03 November 2006 - Chilly November, 25 degrees in France!

I have been cold for the first time in months today. Although the morning started well with pretty light frost, a beautiful sky and fresh air, by the time we had stood tying in the roses and cutting back the borders my feet were cold to hurt and my fingers had lost all sense. Nonetheless the tops of the trees were bathed in lovely sunshine and the autumn colours that have been so slow in coming were perfect.

The extraordinary display of blossom in the spring has been matched with nature at her most bountiful. Fruit and berries have been the best in years. In fact throughout the year we have constantly said, "I have never seen such a display of ---".

Angus' vegetables began well with endless asparagus and quantities of broad beans and the year has finished with tasty leeks and masses of onions. The only poor show were the runner beans, normally too many to enjoy. This time they sulked in the heat and became woody and inedible.

Anyway, it is now time to put the garden to bed. I like this time of tidying up. We used to leave far more for the spring clearing but time is so short in the early months that we cut nearly everything back now. It has been hard to prune the roses as we like them when the hips and late flowers make such a stunning show. For the first time it seems, I am noticing how varied the hips are in shape, colour and size. We will come to a compromise and leave enough for the birds and winter interest but make some inroad into creating order out of the summer chaos that this rich year has given us.

It has not only been the good guys that have excelled themselves this year, the bind weed has really taken hold in some areas and has resulted in complete relocation of the Poppy and Tradescantia beds. It made me certain to do the cuttings and divisions I have been intending to do for the last two years and it gives us a real chance to clear this pernicious weed once and for all. We may resort to a dose of round up if double digging and potatoes fail. We have also made a start in clearing our second piece of woodland. This time we are struggling against self-sown ash seedlings that could have been hand pulled last year but are now trees that require a pickaxe and good humour. If Angus laughs at me once when I tumble after a hard pull he can do the job on his own!

I can find promising shoots of next year's snowdrops and more surprising there are hellebores and primula in full flower beside late roses. We can no longer rely on the word of trusted plant manuals instead we have to make judgements on the here and now and follow a gardening practice that highlights the changing nature of our climate and consequently our plants. We hope that the scheme of things remain consistent enough to produce another splendid show for our Tulip Festival next year. We are all busy planting our latest collection of new names and old favourites.

Megan has wonderfully helped Angus this year and they have completed the knot garden. Many of last year's bulbs that were dug up have come through very well although we still find many bulblets breaking away from the original and they weaken the mother bulb and are certainly not flowering size. We will learn from last years run in with the mice and wire cover as many containers as we can. We also need to train the kittens not to see every new piece of dug ground as their convenience.

I still find it lovely not only to be accompanied to work by my faithful Megan but a string of cats too. If only they could be useful with the mice!

Albert the Jacob ram has joined his ladies and our Dexter cows Beauty and Tizi have produced healthy calves, one of each and an unexpected brown tinge. The girl is called Ruby Tuesday and has all the charm of her mother. We still have grass and they will stay out as long as the weather stays calm.

We have reduced the pressure on our grazing by halving our flock of sheep and getting rid of Lizzy and one of last year's calves. The workload was taking the fun out of having the stock and made our trips to France too complicated. We still want to produce our own meat but even with a family our size there is a limit to how much we need.

The summer spent in France with Amy made us realise several things. Firstly, we love France and the life we can spend there and although we have many ties and loves here we want to be more involved over there. And although a long break away is fun it can be frustrating at times. So we have found a solution in the form of a long neglected property called Saby. A twin towered hunting lodge in great need of tender love and care set near our cottage in Tournon d'Agenais in the Lot valley.

We see it as a long-term project that will give us a family home where we can all stay in the holidays. Angus and I have a long learning curve ahead. We are not unaware of the problems that will come up but feel very ready for the challenge. We will have to work extra hard here to gain Brownie Points that will give us time at Saby. Most exciting will be the garden that has good bones but needs major input. It will be fascinating to compare the plants and their performance in different parts of Europe and to come to know plants that are quite unfamiliar to us. I hope to keep a record of our project but for now I need to find out the French for all the materials we will need to helps us in our dream!

posted by Barbara @ Friday, November 03, 2006   0 comments (Post a Comment)