be a good year for apples. Well, the grass waits for no man. It is growing as I type so I must get back to it.

Apple blossom

Apple blossom

Always a chance...

   Frost! There have been several mornings of quite severe frost this last week. As it happened I shuffled around the potato patches and covered up those that were beginning to show. Unfortunately some of them still got caught. Such is the risk one takes planting them early. In my area frosts are possible until mid May. I have taken a chance and planted out some iceberg type lettuce in an outside the poly tunnel bed and covered them up with plastic bottles with the bottoms cut off. This should be enough to protect them. I have thinned out the two parsnip rows and transplanted some winter savoy type cabbage which I have covered with cloches.

Parsnips and prepared cabbage patch

    The first two spurs of asparagus has been cut with plenty more to come. They were eaten with a dippy egg and brown toast soldiers!

First asparagus of 2016

   In the poly tunnel I have top dressed half of the long bed with well rotted chicken manure and planted out four "volunteer" tomato plants. I am taking a chance with these as frost could still get them even in the poly tunnel. They are volunteer tomatoes because I do not have the faintest idea what variety they are. I have also planted out summer cabbage in the poly tunnel in the hope of a quick crop (Baccalan de Renne and Predouce Louvier both successful in the poly tunnel last year).  I had to resow the coriander as I believe the seed was not any good, however, it may also be that the soil was not warm enough.  I have transplanted beetroot, grown in modules to the poly tunnel long bed. More tomatoes transplanted to pots, this time Galina and Milfleur.  I have sown Wautoma and La Diva cucumbers which now makes three varieties of cucumber sown!
  Of course the grass was mowed again and more forking and weeding done in preparation for the sowing of peas and haricot vert.
   On the animal front the duck continues to lay, the chickens are laying well and the sheep, well, are being sheep. No more lambs yet! Oh yes as I sit here typing up this blog it is raining again.
  

And yet another one!

Ewe lamb

   Usually I leave writing about our animals to the end but this week the sheep take first place.  As I write this blog we have had now had twin lambs and three singletons. One of the twins we have had to take in and we continue to bottle feed. All are thriving. The female duck continues to lay an egg day and the chickens are laying well, in fact, we have so many eggs we are struggling to keep up consumption with production!

Ewe lamb

   In the garden the grass grows well, darn it. Once more I have mowed grass. The first sowing of Touchon carrots has been made, more in hope than anything else as the soil is wet and a little cold. I have now sowed various varities of sweet peppers, apple cucumber, jalapeno peppers, celeriac and bunching onions. I have never had real success with spring onions. In five seasons here at Champeau I have had one year of success and that was when I over wintered White Lisbon. French spring type onions have been abysmal so this year I am trying bunching onions. Like chives they grow as a bunch which can be split up. You eat the whole onion like a spring onion. Time will tell!

   In the poly tunnel the successive sowing of radish continues to do well and I am pulling bunches of nice sized radishes. More Little Gem lettuce has been transplanted and few of the first lot to be transplanted are well established and growing well. Tomato plants are thriving and my five volunteer tomato plants are almost ready to be transplanted into the large bed of the poly tunnel. I have no idea as to what variety they are.

Ewe lamb

   In the outside garden the potatoes are up and I am busy going around covering them up. There can still be frosts up to the middle of May. Onions, shallots and  garlic all still thriving. Oh the asparagus is up and that reminds me I need to go and cut some for breakfast.