Oh my!

   That time of year is creeping up on me. Given a little bit of warmth and everything starts to grow. I sowed some Brussels Sprouts seed, a birthday present from my youngest grand daughter Evie and they germinated in two days! Two days! I ask you. Since the photo was taken many more have come up.

Evesham Special Brussels Sprout

  It is all go go go. The poly tunnel fleece is up and there are already seventy transplanted tomato plants in there plus a host of other sown seeds.
  A big disappointment has been my garlic (Violet Brut). There is no sign of it growing at all. The only garlic I have are bulbs that were not dug up last autumn. These I have transplanted to one bed in the hope of getting a few bulbs!
  Forking and weeding continue. This last week there was a gale. This caused the the top of the fir tree outside the front of the house to snap off. Fortunately no one hurt and very little damage to property. Luckily the whole tree did not come down and what did missed the telephone line.

Result of high wind

  So what has been sown? Moving on from tomatoes and sprouts I have now sown Basque chili, Nigel's Green Outdoor Chili, Orange bell, Wisconsin Lakes, Mini Bell sweet peppers, Jalapeno pepper, Thyme de Provence (never had much success with thyme from seed. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!) De Barbentane aubergine, Golden Acre and Precoce de Louvier cabbage, Cheltenham Green Top beetroot, Jaune De Poitou leeks, Red Salad bowl lettuce and Giant Prague celeriac.
  Harvesting in the poly tunnel continues with over wintered lettuce and beetroot both acceptably edible. In the outside garden there are leeks, Jerusalem artichokes, parsnips and green top swede. The parsnips need to be eaten soon as they are starting to  grown again.
  The chickens in there wisdom have taken a fancy to my broad beans and I have had to resow a lot of them. Annoying as they looked really good. 
  On the animal front we lost three chickens to some critter that just bit their heads off. They were replaced by three rescue hens but  unfortunately one of them died. The high wind caused the lid of new duck coop to fly off and I have now repaired it. I have also replaced the duck pond (a children's paddling pool) with the last children's paddling pool we have. The ducks were ecstatic!
  So onward with plenty to do. Soon be time for planting the early potatoes!

Oh no! Mowing again.....

   Two things mark the start of the growing season for me. One is the sowing of parsnip seed, the other is the planting  of onion and shallot sets. Of course this is not all that is  going on right now. Tomato seeds are up and hey I have three white sage seeds that have germinated. I have been trying for several years to get white sage to germinate. Success! The radish are doing well in the poly tunnel and there is some late sown beetroot growing which look like they might produce something. I suspect they will be inedible. One never knows! There are still parsnips, leeks and green swede in the garden and they now need to be eaten up and the ground cleared for this years crop. No one wants to eat the Jerusalem Artichokes. Wonder why? Work in the garden has been fork and weed beds getting them ready for the early potatoes. Daffodils are in flower as are crocus. A real sign spring is here. 
   On the animal front some critter got into the Ixworth/black hens coop and killed them all. That was very annoying as the hens had just started to lay again, however, a friend offered some ex battery hens to replace them and they have been fetched and are settling in with our main flock. These hens were so called free range. I suspect it will take a little while for them to settle in and start laying. Ducks are being ducks but no eggs yet. Sheep are being sheep.
  I need mild dry weather so that I can crack on with getting the beds prepared. Over the next week I expect to be sowing more seeds and probably potting up tomato plants. Time to get the poly tunnel fleece cloche up! Oh  yes. I cut the grass. Man!

Beetroot and radish

Pace quickens...

  The winter vegetables are coming to an end. The last cabbage has been cut. These cabbages were not very inspiring to eat but least they stood the cold! Leeks, parsnips, swede, Jerusalem artichokes all still being harvested but all but the artichokes are also coming to an end.

Parsnips, Leeks, Cabbage, Green swede

Work has really got underway over this last week. Tomato seeds sown and the first sowing of 18Jour radish in the poly tunnel has shown itself. Second lot are in! Moss curled parsley sown in a pot and once again I am trying to grow home produced white sage. I had a good collection of seed and I am hopeful to get one or two to germinate this year. Fingers crossed! The asparagus bed has been weeded and there are signs it is starting to sprout. The rhubarb bed has been weeded and a good layer of manure put over it. I have finally managed to have a bonfire and got rid of a lot of stuff. I have started to prepare the potato beds and the bed for the first planting of early potatoes is ready to go! Jersey Royal parsnips have been sowed on the same day as in 2016. Shallots and onions will follow. The herb beds look a real mess and I have sorted out one of the small ones. Couple more to do. I need to replace some of the herb plants or try to take cuttings or layer.
   On the animal front a new, well, replacement duck coop has been purchased, collected and put in place. The ducks have yet to be moved. The chickens are laying well, five a day! The sheep are being sheep and the rams are being annoying. 
   So all in all a busy week and as long as the weather continues to stay reasonably dry the next week will not any different.

