Seed Exchange List

The Seed Exchange is a network of people offering seed.  My own seed is now all saved by myself here in France.

Please come back and visit this page again soon, I intend to update it regularly as I establish what seeds I have available.

Anyone can ask for seeds by emailing me at kitchengardeninfrance@gmail.com .    If you have a blog then why not offer some of your own spare seed?    To find out more about the Seed Exchange Network, why not take at look at Patrick's comments on

Bifurcated Carrots

Please note.  This is only the second year I have offered seeds for exchange and I have tried to keep the seeds pure.

Seeds for 2011

Beans

• Black Turtle Beans  -  These are a pole bean. The seeds were saved by myself.
• Purple Podded Pole Bean.  These beans are beautiful.  They are a deep purple on the vine and change to green when cooked.  The pods are long and full.  Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010
• Borlotto Bean - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010
• Poletschka Bean - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010

Pumpkin, Courge and Melon etc

• Monsieur Gary's Charentais Melon. M. Gary is a local farmer here at the Kitchen Garden in France and for years he has grown his own sweet Charentais melon, saving the seeds from one year to the next.  I'm pleased to have grown a few of these myself and kept the seeds to offer here.
• Courgette d'Italie - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010
• Queensland Blue Pumpkin - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010
• Butternut Pumpkin - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010
• Bari Cucumber - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010

Tomatoes

• Ian's Red Cherry Tomato.  A delicious variety of cherry tomato which grows successfully here, giving truss after truss of delicious rich red cherry tomatoes.  These are seeds I've saved myself after several years acclimatising the plant to the climate here.

Capsicums

• Cath's Red Cornos Capsicum - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010
• Yellow Cornos Capsicum - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010

Cabbage and Lettuce

• Joy's Cos Lettuce - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010
• Lollo Rosso Batavia Lettuce - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010
• Reine des Glaces Batavia Lettuce - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010
• Red Cabbage - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010

Herbs

• Dill - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010
• Chives - Seeds saved by myself at the end of the season 2010

Email me if you would like any of the above seed.

Starting out on Saving Seeds!!

I've decided to try and save some seeds this year and then to grow them on next year.  I really don't know what I'm doing so I thought if I posted this piece here, describing what I have done, along with what I am intending to do, then it is likely that someone will read my piece, throw their hands up in horror and say...."OH  NOOOOO!!!  Don't do that whatever you do!!!"  and if it really is my lucky day, that person will then leave a comment saying what it is I shouldn't do and exactly why!!!!

So to start...

 

Ok, I have got some seeds from my tomatoes.  I chose just one variety of tomato, a simple red cherry tomato and kept about a dozen fruits from the six plants.    I then cut open the fruits and separated out the seeds and the pulp in a bowl of water.   Next, I collected the seeds together and discarded the pulp, and placed all the seeds in a paper coffee filter to dry.   Once they had completely dried, I transferred them to another coffee filter and sealed it.

Next I did lettuce......this time I let a couple of plants bolt and produce seeds, then I picked them and separated out the seeds from the chaff before putting them into coffee filter papers and sealing.

I was given some green sweet peppers by a friend who I know grows only open pollinated seeds so this time, I just harvested the seeds when I used the peppers.  I was also given some Charentais melons which again, I know, the farmer concerned only grows from kept seed, is completely organic and, in fact, grows them on my land.....So again, I just harvested the seeds when I prepared the melons....again drying them in a paper coffee filter before sealing the packs.

My intention is to grow on all of these seeds next year.   If I am successful, then I shall do the same again in the autumn 2009 and then, maybe I could offer some of the seeds to exchange....  It would be a start.......

Saving for the future

It's over a week since I left Kate at C.L.'s house in the Languedoc but the repercussions of her visit are just beginning to show.   On her return yesterday, there wasn't really time to do much in the garden although we did finish a couple of small jobs.   As I said previously, we increased the size of the vegetable plot by about one third whilst she was here...  However since she moved on I have taken a look at all the things I'm hoping to grow both over the winter and next year and have realised that even 1 1/2 times is not nearly big enough..  So using the technique Kate taught me last weekend, I have now further increased the bed, but do remember I started off with a very small plot - 2.4m x 2.4m (8ft x 8ft) but now it is 7m x 3.6m (23ft x 12ft)

