Some days I think I should get out there and do some trimming and weeding, but what's the point? It's over. Even so, Walt has succeeded in keeping the grass mowed. Here's a link to a picture of the 2020 garden in late August.
Friends of ours in the area who also garden every summer have told us they just pulled out most of their plants earlier in August. Walt has managed to harvest three fairly big batches of green beans and maybe two dozen little tomatoes for sauce. C'est mieux que rien.
The only plants that have produced faithfully are a couple of courgettes (zucchini). We've been enjoying those. Walt has cooked a lot of them on the barbecue grill.
I'm holding out hope for a fall crop of chard. I managed get in there with some scissors and shears a few weeks back and trim the tall grasses that were crowding out the plants. They can spend the winter out there as long as we don't have any really hard freezes.
The same is true of kale. Despite slug and caterpillar attacks, I still have six Tuscan ("dinosaur") kale plants that so far have survived.
The kale isn't thriving, but it keeps sprouting new leaves to replace the pest-eaten ones. Once in a while I can find kale on the markets here in Saint-Aignan, but not often. I'd like to have some for the fall and winter.
I have put used coffee grounds around plants to deter such critters as squirrels, because they don't like the smell apparently. Wonder if that would work against slugs and others? Apparently it helps the soil that's heavy and clay-y, which mine is.
ReplyDeleteOr leave out a couple of saucers of beer. You'll have dead drunk slugs.
And a tipsy dog!
DeleteLove’s labour’s lost!
ReplyDeleteJe suis navré pour vous. On dit en français, les jours se suivent et ne se ressemblent pas. Dans le cas présent, malheureusement, on peut dire les années se suivent et ne se ressemblent pas. C’est de bon augure pour l’année prochaine.
Les étés de 2019 et 2020 ont été exceptionellement secs. La sécheresse, aidée par un temps hivernal relativement doux et humide, a tué pas mal d'arbres dans le hameau et tout autour. Nous, on a perdu deux pommiers, un poirier, et un grand sapin bleu. Maintenant nos trois bouleaux, visibles de la fenêtre de la salle de séjour, sont morts. Notre voisine qui vient de quitter le hameau pour s'installer en Dordogne, m'a dit l'autre jour qu'elle aussi avez trois bouleaux morts dans son jardin. Le nouveau voisin les a abattus. Quant à l'année prochaine, on verra bien en 2022.
DeleteThe garden disaster is all Walt’s fault. If he hadn’t bought the soaker hoses, you would have had a hot, dry summer. ;)
ReplyDeleteI know. C'est la loi de l'emmerdement maximum.
DeleteOhhhh, darn! I'm so sorry to see this. You two work so hard planning, prepping, and keeping up your beautiful garden. I hope you do get some good kale and chard out of it.
ReplyDeleteJudy
I think we will get chard and kale in Nov. or Dec. Maybe more in Feb. or Mar. too if the winter is mild.
DeleteVery different than prior years. I'm sure you'll miss the bounty of tomatoes you usually have. Do the local vendors have a shortage of produce too?
ReplyDeleteWe had apéros at the neighbor's last week. She said she had gone to the Sat. morning market in Saint-Aignan a few days earlier and most of the vendors had no tomatoes at at. Poor weather conditions, they told her. Catastrophe.
DeleteSorry about your garden. It is survival of the fittest I guess and the dukes and greens win this year.
ReplyDeleteThe wild native plants, aka weeds, are having a field day. The cultivated plants haven't been able to compete. Oh well, there's always next year.
DeleteHey everyone -- We survived COVID! Yes, c'est terrible le jardin n'a pas survécu -- BUT WE DID!!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, we did the right things — masks, social distancing, hand-washing, and vaccinations as soon as possible. We are glad we have survived. The garden will come back soon.
DeleteSo exasperating!
ReplyDeleteDiscouraging is my word for it. Same with the lack of progress on the house and garden work because contractors are so hard to pin down.
Delete