Wednesday 6 May 2015

Better Late Spring Than Never...

Thankfully it is still spring chez nous so all those tomato, pepper, squash, cucumber, and melon transplants started from seed about six weeks ago and waiting to be put into proper soil still have a chance to become delicious, nutrition-packed edibles. Sustained bouts of heavy rain which are blessing roses and rhubarb with luxuriant growth are making the soil sodden and therefore challenging to work.

Quartered, salmon-pink rose with an astounding fragrance

Rain has been abundant in the last several years, so much more than the usual that the once languishing ivy is sprightly growing up the pillars of our patio pergola.


I am looking forward to the day when the entire pergola is covered in green lushness.


Nothing glows like the papery, scarlet petals of poppies.


While the herb fennel (which is a different plant from bulb fennel) waves its feathery fronds, a sage bush presents its stalwart flower spikes.

The sage will be clipped back after flowering to keep it bushy

Pea shoots, much appreciated in Asian cuisine, are one of the earliest edible greens. In addition to planting peas in their own bed, I plunk down some in a large pot reserved just for harvesting pea shoots. Their delicate flavour and texture makes them a fantastic addition to various recipes (see several in the related links at the end of this post).


The onions planted at the end of March are now sturdy young plants.

Side-dressed with a high nitrogen fertiliser and mulched with dried grass clippings

Dirac the Young Cat loves water as much as the roses and ivy do. His aquatic exploits starts with his batting a thin stream from a faucet. It advances to his biting the water which is so hilarious that our raucous laughter makes him take a pause...


...so he can dry his wet paw by licking it!


Eventually his efforts fatigue him and he sits nearby glaring at the faucet.


À la prochaine!

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