The new bed is being prepared, initially, for garlic, peas, and broad beans.  The peas are some seed I bought last year and am hoping to grow again this year, saving some seed.  The garlic is some that Patrick, over on Bifurcated Carrots, gave me.   I've not met Patrick but I understand he grows about 100 different varieties of Garlic and I'm very pleased to have some from him to grow on and hopefully get some planting stock from it in the future.  Once I have saved the stock, I shall be happy to join Patrick in making it available to anyone who asks. Patrick gave me three varieties of Garlic,  Cuban Purple creole, Burgundy creole and Tuscan.  I was recently instructed "to plant my garlic on the 15th October" and as the guy who instructed me is both a neighbour and a very successful gardener himself, I shall be following his advice.

Due to an oversight, the broad bean seeds I was expecting didn't materialise so I have now bought a commercial variety which I will grow this year, save some seeds and then grow again next year...  As long as that is successful, I'll have some of those to give away as well...

Patrick also has given me some Dog Beans, a dwarf French bean which I'm hoping to grow next summer.  I grew these this year but had very little success with them...  In conversation with Patrick he suggested that maybe the problem was the seed, however, I have come to believe that the problem lies much more in my own garden with the amount of water, or to be precise, with the lack of water, I have been providing... 

Kate also brought me some seeds from Australia.  Cos Lettuce saved by Joy,  Chrysanthemum Greens saved by Kate and Capsicum Yellow Cornos saved by Kate and Cath, all of which I hope to grow, enjoy and get some seed from.  Joy, Kate and Cath are all members of the Hills and Plains Seedsavers group.

And then when I was down in the Languedoc, C.L. of Olives and Artichokes gave me some seeds for a Tomato  -  Ananas (Pineapple) which she had saved....

I'm saving my first seeds this year... At the moment, I have butternut squash, sweet pepper and Charentais melon.  I'm also planning to save seed from some of my own tomatoes this year.

So here I am, having been growing vegetables for under a year and I find my self entrusted with growing about a dozen varieties of saved seeds.....  I have no problems with growing the seeds I save myself.. If they grow that's good but if they don't I have only wasted my own time....  but now.... I feel a huge responsibility...to friends I've met and to friends I have never met... So Patrick, Chaiselongue, Kate, Joy and Cathy... I'll do my very best to deserve the trust you have put in me...  A big thank you.

Melon anyone?

It's common in this part of France for small farmers to increase the size of their farm by reaching an agreement with someone, who owns, maybe just one or two fields locally, to use their piece of land.   Usually, on it's own the land is not viable for farming, but by being rolled into a slightly larger operation it becomes useful.

We have just such an arrangement with a local farmer for one of our fields.   The farmer in question, who is in his mid eighties, uses the field for "kitchen garden" crops, growing quite an assortment of things....  He is often to be seen out in the heat of the day, working away with his hoe, shunning the more aggressive use of tractors and their paraphernalia...

One crop he has grown every year since we arrived here is melons...the small Charentais melon which is so delicious and juicy when eaten very fresh.   I personally think this is the very best melon to use either as dessert, or for aperitifs, when it is delicious wrapped in something like ham or smoked salmon.

Just look how inviting that deep orange coloured flesh is....

This morning, whilst I was in the middle of a long distance crisis, my door bell rang and I reluctantly put the crisis on hold whilst I answered it...  My farmer, who speaks a local dialect of French which I find very difficult to understand, was there, proffering a couple of these delicious melons...still warm from the field.

The familiar scent was irresistibly persistent and by lunch time all my resistance had evaporated and I cut one in half to eat, on it's own, as a starter.

Another Saturday at Villereal

As many of you know I go to the market at Villereal every Saturday. 

It's funny what goes through your mind as you wander round a beautiful market and today was no exception.

Last night I was reading round the world in blogs and I arrived in Adelaide, South Australia at the Central Market.  Kate's Friday visit to the market has become a regular piece on the Hills and Plains Seedsavers Blog and I enjoy to read it each week.   This week , there was a paragraph about the preparations for her 50th birthday party amongst the wonderful words describing life in Central Market.

No doubt, partly as a result of reading that last night and partly from seeing a huge birthday cake in a patisserie, I suddenly found myself thinking that at the same time I was wandering around my Market, over on the other side of the world, Kate and her family and friends were having a party to celebrate her birthday.  So Kate, by the time you read this, your party will be over,.    I hope you had great fun....and thanks for a great blog.

