Summer sundowners

Just wanted to share with you a couple of snaps from a dinner we hosted in the garden the other day... I love the rustic look and adored using the hay bales and tree stumps as stools and benches.

The evening actually ended up being a great deal larger than planned as the neighbors heard the music and all came up to join us :)

`

Vervain Tea

As a very big tea drinker, nothing makes me more happy than to be able to sit down with a cuppa and think to myself that I grew all in the cup with my own two hands. 

This week I have been harvesting some of my vervain bush as it has grown massive.

vervain tea has medicinal qualities, it is supposed to help with headaches, protect your liver from toxins and improve digestion. 

Ive air dried my leaves and keep them in an airtight tea container for use throughout the year when fresh are no longer available :)

Recent happenings

Meet Bird Bean... I awoke the other morning with really loud cheeping in my ear so went to investigate thinking that my other half had left the door open and a bird had flown in... after half an hours search I was dumbfounded... eventually I realized the voice was coming from above me... so up a ladder i went and pulled down a light fitting and there peeking out was this little fellow... So cute... He's taking food well but he's very young so Im doubtful he will live but I will keep you informed :)

Another thing that we have been upto is collecting figs from the garden trees. We have so many this time of year that I never know what to do with them and i hate to think of them going to waste on the tree. Last year I made fig chutney and stores of that are now low so I will be making another batch of that as soon as I find time.

Baby hens have been released out into the garden now... Always a bit of a worrying time of the year as we have had little ones wondering off and not finding their way home. We live on the edge of a big forest and Im sure Mr Fox has been sniffing around even with our dog guarding 

And lastly I thought Id share with you a pic of me and Evie walking up in the mountains last weekend. We are so lucky to live on the coast and an hour from the Alpes. Best of both worlds really :)

Summers begun

`

Its starting to really hot up here in Southern France and we are definitely starting to feel the heat. Ive been spending a lot of time at garden centers and to be honest I've managed to buy much more than my garden can handle I think. So when I came home to plant out all the new herbs I had purchased I was a little worried about where to put them. 

So Ive decided to try out something I have seen somewhere, perhaps a magazine or television program. Its a herb garden on my windowsill which is meant to stop mosquitos from coming through the window. I have to say that its been going a couple of weeks now and it really does seem to be working. Ive planted, chives, basil, thyme, sage and parsley 

Spring Flowers

Some photos I took a couple of weeks ago in the garden as it was such a beautiful day. Once I got inside and looked through them I realized that there was a correlation between them all, they are all purple/pink. Im not a very pink person but obviously on a subconscious garden level I am...

Pink strawberry blossom

Apple tree buds

A Walk Through the Spring Garden

This is my favorite time of the year in the garden. Although we are not yet reaping the benefits of what we have sown we sure are living in splendor. The apple blossoms are in bloom and everything else seems about to follow suit with buds exploding everywhere. 

The babies are not so cute anymore sadly, all their nice soft downy is falling out making space for little feathers. As ugly as they may be they are still very sweet. they are still too small to live outside so I have them in my laundry room under a heat lamp. Not the most ideal place for them but I fear the barn house won't be safe enough as our neighbors dog roams about the place and I worry she might just fancy a little feathery snack. Evie and I have them out in a run during the day while we are gardening and the simply love scratching about in the dirt looking for bugs.


Potatoes have now broken the surface which I am happy about. I've done something different this year which I don't know will pay off or not... I chatted supermarket potatoes... I just hate the waste of buying seed potatoes as here in France they come in a crate and I simply don't have the space or the appetite for that amount so each year they go in the bin. Im trying a few varieties this season. Red ones which are my personal favorite so I hope that the books are wrong and they work out ok.

My first strawberry patch has been planted out too which is great. I have so many plans for these little beauties this year...
im wondering though whether I need to get another patch down as we are definitely going to need a good amount.

An Update Of Goings On

Been a busy week, had my husbands cousins come to stay with their two young children so out seeking time was filled up with going to the local wildlife park and aquarium. It was a great weekend but Im glad its over and I can focus on getting the house cleaned again and getting back to my organized life.  Above is a picture of my second baby, Ive not named him but he/she is my pride and joy. Its a little Cheyenne pepper plant that I started from seed and its doing beautifully. Cant wait to use its fruit in future food projects.

