Silent Sunday May Flowers

A mixture of wild and cultivated flower in bloom this May.

Jobs for the Week - End of May

The end of May should be warm, a time to relax and enjoy the late spring sun, although this year is looking like a repeat of last year, with cool temperatures and plenty of rain. The postman said we now only have two seasons in the Pyrenees, a wet late winter, spring and early summer, followed by a dry late summer, autumn and early winter, and he may well be right.

The back of sowing and planting out has been broken, so this week will focus on repeat sowing - 
Peas - Carouby de Maussane, a mangetout with both a gorgeous flower and flavour. I hope to have some photos later as I've not grown it for many years, and the ever reliable Waverex petit pois.

Deer in the Garden

We are blessed with fabulous wildlife here and although my ethos is to put wildlife first in the garden, when roe deer start stripping out the leaves and tiny fruit on the apples, pears and cherries up in the verger and eating all my young plants in the potager, drastic measures are required.

Tomato Planting

In theory we try to be self-sufficient in tomatoes, growing enough plum types to bottle for the year, to sun dry (actually on the dashboard of the car!) and to eat fresh, and up until the last two summers this has been pretty successful. 2017 and 2018 were both cool and wet and we lost the plants to blight before getting a good crop. At least last year we made enough sun dried to keep us going through the winter.

To counteract the blight my plants, the cordon varieties at any rate, go under a perspex panelled roof, with the sides remaining open. The theory is that the rain falling directly on the leaves or splashing them will spread the bacterial infection. Meanwhile, the open sides allows air to circulate also in theory reducing the spread of the disease. 

No Dig, Straw Mulch & Roe Deer

Good weather albeit still pretty cold for the time of year has kept me away from the laptop and very busy out in the garden. With warmer temperatures expected overnight after the weekend, this has been my last chance to get everything ready for the grand plantation. I love this time of the year and can't wait for that first fresh tomato!

At the latest count I have well over two hundred plants to go out in the next ten days or so - tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, chillies, melons, squashes & pumpkins, climbing and dwarf haricots, courgettes, tomatillos, okra and corn, not to mention the usual non-weather dependant beetroot, lettuce and turnip bonanza!