Pictures of beans…

Exciting I know.

It’s still so wet that the weeds have taken over and there’s little point digging since it’s three times the effort for a quarter of the result. The tomato patch that I hoed last of all is almost completely weeds. Oh well.

So, no cherries to speak of, and it looks like being a poor year for red onions (gone to seed) and ratatouille veg, but a brilliant year for potatoes, peas, beans, carrots and cabbages. Oh well to that as well.

I like to take photos of the season as it unravels and I’ve been using picmonkey for that… I have ‘plot-to-almost=pot’ photos. It’s been the broad beans today. I’ve picked about 4 kg of broad beans so far. Of course, most is pod, so in terms of actual weight, I’ve got about 2 kg of broad beans blanched and frozen.

I think this is my favourite app. So quick! Upload the photos you want in it and the layout and boom – a collage. No photoshop messing.

I planted these on the fourth of January. It then snowed and flooded and rained and was cold – so it’s been one hundred and sixty five days from bean to bean. Not bad though. I’m quite amazed by how quickly they come on. It never fails to amaze me that something can be a seed one day and a plant the next. The first leaves came up two months after planting – most of that time was very cold indeed. Two months after that, we had flowers. That’s 4th January planting, 4th March first leaves, 4th May flowers, then a month later, we had a huge crop. To be honest, I could have planted them a whole lot later, I think. Trouble is, you can’t predict having a month of bitterly cold temperatures.

Speaking of things that are seeds one day and plants the next, I planted a lemon pip (well, four, but only one has come to anything) which is now bursting with life. As to whether it will have lemons ever, I don’t know. It’s got lovely foliage though, so I won’t be upset if it doesn’t.

And because I have no cherries, but because I love this picmonkey app (and you can have it pretty much any which way you want it) I thought I’d do a cherry-inspired one from last year.

I was saying yesterday I felt a bit like I should just write the year off and go back to bed until next summer. Of course, I won’t. There are far too many things in the garden to enjoy quand-même. 

Beans, peas and farting.

Apparently, Steve turned the air blue in Charmé today. As usual, I got the blame. Apparently, my cooking gave him rip-roaring, blue flame wind. Meh. I don’t have wind so I don’t care.

Jake has been doing his second paid day of work. He has ably assisted The Aged P. I’m not sure who is worse off – my father for having to put up with Jake, or Jake for having to put up with my father. By all accounts, it was a success. Jake got some appropriate wellies – which was way beyond what Steve or I were capable of achieving with ‘nike boy’ – who has blue fits every time he has to wear them, including saying his socks don’t fit and saying he can’t walk. Meh. I think they kept each other very well occupied. Not only that, but Jake’s first 20€ was spent on a tool belt. I like that. He did buy some devil bangers, but that’s just as much a part of the real Jake as the tool belt. He’s now accumulating tools, and we are mucho proud. He did go in Leclerc and look at knives, but c’est Jake! He’s got great plans for his new-found earnings, including xbox gold membership and COD Black Ops.

I had a busy day of animals and plantings…

Broad beans

Finally my beans have emerged in both the polytunnel and the pot. Took a bit of time!!

Pea babies

The peas in the good soil in the lean-to are a lot bigger than those in the polytunnel but they don’t have to put up with being pecked by the chickens. Steve bought more polythene today so we can re-make the polytunnel – hoorah! Thus the chicken ladies are out of a dirt-bath hammam, but needs must. I can’t sacrifice seeds to nosey chickens. It’s bad enough they’re IN the trenches you dig and ON the spade and AROUND your feet, pecking your shoe laces and sitting on the spade. Tomorrow, they are being shut out. Such is life for a chicken. Not that they don’t have enough space to make room for, but I’d love to dig a straight line trench instead of digging in L shapes around me, moving from one side to the other just to escape chickens grubbing over the soil like old ladies with a new charity shop arrivals box. It’s like someone went in Oxfam with a box and shouted “Dior… Chanel… Kurt Geiger…”  – they’re all over it.

Preparing lunch of worm sashimi

Not only that, but my savoy cabbage have popped up a couple of leaves, as have the red cabbage. The cauliflowers are darkening up their baby leaves.

Infant cauliflowers

Although it must be said, cats are still big news here. Bird and Fox get more and more comfortable every day. Here’s to their long and happy dwelling in co-habitation with us!

Fantastic Mr Fox

Gorgeous Mr Birdie