April 2020

This week I was reminded of the story of Sleeping Beauty, of the castle and inhabitants that slept for a hundred years. We have not yet been in “ confinement” ( lockdown) for one hundred days but I can see the vines beginning to creep up the walls! ….Our vines are the eating grape variety that I proudly bought in the autumn and have cherished and cosseted through the winter. We have one white and one red and I look forward to the trail of green leaves weaving a rope of vine all along the wall of the herb garden. The second vine is on the south wall and will be meandering and loitering towards the pergola on the terrace. Talking of all things vine, the Virginia Creeper on the barn is now awake and its green leaves are racing towards the guttering!!

April has seen the potager fenced in, this is our precaution against the deer. We do have the odd rabbit but I think deer are the biggest threat to the life of the lettuce seedlings, basking in the newly made beds. I do hope the fence will work for slugs too...if only! We have more seedlings ready to go in and when the gate is on, we will have more confidence to get the plants in the ground.

There are deer around The Farmhouse, we mainly see them at a distance in the surrounding fields. They are often feeding on the lush grass and in groups. Of course they are named and there are no prizes for the number in each group….the three musketeers, the twins and baby deer! When I first saw baby deer early one morning, it crept with uncertainty into the Bolet field and cautiously zig zagged with no intent, it looked lost and bewildered. It  looked as if it was on its first trip out, a Bambi.  I think Rob expected to see it living in the barn when he got back from walking Emmie!

“ This month I moved my rhubarb”...a phrase you don't often say! However since it has been plonked into a new sunny spot, it is doing really well and the reality of rhubarb pie is getting closer. It seems that over the past year we have all become aware of new phrases and vocabulary that previously dwelt in dusty old dictionaries. I am thinking of proroguing (of parliament), lockdown, furlough and foraging, these are among some of the new words that have slipped into my lexicon. 

Foraging is a word that is very much in my mind at the moment as we use all our resources to last out the time before we have to enter the real world and do some shopping. This free harvest of nature surrounds us, if only I could be sure of what each wild plant was! Some plants are well known: the dandelion, nettle, sloes, blackberries and elderberries are, for me, on the safe and well trodden path. But I am investigating others, nervously, cautiously and with plenty of identification information. Having begun the foraging quest with confidence and fervour, I realise  the more I learn, the more I know of the dangers and risks! Knowledge is everything. I gather that the edible wild leaves, flowers and sometimes roots are often nutritionally dense, it's just knowing which ones. During our first year at The Farmhouse, I came across two ladies making their way up the drive, they asked permission to cross our land and to bring a group of people the following week on a foraging walk, which they did. It is a shame that I can’t join in on something similar now.

I realise that the Blog has been very garden based this month and that's because for most of the month we have been able to work outside. The last week has not been so sunny and our indoor jobs are mounting up, but the rainy days will drive us inside and the hot weather too. As the weather warms we can retreat behind the old stone walls and get some painting done, it will be cool and comfortable in the house.

Well April has been an unusual month, the whole month in “confinement”. For us in France May 11th is the next staging post in the battle against the virus. As I close this April blog, I wish you all health and happiness.

The Bolet Field in the early morning.

The view of The Farmhouse hidden in the trees. April 2020

A fair few days on my knees to achieve the weed free path….but for how long! The old barn is on the right, this will one day be “The Barn Bar”!

The new flower border, still a few floral gaps to fill when we can get to the plant nursery.

Our mock orange is now in full flower! Beautiful smelling plant number 1.

Beautiful smelling plant number 2 is the honeysuckle on the edge of the meadow.

Bark chippings have been added onto the herb garden. I hope it will help to prevent the ground drying out in the summer and also suppress the weeds. Spaces have been left for other woody herbs.