Life in France

A not every day story of normal people trying to live their dream in France starting at the beginning and ending?

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Bean nursery

The vegetable garden meanwhile continues to grow whilst i carry on with the building. This now means of course that as well as the building work, "real" work and general work we now have to do weeding work. The garden takes up at least an hour a day just watering it and then you have to keep the weeds down which just seem to love the conditions we are providing for them. On top of all of that because we are organic we have to remove the pests, bugs, maggots etc that all vegetables seem to attract and i now have a fun game going with a mole. It sems to like the newly broken earth and can burrow through it really easily, only problem with this of course is that when i go to check the garden i will see the odd plant here and there on its side for no apparent reason. On closer inspection the mole has been alongside or under it causing it to fall over. I replant it and stamp down the tunnel but the next day another plant has a distinct list!! Anyone any ideas on how to persuade a mole to re-locate? The cat bless her is doing her best having already caught one but obviously we have a whole nuclear family of them still tunnelling away!
She shows great patience sitting listening for ages until she suddenly pounces and digs like mad, she has as i say caught one but there are others. Amazingly so far in her endeavours she hasn't dug up any of the vegetables! The large construction in the picture is wood and string and is a climbing frame for the runner beans. I have high hopes for them...... So far we have only lost 4 lettuces out of all the vegetables we have planted.. so far so good... we have already had a small crop of strawberries and the small wild strawberries are just starting to produce fruit. The cherry trees this year are bending under the weight of fruit. As soon as they are ripe it will be cherry jam, cherry pie, cherry schnapps, cherry syrup and cherry gateaux + it is nearly time to start making the walnut leaf wine and in a couple of weeks we will be picking the green walnuts ready to pickle and also make some into vin noix. Life in the country can be very busy sometimes........ Posted by Picasa

3 Comments:

  • At 11:06 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I LOVE cherries, though never had a cherry tree. It all sounds very exciting, I'd love to have a huge garden to be able to plant all sorts of fruit and veggies. I think the only things I could buy would be a couple of strawberry patio plants, though that's better than nothing I s'pose :=)

     
  • At 8:13 am, Blogger Ally said…

    I think there's a kind of humming thing you can get to stick in the ground that vibrates and they don't like. And there's a kind of plant they aren't supposed to like, as well. I will make some enquiries.

    Also, have you thought about nematodes for the slugs and snails? And ladybirds for greenfly?

    I need to send you an email re July/August, but I everything has gone rather whirly the last few weeks; don't want you to think I am ignoring you though ... :).

     
  • At 11:00 am, Blogger R J Adams said…

    As Birminham comedian Jasper Carrot once succinctly put it:

    "Only one way to get rid of a mole - blow its bloody 'ead off!"

     

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