Chitted potatoes and other garden things

Change of plans: the work crew is here today after all. Jacques the boss phoned yesterday to tell us. They'll be on another job tomorrow, and maybe Wednesday. But they're working here today. Jacques is coming by this morning, and we'll talk to him about finish flooring for the new attic space.

Meanwhile, we've been working in the garden. I'm actually getting a late start this year, because it was so cold well into March and then I was in North Carolina for two weeks. Usually I do the tilling in March, but this year I'm only starting now.

Primevères (primroses) don't mind the light frosts of
early spring. They come up all over our back yard every year.

The danger of frost here in Saint-Aignan, and all of northern France, isn't past until May 15, so we won't be planting much before then. Walt does have radishes growing in planter boxes under a cold frame, and I have collard greens out in the garden that have survived the winter. The collard plants are bolting and will have flowers soon. The leaves will still be good to cook and eat, and I'll gather the seeds when I pull up the plants.

A friend gave us these primulas and said we should get
them started in our yard alongside the other primroses.

The two plum trees that were uprooted by high winds during our February storm are in full flower now. Walt has a theory that since the trees must be highly stressed by being uprooted, they may well produce a bumper crop of plums this year. It would be a survival mechanism. Our fingers are crossed. We'll make pies, jam, and plum sauce. Then next fall, we'll cut the trees up for firewood and plant other trees in their place.

The collard plants are getting ready to flower. You can
see the downed plum trees in the background
(and on the banner photo above).

Jean of the blog A Very Grand Pressigny gave us a couple of dozen seed potatoes when we drove down to spend the afternoon with her and Nick on Saturday. She sprouted the potatoes (in England they call it "chitting" them) and told us beforehand that we would need to have a garden plot ready for them. On Friday I tilled up a plot where the soil is loose and fine. That'll be good for potatoes, I think. It's a spot where the people who lived here before us had a big compost pile.

These are the "chitted" King Edward and Rocket potatoes
that Jean and Nick brought us from England.

I need to go out and plant the potatoes today because they are ready to be put in the ground. And that's the case despite the fact that the instructions on the bags the seed potatoes came in say to plant them only after all danger of frost is past. If we have more frosty weather, I'll have to go out and cover the plants.

Why did Jean give us seed potatoes? She thought of it because I had mentioned to her last year that I would like to try the variety of potatoes called King Edwards available in Great Britain. British people rave about how good they are when you roast them. We can't find King Edwards here in France. However, I'm sure there is a French equivalent.

I tilled up this plot in the back corner of the yard for the potatoes.

Jean chitted and brought us not only some King Edwards but also some other potatoes called Rockets. We'll plant them all. When we harvest them, we'll be able to determine what French varieties they most resemble. I already know that King Edward potatoes are good for "chipping, mashing, and roasting" — that's what it says on the bag they came in. That would be the Agata variety in French, I think (what we call "baking potatoes" in the U.S. but maybe smaller). The Rocket potatoes are for boiling and steaming — those would be Charlottes in France, or something similar. Or "boiling potatoes" as they are called in the U.S.