August & September 2007

So how are we doing in our first six months of gardening in France?

If I was writing a school report it would have to be could try harder I'm afraid. The garden has played second fiddle to trying to earn a living and trying to get the house in shape on a very low budget.

The beans have continued to be hugely productive but they have not been stored due to lack of time and a freezer. But score one for us we have had fresh French beans whenever we wanted them for months now

The cucumbers have done great but are finished now and I never got the time to pick the little ones for gherkins..

The strawberry popcorn does not seem to pop awfully well but that can be forgiven as it looks so pretty. So it's been ear marked (pardon the pun) for Yule decorations in the form of a wreath or garland.

The oats got blown over just as they were almost ready. We have saved the dry seeds for next year and the chickens have really enjoyed scratching about for the rest.

The chickens also got most of September's raspberries by jumping up to pick off the fruits as they ripened grrrr.

The amaranth is in full flower now and looks pretty good. Again mostly we will be saving the seed for next year.

So the end of September and what do we have to look forward to?

The brussels sprouts are hanging on in there as are the red cabbages and we have about a dozen leeks that look pretty promising.

So roll on next Spring. In the meantime we will be creating a seating area, covering the veg beds with well rotted horse manure and coming up with lots of cunning plans!