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Post by houpla on Jan 30, 2024 20:21:27 GMT 1
Ah well, if you're an escaped esclave, good for you! Emancipation for the masses and all that
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Post by gigi on Jan 30, 2024 20:36:04 GMT 1
Lovely to see large numbers of snowdrops and primroses when I went down the garden today. The soil is far too wet after all the heavy rain and storms to do anything just now and didn’t get any autumn clearing or tidying done, not even on the roses, so hoping to get started soon.
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Post by houpla on Jan 30, 2024 20:40:04 GMT 1
It's snowdrops and violets here, gigi. And the hellebores are just starting to open Isn't the run-up to Spring wonderful? It's all to come......without the watering!
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Post by ajm on Jan 30, 2024 20:43:05 GMT 1
I spent yesterday clearing part of my veg patch. Installed a plastic 3 metre cloche and planted salad and mache, along with sowing spring onions and radish. I also sowed chilli, peppers and toms in the greenhouse. I love this time of year. I,too,love this time of year -it's like coming out of hibernation. Hope you enjoyed your work - stay strong - better times are on the way.
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exile
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Massif Central
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Post by exile on Jan 30, 2024 22:20:56 GMT 1
Are you going for a green or white variety, exile? A round here judging by the shops, everyone eats white or violet. We are the only people we know who grows their own here and we firmly prefer green. So unless there is some form of rupture de stock, green is what it will be.
Slow to reward - planted this year and first crops 2026 and then sparingly cropped. But the longer term rewards! Fresh veg at a time of the year when little else is available - maybe the last of the parsnips or sprouting broccoli but only if the winter has not been too cruel. And in the shops be prepared to exchange a considerable fortune for a small bunch of spears.
A good 15 years of cropping (our existing but tired bed is now 18 years old*). So in the end, good value for money.
* It has certainly suffered from campagnoles (voles) and 3 years of summer drought where watering has not been permitted.
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Post by houpla on Jan 30, 2024 22:34:09 GMT 1
Good for you! Our neighbours all predicted disaster, firstly because we're on clay and secondly because we planted a green variety Digging in manure and sand sorted the first and, strangely, the neighbours have all come round to preferring tender green spears to the horrible, bitter white stuff Our original row of 250 crowns is now tiring, too, after 17 years. I'm not looking forward to having to go through all the palaver again.....
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Post by gigi on Jan 31, 2024 0:00:25 GMT 1
I love green asparagus spears and hate the white! It’s lovely to have local spears as soon as they’re available when we’re in France - none really local around us here, actually no local vegs at all, so I really miss the seasonal produce there. There are so many local village food festivals, but my favourites are the asparagus and cherry festivals.
There's also the pois chiches festival, although it's not really about pois chiches, but a 3 day wacky music festival!
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exile
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Massif Central
Posts: 2,691
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Post by exile on Jan 31, 2024 0:19:12 GMT 1
250! I was thinking of 20 just possibly 30. That did us for the last 18 years with some to spare in a number of years.
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Post by houpla on Jan 31, 2024 7:25:14 GMT 1
I know, I know, but we bought them from the wholesaler who provided the polytunnel cover At least we've been able to share with all the neighbours and friends and convert them to the green...
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Post by jardiniere on Jan 31, 2024 10:24:06 GMT 1
I decided last year that I was giving up on growing fruit and veg, Me too. Just couldn't keep up with the watering last year. I love this time of year. So pleased to read that, mangetout.
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Aardvark
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Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
Posts: 2,172
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Post by Aardvark on Jan 31, 2024 11:34:58 GMT 1
There won't be much food produced here. We gave up the potager two years ago due to poor results and increasing backache. I did rebuild the polytunnel after the storm did its best to destroy it but I doubt there will be anything more than a few strawberries in it this year. Even tomatoes have been not worth the effort last year. The "garden" which is about 2 acres worth of grass and a few pitiful trees is going to look pretty sad. The areas of grass where we normally walk are back to bare earth/mud and unlikely to recover. Two of our largest pines went down and I spent most of the daylight hours cutting and clearing the branches.
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Post by cernunnos on Jan 31, 2024 13:55:00 GMT 1
Obviously your gardens are not doing well ?
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Nifty
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Post by Nifty on Jan 31, 2024 16:20:20 GMT 1
I decided last year that I was giving up on growing fruit and veg, bolting radish crabby tomatoes, manky beetroot, the list goes on, don't even go to spring onions, they just do nothing at all. Coupled with the fact that when it is in season it's cheaper to go in the market and buy it all. I now have another war coming up with bloody moles, front "lawn", well it's green looks like a film set from the Somme, God knows how many there are I feel à Hughnique’s pain and should have given up after the storm of ‘99, but, I would’ve probably become overweight and died of boredom.
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Post by cernunnos on Jan 31, 2024 17:38:21 GMT 1
It's no good trying to grow veg.if there is not a good supply of water,soul destroying when nothing grows!
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Post by houpla on Jan 31, 2024 19:04:33 GMT 1
There won't be much food produced here. We gave up the potager two years ago due to poor results and increasing backache. I did rebuild the polytunnel after the storm did its best to destroy it but I doubt there will be anything more than a few strawberries in it this year. Even tomatoes have been not worth the effort last year. The "garden" which is about 2 acres worth of grass and a few pitiful trees is going to look pretty sad. The areas of grass where we normally walk are back to bare earth/mud and unlikely to recover. Two of our largest pines went down and I spent most of the daylight hours cutting and clearing the branches. Perhaps a few sunny days will put a different perspective on things, A? Aren't artichokes famously grown in Brittany? If you like them, why not concentrate on growing perennial stuff like those and asparagus that only take a bit of one-off preparation and then give without needing much attention? With all that wood lying about, would it be worthwhile to hire a big chipper and use the resulting chips to make paths? Another option if you're anywhere near a road is to put up a panneau saying 'remblai accepté' and then waiting for folks to deliver you some useful hardcore, old tiles etc. With a few whacks from a sledgehammer it can be turned into an acceptable path, or at least a surface that's better than mud through the winter
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