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| Potager to our immediate left |
I don’t think I am an envious or
jealous person however this ‘new’ emotion has got a real good grip on me.
Who knew there was such a thing as potager
envy.... and trust me I have got a large dose of it.
We always knew that the Jardin Legume would be a challenge the plot that we are able to use has not been
worked for a couple of years or so and the weeds are high and solid. However, not to be daunted we choose a bit to
work on and clear which hopefully we would be able to plant some potatoes in
sooner rather than later.
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| Potager to our right |
We were lucky as the first day we
began the big dig it had rained the
night before which somewhat eased our task but it was still hard going. We began to dig the larger weeds, then
tackling the smaller plants and grass. In
need of inspiration I would glance at our neighbour’s perfectly prepared neat
and tidy garden and think one day, our patch could look like that too.
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| As it was in the beginning... |
It took several days of hard
digging, pulling, plucking, raking just to be able to begin to hoe some
furrows. I kept the target in sight by glancing at the neighbours neat rows. After
checking the lunar calendar for the optimium planting days; the day was almost
nigh when the ground would be ready and the seed potatoes could go in. I am determined to be as chemical free as
possible in all our gardens and if bio-dynamics and the phases of the moon aid
and assist, it’s all good as far as I’m concerned.
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| Pomme de terre planted |
So the big day arrives and after
a little extra hoeing of furrows we could plant our potatoes, so exciting.
I made an earlyish start as it was a warm day
and even after the first hour of fine-tuning I was sweating like a pig.... very
attractive I know, but hopefully the effort will be rewarded. Planted and
watered we will now have to wait and see how our crop fares, the weather has
really been kind with soft gentle rain at night to help our cause.
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| Lézard Vert |
Looking around the plot I was
feeling overwhelmed with gratitude and wonder, so many beautiful things and
creatures to see and hear. The bird song
is truly amazing sometimes almost deafening. There are loads of ‘good’ bugs, worms and lizards and hubby was fortunate enough
to see a pine marten lurking under the cherry trees. The garden is directly
below the mountain (which has the cross on it) and the potagers on either side are
full with straight rows of vegetables and beautiful flowers. The river is not far away and we can hear it bubble and gurgling as we work.
However, we have so far to go, but in the meantime we can and do use our envy for
inspiration and just enjoy being in the town but in a beautiful setting surrounded
by abundance of life.
Recently, we have also agreed to
look after G's town garden, probably one of the bigger gardens attached to a
house in St Paul. It is really big and
needs a very good mow but needs to be scythed/chopped first. It too has an abundance of fruit trees, which
are old and established.
As for the
Jardin Cache, hubby
has been using the still weather (as in not much wind) to burn much of what we
have cleared.
It is a hot sticky job and
there is so much to burn and we only really have the rest of this month to do
it.
No open fires between June and September
by order of The Pompiers! Today he and a friend are tackling the bigger trees
with a chainsaw, I hope they both come back in one piece.
(Of course they did, with stories to tell!)
We wanted space and gardens we
certainly have that, probably a little more than we need and can mange probably
but each one is unique and special and fits a purpose, but its the
jardin legume
that has my attention right now and I hope one day I can return the emotion of
potager envy to anyone who may glance at our veggie plot. In the meantime the first crop of cherries need to be picked before the birds get them all.
A bientôt.
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