This Morning

I took my cup of tea out onto the terrace and sat for a while to watch the birds and anything else that was stirring.

I usually make a pot of tea to drink with my breakfast.  I tend to eat breakfast sitting in my bedroom, in front of the window overlooking the fields to the east of the house.  However, today, there was very little stirring so, having finished eating I took my tea out onto the covered terrace which looks south into the main garden

I say after I’d finished eating, but I don’t really eat much breakfast, usually just a slice of toast and of course, my big pot of tea.  This morning I had bread and butter as I had baked a multi-cereal and nut loaf and it smelled so delicious in the kitchen.

The terrace is open sided but covered, which this morning was a great thing as it was pouring with rain.   In fact, it was both cold and raining and for a moment I considered just going back inside to the warmth of the house.

Sitting on the terrace you look at a very old fig tree which I neglect quite badly and allow to run free.   I’ve hung a couple of bird feeders in it’s branches,, a couple of different nuts, a coconut and a feeder of assorted seeds, which attracts quite a few small birds.   This is really why I like to take my tea out there.  It makes a lovely relaxing way to wake up before starting my day.   Now I’m retired I have much more time in the morning to enjoy life without the rush to catch a crowded commuter train.

However, this morning I guess all the small birds had looked out of the window and said, “It’s Sunday and it’s raining, I’m going back to bed!” and I finished my mug of tea unaccompanied.

I was just about to give up and go inside to dress, yes, I was still in my dressing gown, when a Great Tit flew into the fig tree and started hopping from branch to branch.  It only took a few seconds to make it’s way down to where the peanut feeder was hanging and it started to eat it’s fill.  No sooner had it started eating than another one arrived and landed on the other nut feeder, also eating peanuts.  I was pleased I’d stayed those few extra seconds.

I’m not very good at identifying the garden birds and I have told myself that, this year, I’ll make more effort.  The first one I have learned is the Great Tit, with it’s yellow breast and black line down the front, along with those rather gorgeous white cheeks.

This expanding interest in garden birds has lead me to National Nest Box Week, which encourages everyone to put a nesting box in the garden.   It’s organised by the British Ornithological Trust and they have a page that shows how to make a nest box.   I followed these simple instruction and now have my first nesting box attached to a cherry tree in the orchard.   Apparently the size of the entry hole helps decide which birds will use the box and I’m hoping my box will attract the Great Tits I’ve seen so many of in the garden.   I’ll probably make another one but maybe with a smaller hole, suitable for blue tits, or  an open fronted one for a Robin.    I’ll let you know if they get inhabited.     Follow the link “make a nest box”  for full details about putting a nest box in your own garden

National Nest Box Week starts on St Valentine’s day each year.  What better Valentine’s day gift to the birds in our gardens than for everyone to put up a nesting box.  It’s a gift that will keep on giving.

Spring at last

The winter here in south west France has dragged on a bit this year, with the cold and wet weather extending into the beginning of this month.

However, the last couple of weeks have brought some spring weather with them and, suddenly, things are bursting into flower

These tulips are in a small flower bed right next to the main door to the house, so, although Tulips are short lived, I get to enjoy them everday whilst they are in bloom.

Elsewhere in the garden, my tomato seedlings are slowly growing.  The other day I potted on about 50 of my “Ian’s Red Cherry”.  I was very pleased about this as I thought I had lost all the seed to mice in last years mouse attack, but, happily, I found a canister of seeds which were a couple of years old.   As tomato seeds are well known for their survivability, I decided to give them a try.   Hopefully, I’ll now have enough tomatoes to save seed from later in the year.

I also have both Marmande and Moneymaker seedlings waiting to be potted on which I expect to be doing this week.

Earlier in the week, I found a few berry bushes being sold off for less than 2€ each and bought some.  I had an issue with my labelling of the black currant and blackberry bushes…  OK, I labelled them both as blackberry by mistake… but, once they fruit I’ll know which is which.  I’ve planted them and also a gooseberry bush I bought at the same time.

I also bought a couple of raspberries from the same place, but they are intensive care due to violent abuse before I took charge of them.   Another thing I bought recently, which is also in intensive care was a small olive tree.    I don’t think it had been watered for many months when I took it over.

The bulk of my work at the moment is directed along two paths.     The boundary hedges are in a pretty terrible condition and I’m investing a lot of time in restoring them.   The second path is simply weeding and grass cutting!      Sadly, my ill health last year meant that I didn’t get to do very much in the garden and, therefore, I have my work cut out this year to restore order.

In the orchard, the pear and cherry trees are in blossom and the apples are not far behind.  I noticed lots of buds on the peach and nectarine trees as well.   In the kitchen garden, Forsythia is blossoming in the corner beds.   I hope the bright yellow flowers are attracting lots of insects into the area.

