Today it has been the most beautiful spring day, and we have been busy in the garden. The word 'garden' seems a little daft considering our 'garden' covers 5.1 hectares, but still, I am not quite sure what to call it. I long for the day when I can yell 'Gerroff my land" but am not quite sure I will ever get the opportunity....and if I did, let's face it, the locals probably won't understand. Tant pis, la vache qui rit. Sigh!
Anyway, back to what I was saying, it has been a beautiful day and we have been out 'on the land', digging holes for our four new fruit trees. Two apple trees (Reine des Reinettes & Ariane), a Cherry Tree (Bigarreau de la Saint Jean) and a Fig Tree (Brown Turkey - doesn't sound quite so exotic that one!). Anyway, said planting ceremony required digging four largish holes on the side of a steep hill. Not sure who's idea it was to live in a hilly area really...I think it was Mark's. Anyway, the two apple trees are now in, and no doubt the cherry and fig trees will follow tomorrow. I am not quite sure how long it will be before we are harvesting the fruits of our labour (that is a phrase isn't it??? If it is, fab play on words huh!), but lets hope it is some time in the next few years!We have also done some work in the veggie garden - onions and garlic went in a few weeks ago, and this week we have been digging over some soil for the new strawberry bed. Mark has bought two varieties of strawberries - Marais de Bois and Gariguette - both meant to be pretty tasty. We got what seemingly was quite a good deal from a French online retailer, Ferme de Sainte Marthe - 25 strawberry plants for between €15.50 and €17.50. Very healthy looking plants arrived, so hopefully we will be enjoying strawberries this year, maybe in time for the Strawberry festival that is held in Beaulieu every year in May. In case you're interested, here is a link to the Ferme de Sainte Marthe website - they sell lots of nice veggie plot delights, and have a good organic selection too.
Ferme de Sainte Marthe
And also, a little about the strawberry festival - worth a look, if only to see the size of the tart!
Strawberry festival - Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne
In addition to the fruit and veg delights we are planning, I also long to be surrounded by wildflowers and have started digging a few areas over in order to scatter some seeds. In the long term I would like to have a wildflower meadow, but that requires a fair bit of work and nutrient-deprived soil, which it is hard to find here at the moment as the land was previously roamed by two horses. So for this year I am just digging a few beds here and there. If nothing else to provide a bit of food for the insect population. Love bees!
Anyway, all this fresh air has tired me out, and walking up steep slopes, planting trees, has made me discover buttock muscles I never knew I had. So for now, I shall sign off, and maybe tomorrow I may be able to write a longer, more interesting post. I have, after all, the joy of registering with the local tax office and doctors surgery to look forward to!
Bonne nuit!
Alison
xx
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