Yes or no or hold on a bit...

    The weather continues to be mild and even warm at times! Not that unusual for this time of year and makes for wanting to get on with stuff and yet one needs to be cautious as in this part of the world last frost date is the middle of May! I spotted bees busy around what I thought was a dead colony bee hive. Maybe they are ok? Time will tell. I have been preparing my large poly tunnel bed which has require forking and watering, forking and watering several times to make sure the soil is damp and while there is plenty of water and the threat of more to come it is a good time to do it. Thre is a few lettuce in the poly tunnel that have survived the winter and I am hopeful that they will produce some early lettuce. Experience has shown that lettuce do well in the poly tunnel at the start of the season Once it gets too warm it is time to move outside! I have recovered a small vegetable bed that had been left more because I was not one hundred percent well than anything else but now it is done and waiting to be planted up with first early potatoes. More weeding (does it never end?) and more thoughtful processes being made as to what needs to be planted where and in the mean time there is purple sprouting, leeks, parsnips, onions (stored), potatoes (stored), and winter squash (stored) to be consumed! There is only one of me! Going to have to turn vegetarian for a while methinks! LOL! 
     Also added to the food pile are hens eggs! My two flocks of hens are still producing upto ten eggs a day! One flock of nine birds and one flock of seven birds (one cockeral in each flock) with one bird trying to act as if she is broody but is not laying on any eggs at all! I do not think I am going to starve.

Working on the second bed

Second bed is ready

And they are off!

   And so it begins in earnest. The rain has held off. The ground has dried out a little and I have been shopping! Seed potatoes varities Desiree (usual main crop), Agata (a Dutch early variety new to me) and Dolween (Brittany, second early variety also new to me) and they are now set up in my dinning room chitting. I have had a go at clearing more weeds from my old daffidol patch but I fear the wet weather has destroyed a lot of the bulbs in this area. Those that were on higher ground and under the apple trees have faired better and are starting to come into bloom. Had a go at a small herb bed, cleared weeds and forked around. It will not be long and it will be time to start drying the thyme, marjoram, sage and rosemary. In the poly tunnel it is time to take chances and I have sown 18jour radish and Jack Ice lettuce under a cloche. I have also sown  coriander. I have also sown tomatoes which I will keep in the house and porch for now to help them geminate. Varities (Champeau seed) Jens Orange, Gardeners Delight, Poitron Ecarlate, Andine Cornue and REAL SEEDS varities Auroa ( a bush type) and Feode Riogordo (vine type). I have managed to dig up a couple of parnips but overall I have been disappointed in the crop with a lot of promising plants roots forking instead of being straight. I guess that is a problem with seed that one gathers oneself although it could be the richness of the soil. Oh well, I have had enough for my purposes. Oh yes my little friends that hollow out the root have also been active.
   So on we go the closer to March the more to be done!

 Standing water and this is on a slight slope

My feathered helpers.....

Squelch!

    Ok I know we needed a lot of rain in this area of France. There was a long period of drought last summer and there has been concern that the aquifer's were running low. The major city, Guéret, was pumping water from a recreational lake at one time.Yes, I know that  it takes a lot of steady rain and time for a geological feature like an aquifer to refill but man there has been a lot of steady rain and the ground has once again turned almost liquid and in some patches in my vegetable garden IT IS! No doubt come summer I will complain of lack of rain. Anyway, rain means higher average temperatures and thank goodness there has not been any serious frost or any snow (yet). Still time I guess but as we head into February it is unlikely to last if it happens.
    In the garden I managed to dig up some parsnips and cut a few small white cabbages. The cabbages maybe small but they suite me to be honest. One lasts me two to three meals and that's fine by me. I have another variety of winter cabbage which has not yet hearted up but it is getting there. They are going to be a lot bigger than the white ones. Then there is the early purple sprouting and despite the chickens efforts are eating them are starting to produce some shoots of purple sprouting. Not my most desired brassica I must admit but it has its use and this lot of plants have done exceptionally well. My over winter onions and garlic has stood still for a while now. I do not think they like the saturated ground much and I had to rescue an onion the other day and replant it! It has been washed out of the ground by the rain. Another issue is that now winter is well underway and we are on the downward path to spring the stored vegetables need to be eaten up. I have noticed potatoes and onions are sprouting. As long as they stay firm they will be edible but will I mange to eat them all in time? Man!