Finally, I’ve also been attacking some of the large shrubs in the “park” area and am hoping they will respond to the harsh treatment.   Roses have been heavily pruned again this year.

The long drought and then severe winter have caused many of the potted shrubs to die.   Some pots froze solid even though I had moved them into an unheated workshop.   I’m keeping a careful watch on the pots, just in case there is any sign of recuperation.

Drought

Another Saturday and another visit to the market at Villereal.   Today however, I didn't take the kitchen table with me, mind you, I don't often take the kitchen table with me, it's just that my camera was still on it when I arrived at the market.

Today, the talk all around the market was of the "secheresse", the drought.   This spring has been extremely dry here, In fact, it was dry last autumn, through the  winter and now in spring.  It's getting harder to believe that this area might be known as Aquitaine because the Romans thought it was a wet place.

Normally, in this part of the world, we have a very dry summer and a dryish autumn, then the winter and spring rains come and refill all the aquifers, reservoirs and even restore the rivers and lakes.  Then the cycle starts again.  However, this year the cycle has been sadly distorted.

I read today that Biarritz, a little way south of here, normally gets about 138mm of rain during the month of January.  This January they had just 18mm.  Apparently, in the ten weeks from the 1st March, the weather authorities have recorded about 60% less precipitation than normal, with my own garden records showing just a few millimetres of rain in the past three months....  that's February, March and April, which should be the wettest quarter....

Laurent, one of the greengrocers at the market told me that he was already seeing price rises on fruit and vegetables and that he expected the situation to get worse.  Rene, a friend who runs a Permaculture farm just a few kilometres away was also telling me how the drought was affecting him.  He has just finished planting a field of potatoes, right next to the river so he can pump the water easily for irrigation.  Now, as a result of restrictions imposed because of the drought, he has been banned from extracting water from the river.   We all recognise the need to leave what water there is, still flowing to support the wildlife, but it's astonishing that these measures are needed in May

Here in my own garden things are equally bleak.   I've already taken the decision not to plant numerous beds this year as the drought really bites, and then, today at the market, I discovered that the "departement" to the north of us has now imposed restrictions banning the watering of gardens!

On the other hand, our vacationing guests are all enjoying the sunshine and hot dry weather!  I even took a dip in the pool myself today to cool off a bit

At the moment I'm still able to water and I have cut right back on plantings.  I'm hoping to get enough water to get beans and tomatoes but some of the other things won't go out unless we get a change in the weather.  I'm glad that most of my orchard is well established and hoping that I'll get fruit crops to make up for the other losses.  We got off to a good start with a great crop of cherries.

Cherries

I said recently that my cherry tree had branches almost touching the floor, it was so laden with fruit.  It's a big old cherry tree standing proud about 10 mtrs (35ft) high in the very heart of the orchard

Well, I have now had the pleasure of harvesting the first of those succulent fruits and I am not at all disappointed.

I picked the first basket full the other day, which weighed in at almost 5 kgs, (10 pounds) and, of course, that doesn't include all those fruits that disappeared during the picking process.   A strange phenomenon, the way rich succulent cherries can get picked from the tree but no longer be in your hand after it has passed your mouth and arrived at the basket!

Still, this was the very first picking from the orchard this year, and there are still loads more where they came from and another two smaller trees of later varieties well on the way to being ready to pick.  As always, I pick the fruit that is available to me standing on the ground and leave the rest for the birds.

I have about 30 fruit trees in the orchard and this year it really is looking like it will be a bumper fruit year. Cherry, pear, apple, plum and peach trees all have excellent fruit on them. 

When I bought this property about 6 years ago I inherited some fruit trees which I have added to until I have the present orchard.  Sadly, I have no information about the various varieties of things but maybe, from now on, I shall make more effort to identify things better.

I usually try to make some jam on the day I pick fruit but this week, I simply didn't have the time so, a lot of the cherries were piled into a fruit bowl to be eaten fresh but the rest were simply frozen for attention later.

First fruits

For the past couple of years, here in south west France, we have not had very good fruit crops.  Late frosts have descended on the region and prevented lots and lots of fruit from setting.

I'm pleased to say that this year, it's looking like once again it's going to be a bumper year in my orchard.

A walk around it today revealed that there were masses of fruit hanging on the apple, pear, plum, cherry and walnut trees.  Even my new little peach tree, which was planted just at the start of last year, is helping out with a dozen or so peaches.

As I walked around I had to duck below branches being dragged low from the sheer weight of fruit they were carrying.... and most of that fruit is not yet fully grown!