I took this photo of these jellyfish while visiting the aquarium in Monaco which Im quite happy with. Im no photographer but I am in love with my camera and love learning to use different settings and new techniques. The other photo is of a part of quilt I have finished. Im planning on making it into a cushion cover for my mums birthday, perhaps sew a few hearts onto it but Im not sure yet.And finally this is my naughty little Evie, now walking and helping her mummy with the baking. I think she looks like a little crab :) 

Doodles and seedlings

Baby Evie

Been another busy week garden wise. Most of the seeds and sprouted and grown vigorously on my window sill. Sadly we have had a lot of wind so going out into the garden has been a bit of a nightmare and Ive been unable to plant anything out creating quite the back log.

I put out two of my baby melons to see if they could handle the temp but sadly the didn't like it and have wilted their beautiful new leaves. Thankfully all was not lost as they are still alive and back on the sill to be nursed back to health.

Im adding a few pics of sketches Ive been doing while stuck inside and also the start of one of my new quilts. The sketches are by no means great but as this is a blog about what I have been doing and little inspirational bits then I figured they should be included somewhere.

Ive been starting quite a few quilting projects actually now that the sewing machine is back up and running. I will post some pics in the next few days.

Todays been a mad rush really. The weather has been great recently and its made me realize how late I am getting the garden ready for the fruit and veg. Ive been running around like a mad hatter finding all the pots and washing them out, filling with earth and planting the seeds.
This year Im not going to try anything too fancy. Last year I was left heartbroken because I had to go away for work for a few weeks and nothing was watered properly. I managed to save a few things but for most it was too late.

I have just pulled up the last of my baby leeks which we BBQ'd in butter, they were delicious! And we have lots of lemons which Ive been very grateful for because I came back from England with flu and have been running on hot lemon and honey drinks for the past two weeks now.

The garden is starting to become colorful again, there are forest violets everywhere and I must find something to do with them :)

yeeeeesh

Sorry for having not written in a few weeks, I could think of a thousand reasons to give you but non of them are good enough.

Truth is I've been busy in the garden planting out seedlings and sowing new ones. My chickens have found where I planted out some spring peas and so we have a few green casualties but other than that the peas and the onions, carrots, parsnips, radishes and salads are all out in the garden. Fingers crossed this heavy rain we have been having isn't going to damage anything, time will tell....

My Green Inspirations

These are the two books that are guiding me through the veggie patch this year. One of which I have stolen from my darling mother whom I hope wont see that its missing until I have squeezed out all of the information possible from it. Its amazing when you compare different advice how lost you can get but luckily enough I also have my trusty father-in-law to help guide me through things such as Jerusalem artichoke planting.

The weather has again dropped here so I'm inside again. To be honest I'm quite glad as I am playing with old scraps of fabric and finishing Evie's Quilt which I started when I was pregnant.

Here's to being crafty!!

Spring has sprung!

Finally, after the rain and snow the last few days came the sun again. Thank goodness really because the bad weather has put me back a few days in the garden. It seems like only a few days ago I had itchy feet wanting spring to arrive to start planting and now its here I'm over run with garden chores to do.

I have ordered my seeds. The bulk I already have from last year but the seeds I have ordered this time are special ones. Yin Yang beans that are beautiful, black and white. These can be dried for winter use and look amazing stored in jars. Giant pumpkin seeds. Now, I have really cute little ones but I want my hand at growing a monster and in a veggie book I have had for years it says there is a fool proof way of growing a giant... right then... we shall see just how fool proof it is!

So, Sunday tomorrow and I'm off to get some sleep so that I can be up bright and early to sow my seeds...

Night Bloggers

The Garden plan for 2011

My plan this year in the garden is, well, a muddle to be honest. Last year I was still working away alot and attempted a veg patch. But with the heat of the sun in the South of France and with Fabien always away the poor patch got frazzled a fair amount and my harvest was very poor indeed.
Now I am here full time this shall not happen again. I have been outside digging up flower beds, raking the leaves. I even had to use a very large jackhammer to get rid of an evil concrete slab I found in an area I wanted to plant in.
Now that I have a baby I really want her to eat well and with all the talk about pesticides and chemicals being used I have decided to grow everything for her organically. No nestle bought supermarket food tubs for her. If my plan fails I do have a splendid green grocer down the road who's prices make it look ridiculous to grow your own. I don't even know how the manage to keep their prices so low.
So I'm off to dig out mu old gardening book and plan out whats going into the ground this year.

Wish me luck...