May was very wet throughout most of France, with the local news saying it is the wettest in 30 years! And despite a few sunny days, June has started wetter than usual as well. Good news for the ground water levels but not so good for our tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. Oh well, there is always July!
Our three blueberry bushes, on the other hand, seem perfectly happy. We planted the first in spring 2022 in the hedge on the north side of our yard, hoping to add a plant that would be good to look at and also attractive to birds. The bush never really found its feet, and only produced a few berries, all of which the birds enjoyed. We added two more plants last fall, and moved them all to a spot in the hedge that is a little boggy; all three have responded with growth spurts and a generous crop of berries!
Today for dessert, we had blueberries from the garden with crème glacée a la vanille, a rich vanilla ice cream. The crème glacée came from a farm producer not far from Orthez called Givrés des Prés. The team there (which seems to consist of exactly 3 staff members, 2 cows, 2 bulls and 2 dogs) make their ice creams from all organic ingredients, including milk from there own cows. And I have to say it is some of the best I have ever had, almost as good as pastry chef Allyson Lanter used to make at Café Presse!