The branches of the big old cherry tree were almost touching the floor, laden with fruit just waiting for a few drops of the promised rain to swell up to magnificence.   I was even able to pick my first cherry of the year, which was delicious.... but there were only two or three ready.  but in the next day or two, more will arrive.    Tiny apples, pears and plums are quite evident on the trees as well, although, I must admit, I have difficulty telling the difference between plum and cherry at this time of year.   I know the plum has shorter and fatter leaves and the cherry has more rounded fruit, but when I was walking I really had to study them to know which was which.  I ended up making  chart and identifying the trees and their positions on it!

I took photos for you but they are not very good, with the trees blending quite superbly into the green of the grass!!!   I have posted the best two, my apple tree, and the tiny new peach tree.   I counted at least a dozen peaches so I am now hoping that they will survive and grow and that later this summer, I will get to eat, for the first time, home grown peaches.

A Wander in the Orchard

	Last year the fruit harvest of my orchard was bad. When I say bad, that is probably an understatement... FIG There was a late frost, a very late, very hard frost and I, along with almost everybody else in the vicinity, lost ALL my fruit
	With this in my mind, and aware that it was now July and we had not suffered a late bad frost again this year, I decided to go and take a look how things were WALNUT panning out. It looks like it's going to be a bumper crop for some of the orchard standards.
	The Walnut trees are all laden with healthy looking fruit and I am looking forward to the usual battle I LEMON wage with my red squirrel, where, every time a walnut cascades to the floor, Squirrel and I run to see who can bag it first.  Sadly Squirrel usually wins. The top picture is of the fig tree.  I have a few
	figs.  I'm pleased because the fig tree is in the middle of a kind of restoration project and I did not expect any fruit at all.   PLUM The lemon tree grows in a pot as it gets too cold in mid winter for it.   I was delighted to note a tiny fruit on it the other day as I wandered.
	The fruits on the pear tree look the healthiest they have looked in the five years we have been here. PEAR Maybe, the new tree I planted earlier this year has provided some extra stimulus and I'll get some usable fruit once again.
	Apples are one of my favourite orchard fruit and for many years, as a youngster living in England, I believed that orchards only grew apples. APPLE Now, out of thirty trees in the orchard I only have 4 apple trees.  but my favourite is showing a very heavy crop again this year.  I inherited most of the fruit trees
	when I moved here and I really must put some effort into identifying the various varieties. MIRABELLE And finally my mirabelle.  I only have the one tree producing this delicious small yellow plum.  It is a rather late ripening variety and in my garden, it is usually ready to harvest in late August.

 

As well as the above , my orchard has cherry, peach and nectarine trees.    The cherries fruited well, and we ate substantial amounts before succumbing to the glut and freezing bagfuls.  The peach is new this year and is establishing itself but the current drought is not helping it.  I think the drought has also taken it's toll on the nectarine....a new tree last year but, I fear, neglected through oversight as my attention focused on all the new vegetable beds.   I shall give it some tlc and see if it recovers.

Of course, I have other fruit in the garden, grapes, melons, rhubarb, hazelnut, raspberry and redcurrant to name a few. but many of them are new and all are suffering from a lack of water.   Don't they know this part of the world is called   AQUA taine......

Cherries are here

We've had a few really nice days now since it last rained, so today was cutting the grass day....

We have quite a lot of grass in our "parc" and it usually takes me about 4 hours to do the basic cut and then another couple of hours to do all the fiddly bits where I can't get with my big lawnmower.  I rarely do it all in one day, usually cutting the bulk of the grass one day and then taking the hand mower round the next   That's my plan for tomorrow as usual.

Imagine my delight as I discovered that as the journey around the garden took me under the cherry tree, I was able to pick a few cherries, without even stopping.

That's the cherry tree on the right of the photo...it's a big old affair and stands about 10 metres (30 feet)  high.   I usually harvest the lower half for myself and leave any fruit on the upper half, which is pretty inaccessible,  to be collected by the birds and other animals.

After I finished the grass cutting I went and collected a basket of fruit...just collecting the ones that were in easy reach, and leaving a good quantity of those very low ones for a neighbour's young daughter to pick tomorrow...(no school as it's a holiday here in France)

I find that fresh cherries freeze really well, and can be eaten, simply defrosted with no further attention needed....

I also still have a large bag in the freezer, which I intend to turn into jam...  I better get a move on....

although, I'm not sure how many of these will make it to the freezer.....

If the weather holds, I think tomorrow will be spent cutting the grass with the hand mower before getting the steps and ladder out and seriously picking cherries.

Now, lunch....cherries and chips anyone???

The Predator becomes friendly helping hand.

True life has an uncanny way of following fiction or I suppose the fact is that fiction is really a reflection on true life.

Some months ago I wrote about the life of a tomato Who’d be a tomato. In that story I talked about the predator becoming the helping hand.

