Monday, May 14, 2012

How Does Your Garden Grow


     I've become quite confused when it comes to gardening and I will probably have to relearn how to do it when we, also, move back to Canada. In Southern England, I could grow food, herbs and even flowers all year long if I was so compelled but I could just never get it into my head to plant stuff in the late summer and fall.  I did however, really enjoy having herbs at my doorstep throughout the winter.  Here in Alsace, it’s a little different. The winters aren’t extremely cold but cold enough to stop anything new from growing, until about March, that is. Then the springtime bulbs started growing and by April, they were blooming.  Now, most of the fruit blossoms have come and gone except for my Medlar tree,  it’s just coming into bloom.

     I did manage to pick up a few plants and seeds of my own, but my neighbour, who is incredibly happy to have someone who cares about their yard, has been giving me plants and seeds on a regular basis for the last month or so.  I’m not complaining, eventhough is seems like it will be more her garden than mine, since I probably wouldn’t have purchased so much in the first year.  I’m not sure if most of them will flower this year but next year…watch out!

     We’re also trying to plant a vegetable garden but the area is overgrown with weeds,  and without a tiller, we have to do everything by hand. So I’m doing one row at a time.  I’ll get the potato bags started this week, the lettuce has already been started in window boxes and one or two rows turned over to plant onions and tomatoes. Then, I’m hoping to add a variety of summer squash, carrots, beets, peas, beans.  I think that’s it for this year and honestly, I think I’m being a little ambitious but I have some leftover seeds that I want to use instead of throwing away.

I’ve added a few photos to show you what our yard looks like now and then I’ll add some more as things start to grow and flourish.






Happy planting!   Julie

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