We brought our sheltie ’Tasha home from Chinon three years ago, in May 2017. She was born in February that year. She's all grown up now. In this first photo, you can see what the vegetable garden plot looked like that day. Walt planted tomato, pumpkin, and zucchini seedlings out there yesterday. So we got a garden going one more time. It's our 17th Saint-Aignan vegetable garden.
Today I'm posting five photos of ’Tasha (short for Natasha) that I took a couple of days ago when we went for our daily walk in the vineyard. In the first one, above, you can see what the vegetable garden plot looked like on Thursday afternoon.
We've had a long string of warm sunny days, and on Thursday it was actually hot. It felt like July or August, not May. However, it's raining this morning. I hope the rain doesn't prevent Walt from going to the market for more asparagus and strawberries.
Our part-time neighbors who live in Blois are here this weekend, which is a long weekend because of the Ascension holiday day before yesterday. They've been working hard to get their yard, which is about an acre of land, mowed and trimmed. Because of rainy winter weather and then the coronavirus confinement (lockdown), they hadn't come to Saint-Aignan since New Year's Eve. Blois is about 25 miles north of here.
They invited us over again yesterday. She, M-L, talked to Walt, who told her that he would be surprised if I said yes. They are here with their two daughters and several of their grandchildren, along with a friend of theirs from Blois. They are a crowd. I'm sorry not to be able to spend time with them, but I think it's the right choice. M-L's husband had a minor heart attack in February and had a couple of stents put in. She told Walt that doctors are saying he needs another stent. Seems to me that makes him vulnerable to the coronavirus too.
Vous avez raison de respecter les règles de distanciation. Je suis dans la même tranche d'âge que vous et je sais que c'est dur de ne fréquenter personne mais c'est plus prudent. Courage ! ce fichu virus finira bien par disparaître...
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'd send my regrets with a nice bunch of flowers. With so much known, and unknown, it's not a good time to be a risk taker. Regardless of age.
ReplyDeleteSince this is your 17th potager, I'm wondering what the biggest lessons you've learned are over the years, from plants to soil, etc.
Thanks for wondering about lessons learned. That would make an excellent blog post, Ken!
DeleteThe main thing we've learned is how much work a garden is. And how dependent on the weather you are when you try to grow vegetables. Some years eggplants will grow, and bell peppers won't. Or vice-versa. Growing corn has been fun, but it takes far too much space in a small garden for what you actually get out of it. Potatoes are fun too, but the ones you buy at the supermarket are just as good as the ones you grow, and they aren't expensive. Radishes are fun too, but the slugs get them before you can. And so on. Better to stick with the vegetables that are better home-grown than store-bought: tomatoes. Green beans. And then greens: chard, collards, kale. Sometimes you find chard here on the markets or in the supermarkets, but not often. Kale is rare, and collards are non-existent. Every year is a gardening adventure. Keep improving the soil is what you learn, and don't count on the weather.
DeleteThanks for this Ken! Interesting that you've come to focus on tomatoes and greens. So many tomato varieties to try! And always better than store-bought.
DeleteYou're right. Better safe than sorry.
ReplyDeleteTasha is such a beautiful pup. I especially like the pic of her in the tall grass.
ReplyDeleteJust think of all the contacts that each of the people at your neighbor’s house has! Very good decision to stay away.
Stay safe. Those of us in the "danger zone" need to look out for ourselves. This won't be forever. When we look back it will have been a short time. Take care of yourselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree, better to be careful. We are both in our 60's, both have some underlying medical conditions, we are staying home, limited exposure. I have a couple of high school classmates in very poor health, one of them has end stage COPD, they are both pitching a hissy fit on Facebook about being advised to stay home - full of conspiracy theories. From what I have read, neither of them would survive this virus.
ReplyDeleteLove the Tasha pictures, especially the last one which seems to show her smiling or almost laughing...I think you are wise to be cautious. I'm 75 and fall into some other high risk categories as well. I will continue to practice social distancing practices. If I caught this I would most likely die.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe Tasha is three already. You are wise to keep your distance from your neighbors. Now we are learning that some people carry the virus with no symptoms at all. Lewis and I are being very careful. Who wants to be sick for a month at our age?
ReplyDeleteGarden is in here. The last couple of days have been hot, hot, and with 2+ inches of rain, it is steamy! We are staying in too. We don't see any need to get out in public. Tom's trips to the grocery store are about it. Tasha is a beautiful girl, and I'll bet she is smart too.
ReplyDelete