July and August are the busiest months in the markets in this part of France as the incoming tourists swell the numbers of shoppers dramatically.  The queues in the fruit and vegetable stalls which I frequent grow as fast as the  local produce on the stalls increases.

This week, I saw local producers selling strawberries, apples, melons, tomatoes, plums, prunes, walnuts, homemade jams and walnut oil.  This farmer only sells melons, and this week, only one variety of melon.... Charentais a popular French variety which does well in this area.  We were discussing a dish where you cut the melon in half and scoop out all the seeds. Then you fill the recess with our local sweet dessert wine.  I've never known what this dish was called so I refer to it as gwm (great winey melon).  It's wonderful.

In my own garden, I've had quite a lot of produce lately.

We had some friends for dinner the other evening and served tomatoes, salad leaves, a few beans and potatoes all from the garden...I accompanied these with some poultry and home made bread to make a delicious meal.

The poultry guy at Villereal is there every Saturday, whatever the weather, all year round.  I don't think I've ever known him have a holiday.  He always has far more customers waiting than he has chickens ready....and just look at those quail on the bottom spit.... Talking about gwm in that last paragraph, makes me think this guy should be called pwm - poultry with meaning!!!

Today was the same, except that this week, the queue was particularly  long.  In the photo above,the queue for chickens starts with the girl in the foreground, goes almost to the opticians and then comes back to the guy in the white tee shirt.  As soon as I took the photo another couple joined the queue...

We've had a few strawberries from the garden, but they haven't made it to the kitchen, usually getting eaten before they leave the garden.   Again, this is a picture of the produce of the strawberry lady.   This week she had only one variety of strawberry on offer (Marais des bois) but they looked, and I'm sure tasted, delicious.

I almost missed the prune man who was tucked away this  week in a corner.  By the time I got to him he had almost sold out.   Prunes, which are actually dried plums, are another speciality from this part of France... Pruneax d'Agen are sought out all over Europe, Agen being a town just a few miles south of here. This farmer just sells plums and prunes with a few odds and ends from his vegetable garden.   His prunes always look delicious.

There was one lady I had not seen before selling tomatoes.  She had two varieties, the huge Coeur de Boeuf and a black tomato whose name I'm afraid I don't know.  She sells all her produce at one price.  What I particularly liked was that the tomatoes had been grown for taste.  They weren't pretty, but she had almost sold out when I finally came across her, and I suspect they tasted wonderful. 

Another new lady was just selling some home made produce.  She had a selection of jams and jellies, a few walnuts and some gorgeous looking walnut oil.  I bought a jar of the jam and will be trying it out soon, probably for breakfast tomorrow. 

There were many other stalls at the market this week, wine producers, fishmongers, fruit orchards, flower sellers, nurserymen, book sellers, clothing retailers, jewellery makers, artists, foie gras producers, bakers, butchers and candlestick makers etc and there was a buzz of activity that really only happens in July and August...

Do I prefer the market at this time of year?   There are certainly far more stalls with many, many more customers about, on the other hand, it's hard to park, hard to get a seat for coffee, hard to get served and none of the sellers have quite as much time for a chat, which for me, is a big part of the experience.  I know that tourism is a huge part of the economy in this part of the world and provides a great deal of what I enjoy whilst living here.... but for me, the markets in May, June, September and October still have plenty of things to make them interesting but don't have the crush of people making them hard to enjoy.

I took this picture of some urns just because I thought the colours made an interesting subject and to remind myself of the diversity of products available.

Villereal market is not a farmers market....  It is a general village market, similar to those that happen up and down the length and breadth of France.  It happens to be in an area where some really good farmers and producers bring their produce to sell.

 

So, next time you're in south west France come to Villereal and just bwm (browse with me)

Marché Gourmande d'Eyrenville

This was just a little local market.   Eyrenville is our nearest village and has a few houses and a church - that's it! About 100, maybe less, people live there.  We went with another English couple and a French couple. 