Standing water in a bed

Broad beans in flower

BLANK

    I would like to write that I did something the last week except that I cannot. A little bit of forking and weeding but nothing else. No real excuse. The weather has been reasonable. Frosts most mornings last week. Of course the weather forecast for next week is rain albeit light rain so I never know it might miss me!
     Seed potatoes are in the shops so there is a job to do - go buy seed potatoes! 

Two chickens about to lay

Daffs are coming up!

This chicken is seeking bread!

Mow, mow, mow...

    Thursday January 16th 2020. The sun is shinning and the weather is mild. What do I need to do? Mow the grass! Yes, started to mow the grass. For goodness sake it is January! First time I have ever mowed grass in January. Man!
     Other than mowing the grass it has been a quiet week on the garden front. A bit of forking and weeding and a cabbage was cut. Some rain, some sun and to top of the end of the week a frost!
     On the chicken front the hens continue to lay well an average of 9 eggs a day over the last week.
     I noticed that the seed potatoes and onion sets are in my local supermarket. Guess it is just about time to go and buy mine and start off the year once more.
     My bed of narcissi are showing and I see there is one or two buds. If the weather stays mild it will not be long before they are in flower.

NARCISSI (Daffidils)

Where is winter?

     These are going to be words that I will regret in a week or two. Watch and see. What has happened to winter? There have been frosts and quite a bit of rain but no prolonged cold spell and the forecast is for the weather to stay mild. Still time I guess but as every day passes the chances of prolong cold get less.

BROAD BEANS ABOUT TO FLOWER

    On the 29th September 2019 I sowed broad beans. The idea was to overwinter for an early crop in 2020. Well, there is early and early! In all my years of gardening in the UK and France I have never had broad beans start to flower in January. To me it is an indication of how mild it has been. Only time will tell if I get anything from them, after all, the pollinators are not around!
    More forking and weeding on the vegetable plots. I can now see the end of it and probably just about in time! In my efforts I came across South Island salsify seedlings. Well, waste not want not. I transplanted a number to see if I can yet get a result!
    On the chicken front they continue to lay well. Ten to twelve a day. I used eight the other day to make lemon meringue pie. Guess what? The chickens laid twelve! A gain of four. Man!
     It is getting noticeable that the days are drawing out. I now put the chickens away at five o'clock and not half past four. So onwards we go towards the sowingseason. Couple more weeks and I will be sowing tomatoes!

BROAD BEANS ABOUT TO FLOWER

POST CHRISTMAS

    Happy New Year! It is time to start planning the sowing for the 2020 gardening season! The seed box has been turned out and checked for good or bad seed the bad being thrown out! The online seed catalogue has been consulted and seeds ordered to fill the gaps in the seed box and one or two new and different seeds bought. Very tempted this year to grow sweet peppers again after a couple of poor years and not bothering at all last year. Problem is they need to be watered regularly to be successful. Next job, come February which is not that far away, will be to purchase seed potatoes. Desiree will be on the list again, a firm favourite. I will be looking for a french heritage early variety and maybe I might go back to one of my favourites Noirmoutier. Love the foliage of this variety.
  So, over the last week a bit of forking and weeding but generally the ground has been too wet. Wet? That's a understatement. The solid has been virtually liquid. I must not complain. The rain is needed and the ground need to soak it up! The last of the tomatoes have been cleared from the poly tunnel. A task that should have been done a while back but hey ho. Still more weeding and ground preparation to do but, well, slow and sure it will get done. One major task I have is to dig up and replant my Egyptian walking onions. The current bed is now too packed and they need to be thinned out. I might leave doing the job until March and worry about other jobs first! Lol! On the chicken front the hens have done me proud. From the 28th to the 31st December they produced 9,9,9,12 eggs! Yes, they finished the year laying twelve eggs in a day! The most yet! This is from 13 hens. I am overwhelmed with eggs!

Latest hen a Bramha laying

Parsnip carrot garlic onion soup