Is it time to panic?

   Over the last week not a lot has happened in the  garden. Too wet or other things have got in the way! Hey ho! No need to panic yet but it sure is getting close to it.
   The Touchon carrots are now all dug up. What a wonderful crop they have been this autumn and winter. Never grown such a good amount of  good sized carrots before. There are still some leeks, parsnips and green swede along with Jerusalem artichokes, which no one seems to like, in the garden and a few not so good looking savoy type cabbage. I expect the rabbits will get those. In the poly tunnel there are now two rows of 18 Jour (18 Day) radish sown and some beetroot from last autumn. They may do something and there again they may not. No sign of germination of the first lot of radish which I would have expected by now. I  have put a cloche over them to see if that encourages them to grow. As an experiment I have chopped up some ginger and planted it in a pot which is in the dinning room (along with the chitin potatoes!). From what I have read ginger should be easy to grow. Ha! Famous last words.
  On the animal front the rams keep breaking down the fence to get to the ewes. Rotters! We have two Ixworth cockerels who were not getting along. The dominant one was chasing the other out of the coop area and it has a six foot high fence. So the youngster has been moved with two generic black hens from the other coop into the duck enclosure. He is a lot happier and I would also say so are the hens! Egg production is picking up. Mostly getting five a day now. Hopefully the rest will start soon.  
  Well that is about it. I now need to get my tomato and first lot of lettuce seed in as the weather has taken a turn for the warmer.

Moving to the starting block

   Ok here we go! The potatoes are now laid out chitting away in my dinning room. Yes, the dinning room. Why? Because it is the warmest room in the house, that is why! I  have

Seed potatoes, onions and shallots

the usual main crop, Desiree and three early varities, Belle de Fontenay (an favorite of ours) and two new ones to me Cherie and Anais.

   Over the last week the wind and rain has come and stopped me in my tracks as far as  gardening is concerned. I am now coming to the end of the Touchon carrots which this season have been exceptional. The first row of radish (18 Jour) has been sowed in the poly tunnel and no doubt tomato seed will be sowed during the next week. More seed trays in the dinning room. Following on from last years success in sowing radish in succession I am  hoping to repeat the trick this year.

   On the animal front all appear well and the chickens have come back into lay. Not all but at least we are getting some eggs. The Ixworths are laying regularly but they are small eggs! The two chicks that I obtained that survived one is a cockral, the other a hen, are now mature. The hen has laid her first egg on the 6th February. It is tiny. 

   It is quite noticable this time of year how the day is lenghtening. It does not get dark here now until seven o'clock (french time). Soon be working outside in the evening|

Chitting potatoes

THE RETURN!

   Well my apologies for not keeping up with my blog over the last three months. What with computer issues and illness it has been a difficult time for me. I have been receiving treatment for follicular lymphoma and I am nearing the end of the course of treatment. I have been declared in remission and boy do I know that I am well again. Energy and enthusiasm have returned. This type of cancer is slow to develop and I did not realise how much it had taken out of me over the last  year or so. Anyway lets play catch up!

   My last blog was on the 7th October 2016. That means there are a good number of weeks to catch up on but during several of those weeks nothing much had been done. Looking at the back end of October garlic was planted (which I fear has not put down roots and may have rotted), volunteer Violet potatoes dug and the tree onions sorted and planted  (which have suffered with the very cold weather but hopefully will recover as it gets warmer). The 2016 season has seen a wonderful crop of Touchon carrots. Must have done something right. I managed to grow a succession of these carrots and now at the end of January 2017 I am about to dig up the last of them. The picture is but small sample of the beautiful large,

Touchon Carrots

sweet Touchon carrots that have been pulled. At the very end of October I sowed a small quantity of broad beans which now in January 2017 are up and mostly looking good despite the cold weather.
   Moving onto November 2016 I was cutting cauliflower which were ok but not the best I have grown. In the poly tunnel the jalapeno peppers have done well and I will grown them again. The beds were cleared and top dressed. The grass, much to my horror, continued to grown well into November and with the weather being wet it was difficult to cut so the grass got left and during a more dry spell I had to cut it with the bush wacker. So ends 2016.
  Now into January 2017 the weather is cold and frosty. Parsnips, green swede, leeks and cabbage are being harvested along with the Touchon carrots. As the weather permitted beds were cleared and wheel barrows of manure put onto a couple of beds. I have even managed to start weeding in preparation for sowing the onions and shallot sets. In the front of my house an area that had been allowed to get very overgrown with brambles and self seeded plum trees has now been cleared.
   So in brief that brings me up to date. I have purchased seed potatoes (Belle de Fontenay, Anais, Desiree and Cherie. Run Sun shallot sets and Sturon onion sets have also been bought. 

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.