Spring gardening

Rhubarb growing - I thought it was dead!

Blossom on an apple tree

Broad beans starting to bean

Mowed and strimmed ready for weeding!

Planted cabbage, spinach, peas and mangetout

Strawberries planted. Cigaline (non remontant) in the front 2 rows, mariguette (remontant) in the middle 2 rows and some that we had in pots in the back 2 rows.

 

Clearing some fence lines

We have some help clearing the fence lines which is much needed and appreciated.

This is a photo of the cows helping them out - I’m not sure their help was appreciated as it involved eating branches before they had finished being cut and tossing around the ones neatly piled for burning!

It looks green in the photo after a little rain, but the grass is really in a bad way after the drought. We will be getting hay for the cows very soon I think. A month or more earlier than usual.

While the bees are away...

Doug is clearing round the bees are so they can get back to their hives and so the poor trees trying to grow there have a better chance. Much safer to do while the bees are away!

The hive you can see is empty, the bracken behind Doug there is taller than me - you don’t really get the scale of it in the photo.

Strimming strimming strimming and a walk

Having finished the Bagnères flat, and while our guests get on and enjoy it, our attention has returned to our land.
Doug has been working on the fence lines, some of which have been thoroughly engulfed by brambles and squished flat mostly under the weight of them.
I have been working on finding the potager again as it has disappeared in to a jungle.

We needed a little break though and took a nice walk with Poppy (she doesn't think much of strimming)

The church in Beaudean where we started

I love walking past peoples veg gardens and seeing how huge and immaculate they look. Something to aspire to. I think lots of people round here have been doing it their whole lives - and their parents before them - so I don't feel good about ours not being a patch on theirs.

It is quite a steep walk to start off with but then amazing views and more gentle

Lunch stop Doug and faithful hound (who is trying to get out of the sun a bit in his shadow, hot day!)