Building new pallet beds, Part 1 ~ Getting our excuses in early and planting late

If you have followed the weather at all here in France, particularly Northern Burgundy, you will know we have had rain. Rain, rain, rain. Plu, plu, plu. (Don’t you just love the French word for rain? It sounds just like a drop of rain hitting a surface.) Needless to say, all this rain has had a bit of an affect on the garden. Add in a deep frost at the end of April and storms in May, and I have to say I am so glad I have been really lazy this year where the garden is concerned.  Ah, what I mean is… I waited with due diligence until there was an opportunity to truly work on it.

Wardrobe change over day has finally come! Getting a whole new wardrobe.

As springs pushes into summer, there is something I really look forward to, my own special Change Over Day. It is something I have been doing for goodness knows how long, and still it is a true treat.  Such a treat in fact that I think it should be nominated as it’s own day, like National Hug Day (January 21) or National Cat Day (October 29). Trouble is it’s fluid. It is never the same day year to year, sometimes not even the same month. You see it all depends on the weather.

Chamomile has taken over my garden – tea any one?

Last year I planted Chamomile, with no great success. I tried it in various places and had a little grow in one of my pallet planters. It produced one really good bunch of flowers, which were duly harvested and made into Chamomile tea.

But what I had forgotten, when I had been, with desperate conviction, trying to get my chamomile to grow, was that I had ‘lost’ almost half a packet of seeds that had spilled out of the envelope. Fast forward to a little over a year later and I now know where the seeds have gone.

Frost by Nature – Bud Burst Busted

In the past, I personally wouldn’t care that spring has been tentative in coming. It might not have even registered in all honesty other than to complain it was a bit chilly. But now that we manage vineyards and are looking to buy grape juice this next harvest, what happens now affects our future. So, I am noticing.

Spring in the Vineyard – The Darling Buds of April and May

If you’ve read any of my other posts about our vineyard, you’ll be coming to realise that a vineyard’s work is never done.  Each season brings a different requirement. Obviously harvest in autumn, but then there is pruning in winter and come spring, de-budding.  But what is ‘de-budding’?

Garlic Virgin – Live and Learn Gardening

If you have read my earlier gardening posts you understand that I classify myself as a Garden Virgin.  I suspect no matter how many years I garden, in future I will still think of myself as such.  Why? Because other than the occasional foray into ‘how to?’ on the internet I make much of it up as I go along. Okay, I admit, I do apply an ounce of common sense now and then as well.

I’ve listened and watched the odd gardening programme (oddly addictive) in my lifetime and someone always seems to be saying ‘you have to do it this way.’ I get that experts have worked out best ways to do things through experience, but I also realise that every plot, country, climate, soil, etc. all added up to make each garden unique and different, so I’m all for rules are meant to be bent, if not broken, e.g. what applies to one, does not apply to all. And~ I find half the fun is not planning, or worrying too much, and simply seeing what happens.

Dandelions – Love or Hate Relationship?

Anyone reading our blog, gets the idea that we love re-using, recycling and not letting things go to waste. Now take the humble (or pesky, depending on your point of view) Dandelion. 

A Murder more Fowl?

Addendum to the Addendum: After writing the previous posts about the various eggs being broken into, we had decided to enclose our wayward duck and her nest in a large ‘cage’ that at least would protect her and her eggs from predators, whilst we waited for the weather to get better and determine if we would move her.

The morning found me up early and letting the other animals out, then it was off to our Delilah, only to find her nest with 4 eggs laid bare and no Duck and no covering nesting materials (feathers and leaves). The eggs were cold to the touch, but still, in a bit of a panic, I collected them up and took them to Lucy’s nest (in the duck house), defying her pecking beak and hisses to slot them under her. It’s probable they will not make it, but until we determined where Delilah had gone to, it seemed the best course of action.

Did you know Chickens can Purr?

Did you know chickens can purr? Neither did I, until today. The chickens helped me in the garden, again. It is becoming a regular thing, which I for one am really glad of. Their antics make me laugh every time, so now, not only do I get the joy of gardening, but also seeing what zanyness these feathered creatures can get up to.

Making a Vertical Garden – recycling the previous year

Last year was our first year working our vegetable garden (our first time gardening ever in fact) and we tried a series of different methods; raised beds, wattling bed, pallet planters and vertical hanging wall, to see what worked well. All were made using recycled materials and are being continued into this year, with almost no changes except for a relocation of some of the pallet planters and a some amendments to the vertical garden as a result of lessons learned.