There were just 8 stalls, all selling food which you could eat at the tables and benches they had filled the square with.  You took your own plates, glasses knives and forks, chose a spot at a table and then walked around choosing what to eat.   I guess about 300 people turned up.  I had a trio of things for starter which we shared, 1/2 a small charentaise melon, with the seeds scooped out and replaced by the sweet dessert wine that is made here.  I also shared a platter of mixed patés and a lovely salad - yes of course the patés were all duck!!! and I at last did something I have not got around to before.  I had snails!!!!

This was the first time I had eaten snails.  I enjoyed them - funnily enough one of the guests I had gone with with asked me if I would share some with her because the smallest portion was 2 dozen and that was too many for her - so I said yes and we bought them.  I took a dozen and she took a dozen, out of the tub of 2 dozen, so then there was only about another 2 dozen left!

I chose PORK!!!! for the main course which was served  with delicious potatoes fried in pork dripping.  After that we just had dessert - fruit tart!!! There were lots of other things I could have had and it was fun walking round and looking at everything and chatting to the producers.  My friend Sylvie was there.  She owns a vineyard right here - In fact her land backs onto ours I think - and was selling her wine as well as water and bread.  And then after eating  we just sat in the sunshine and listened to the music - there was a good band but not my favourite one this time - and finished the wine!

The square is in the centre of the tiny village with the church on one corner and  houses around the sides.   I sat looking at the church, my mind drifting to somewhere far away, full of good food, good wine and good company.   Quite suddenly, the whole of the church lit up as the bright golden evening sun reached a particular point where it had uninterrupted access to the white stones - the stone changed colour to a vibrant gold as I looked at it.  It stayed like that for about a half an hour and then the stones changed back to their normal hue as the sun set.

It provided a rather breathtaking end to a superb evening. 

Reflections on my garden

This is my first year growing vegetables and I’m discovering I’m not very good at it. I’m especially, not very good at raising seedlings. I sow tiny little seeds that I can hardly see and usually, for me, not a lot happens! The surface of whatever container I have used seems to get a bit disturbed but that’s all. After several months of this I have only just realised that the problem is mice eating the seeds and the new growth!

I’m not very good with trees either. I planted some cypress to form a windbreak/hedge but they have stayed stubbornly at about 1ft tall. Again, only this week, I realised that deer are eating the new leaves!!

I do have three lettuces growing that I could start to pull some leaves from in a few days! The others are coming up behind. As for my first tomato, I repotted a Marmande plant (a local variety which is big, juicy and just delicious tasting) into it's final pot today and set it out, so now, it's up to the Mediterranean weather and some judicial application of water!

Onions and garlic are also looking quite good and I have some red cabbage gently growing. Peas are beginning to grow and will need some netting before long. I started some shelling beans and a couple of melon plants from seed today. I'm hoping to grow one or two Charentais melons. They do so well in this part of the world and we love them. Last year, a local farmer gave us a few and we ate them, still hot from the field. I also have a couple of butternut squash seedlings coming on in the workshop.

Potatoes are through and will need hoeing up within a week or so and the strawberries are beginning to flower. I saw some leaves where I have sown radish but the spring onions haven't appeared yet.

Four of my six herbs are doing ok - mint, chives, flat parsley and dill.
I have a couple of others sown but no signs yet, I’m beginning to think they have failed.. I also failed completely to get any basil growing!! And of course, in this part of the world, I have lavender – lots of lavender. I planted another 10 plants today to extend the lavender bed. Lavender seems to enjoy being in our harsh, clayey limestone soil. It’s funny isn’t it, both lavender and grape vines seem to need to struggle to produce their magnificent crops.

I realised today that one of the problems I am facing is mice eating the new shoots. I hadn't realised that was the problem. I'm now sowing a few seeds in pots and putting cloches made from cut down soda bottles over them. I'll see how that works?

And then there is the deer eating my new trees! I have resorted to putting my new timber compost bin (before I filled it with compost), over the tree to keep the beast out.

I suppose, for my first year I'm not doing too badly, but I know I have a long way to go! The problem is that when you are new to something you want success, nothing but success. Acceptance of the occasional failure is only something that comes with experience and I suppose that is what I am really growing.

I know that I’m only trying to grow a small bit of what I eat. I know that a lot of what I eat and drink will continue to be produced a long way away, that a lot of what I want to eat has to be produced a long way away. Maybe the experience I am growing is not just experience of my garden but a wider understanding of the issues of world food production, maybe I’m really growing understanding.

Ian