Photo du Jour - Potager

This is what a proper French potager looks like. Nicely arranged with little paths to walk on so you don't hurt the vegetables and flowers.

And no, it's not mine.
As you probably know by now, I'm not a good gardener.
Herbs are no problem, they can adapt to my sometimes forgetful ways. But vegetables and I have a tenuous relationship.

This year I've attempted cherry tomatoes, spring onions, chile peppers and zucchini. So far everything is coming along nicely (amazingly!) except for the zucchini. The young plants were eaten by snails within the first week. A good thing as it turns out, as we're receiving an abundance of zucchini in our CSA basket every week.

It looks like we'll enjoy a lot of salsa as the summer rolls on. Not such a bad thing... Pin It

Photo du Jour

An old stone basin planted with hens and chicks. Pin It

OUCH!

Well, I am now painfully aware of what stinging nettles look like...
I brushed up against some while weeding the garden.

Damn, it stings! Pin It

Photo du Jour

Now this is my kind of gardening! Pin It

Nice Neighbors With Gardens

Our neighbors are so generous!
Every week during the summer months an abundance of vegetables is lavished upon us.
You see, they all have productive gardens. Unlike yours truly...

Sometimes they invite me in through their garden gates, hand me a bucket and tell me to pick as much as I like. Sometimes I'm handed a bag crammed with fruit and vegetables as I'm heading down the lane to our garden (to coax our pathetic little plants along) and sometimes they leave bags of produce hanging on our front door.
This morning Pierrot handed me a small bucket of perfectly ripe, juicy tomatoes and yesterday André called me to his garden to give me a box full of pale yellow snap beans, small lettuces, tomatoes and the most beautiful, shiny purple eggplants.



One was as big as our chihuahua!

I just wasn't given the gift of green thumbs.
Thank goodness for nice neighbors! Pin It

Photos du Jour

We finally have some squash growing!


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Encore le Jardin

Yes, I took some more pictures of the garden. And of the dogs.
Voilà!



the herbs are doing really well



siesta spot




les figues



how he spends 85% of his day


handsome boy Pin It

le Jardin

tomatoes and nasturtiums



Never thought I would be one of those people who got excited about gardening. Well, maybe excited isn't exactly the right word. I should say I'm satisfied with gardening.
Surprisingly, the apricot tree produced some fruit. We thought it was sickly, so we're happy to report that it isn't. Apricot clafouti this weekend!
Everything else is coming along. S L O W L Y it seems, when I look at the size of the gigantic tomato plants in the other garden plots around ours. What are they using on their plants to get them to grow so freakin' huge?



little olives


baby grapes


the dog, passed out after running around the garden Pin It

The Garden

One day it's cold. The next day it's hot. The next day it's cold. Yesterday was cold and rainy. Today was cold and very, very windy.
My poor little plants in the garden are struggling! They need le soleil!

Friends and neighbors have kindly given me four varieties of tomatoes, two round zucchini, three eggplant, two chili pepper, one giant pumpkin and two sugar pumpkin plants. I've also planted basil, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, parsley and sage.
The garden is all ready to grow, now where's the sun and warm weather? Pin It