Pre-Spring garden update 🌱

The days are warm at the moment and we are making the most of it by getting the garden ready for its year.

The children too are working on their little area, excited to be back outside during the afternoons rather than cooped up in our cold little home!

Their garden now includes peas, beans, mint, onions & lettuce.

Esteban has planted peas in these hanging 'pots' and like him I am keen to see how they do in there!

Today is fire day which means we must stay here all day. If we leave the fire even when it appears dead there is a risk due to sudden high winds which can pick the entire fire up and dump it down somewhere else.

We dug a little hole to avoid this as much as possible.

Mostly it is oak leaves to burn today, so pretty smokey.

Enjoyed better from the back of the garden.

Luna was just getting on with her own thing while the fire was getting started. Mixing up some mud soup for everyone.

Next to the kids area we have this lovely bed of beans.

Another bean bed behind the trampoline here.

And another over here with more coming up right next to them. The key to a longer harvest period is staggered planting.

A few of the peas are just starting to flower and this is truly a glorious sight.

We have three main pea beds, each with a slightly different design.

This is the first one which is a bit of a mish mash of techniques. Wire & string all over the place.

There are three rows of peas in here so it needed a larger design.

Not sure if they will get to the top of that frame but we can always dream!

The second pea bed is in the centre of the garden and is a more basic design.

It is probably the most effective in my opinion, but let's see how it goes...

Certainly the peas seem very happy growing up these vertical wires which are all tied on to a piece of bamboo and buried under the soil before planting the seeds.

The third pea bed is on the south facing side of the garden against the fence.

In fact, I have two varieties of onion growing here, then peas and last but not least, the stinging nettles. All growing exactly where they should be.

The nettles extend out to the other side of the fence too as they are not fussy about sunlight. They can be harvested from here (for soups & juices) all year round.

Right, time for a little pit stop at the local salad bar.

I ordered the chef's special.

The royal salad preparer was working hard in her tent.

Not bad.

This bed was a bit of an experiment. I just threw down rocket and parsley seeds in the autumn to see what would happen.

The rocket seems absolutely fine (on the right) but the parsley is waiting for the Spring to take off. All good learning experiences.

Last year we had classic lettuce popping up everywhere at this time of year. This year it is the lamb's lettuce. Known here in France as la mache.

Look carefully and you will find it everywhere.

We buried the aloe vera in oak leaves this winter, hoping to save it from the frost. Last year it died back almost completely because we left it exposed.

A lovely looking classic lettuce here, still surviving well from last year.

A few stray rocket plants over here, loving the space to expand as they desire.

Interesting to see this contrasted with the full bed of rocket. Perhaps more controlled planting may actually yield better?

Ah! Look at this baby cat asleep in the sun. Love that :)

I built a little support for the raspberries which we planted last year. During their first year in the ground they produced very little fruit, putting all their energy into getting established. So I have high hopes for their second year...