As I knew it would, true life has emulated what I wrote and now, I find myself lavishing loving attention on the seven tomato plants that have been allowed to survive thus far.

The three on the left are Marmande, a local variety of big tasty beef tomatoes, then there are 2 golden sunrise and two cerise rouge – simply red cherry!

The Marmande are a big brute of a tomato and as you can see, they are set to become the playground bully on this bit of my domain.

I decided to grow the tomatoes in pots this year as I had filled up the beds I prepared and previously, in the UK, my father in law always grew tomatoes in pots in the greenhouse.

The lack of room in my beds also prompted me to grow my carrots in a container. On a couple of the gardening social networks to which I belong, there has been a great deal of discussion about container growing, and my friend ilex over at:

Homesteading in a Condo

has been an inspiration to me. The other fact I learnt, only recently, is that the carrot root fly can only fly below 20 inches (500mm) above the ground, so, by putting my carrots in this container and raising it up on a shelf the pot is higher than root fly can get!!!!

I’ll tell you in a few weeks whether it worked or not!

Elsewhere things are growing well and I’m feeding most of the French population of snails, slugs and rabbits. Just occasionally, I even manage to pick something for myself.

Rabbits ate the basil and I’m not sure it is going to recover. I thought it might but it has been transferred to the ICU and the prognosis is not good.

In the orchard there is a sad face on the fruitless cherry trees and the plums are also looking short of fruit. I have plenty of apples though and some walnuts are beginning to form. It does look however, that this year will bear a poor orchard crop for us, with no cherries, no pears and no plums. It’s too early to say about the figs, but the tree has been disturbed as this was the first year of pruning after many years of neglect.

Update on the sleepy bees

On the bees front! The latest information I have to hand is that it now seems that it wasn’t the fault of the bees at all. They did their best in some very adverse conditions and may even have been successful. We will never know!

No, the problem was not the lazy bees, no, it was a very late frost, and a lot of orchards in this part of South West France got hit by it.

It was fairly local though and won’t impact on the cherry trade – just my and a few other people's gardens....

Oh, and I guess I owe an apology to those hard working bees, without who this would be a pretty sparse blog!

Those bees, they are wise you know?

We have a big old cherry tree in our garden. It stands proud, probably getting on for 12metres (40feet) high and guarding the entrance to our orchard. There are three walnut trees in the orchard as well, but even they, who are probably over a hundred years old, even they don’t seem as majestic as that cherry.

It’s an eating cherry, a beautiful big red, almost black, cherry. Every year since we moved here four years ago, we have been helped by the young daughter of one of our neighbours to pick the cherries, usually collecting about 10 to 15 kilos (20 to 30 lbs) of sweet ripe red cherries. Actually, we probably pick a lot more than that but that is the amount which make it back to the kitchen – the rest getting eaten on the way!

Once in the kitchen this gorgeous fruit has been turned into wonderful dishes. Of course, at harvest time a great number are just piled into the fruit bowl and eaten throughout the day. My neighbour’s kid also usually gets to take a big bowlful home which they eat over the next few days.

Then some are put into bags and frozen. They will be pulled out from the freezer throughout the coming year to use in all sorts of dishes or even just allowed to thaw and then eaten in their own juice.

Clafoutis, is a traditional dish made with cherries in a sort of custard batter which is very popular in this part of France. The dish is normally made with whole cherries because the pits add a special taste to the dish during baking. I actually make it with whole cherries because the one time I depitted the cherries, the cherry juice stained the batter and made the whole thing look almost inedible – but of course, in France, it’s the taste!

The rest of the cherries are made into cherry jam. I try and do this on the same day the cherries are picked but don’t always succeed. I also make a second batch of cherry jam about now, just as the new fruit is coming to harvest, using up all the left over frozen cherries from last year. I’m not sure whether I can taste the difference.

As I do every Saturday morning, I went to market last Saturday and there, on our greengrocers stall was cerises pays – cherries harvested locally, and it reminded me that it was time to be thinking about harvesting my own.

During last week I checked my cherry tree.. I took this picture of it back in March when it was just coming into blossom and subsequently it filled with crisp white cherry blossom.

Rather than finding 10 to 15 kilos of cherries waiting to be picked, I found about 10 to 15 cherries!

Suggestions from the local French sages who garden are that the weather during spring was so awful the bees couldn’t pollinate the tree properly. It was very, very wet, it was very, very windy and they would be buffeted and knocked off course as they tried to collect the pollen.

Another idea is that the huge drop in the bee population is being seen in failed crops.

But one of my neighbours solved the riddle when he said to me. (In a thick French accent) “Those bees, they are wise you know? They wake up in their hives and look out of the window. It is blowing a gale, it is pouring down with rain, so they simply roll back into bed and snuggle down under their blankets”

Well wouldn’t you?