All that is to say, we had a cold snap that hit a lot of the plants in our yard pretty hard.  Our calla lilies, for example, which had stayed green into early winter, pretty much lay down and gave up the ghost.  Weeds, it seems, are made of sterner stuff.  As I discovered when, after the freeze, I began to notice young dandelion and wild watercress leaves all over the yard.  Great news for tasty salads and for winter vitamins.

One of the attractions of these bitter greens is that they add a lively punch of flavor to otherwise pretty tame hothouse-grown winter lettuces. That having been said, their bitterness  demands to be taken into account when planning your salad. Two options: # 1 pair them with slightly sweet elements (don’t overdo it!) like winter pears, apples or pomegranate seeds to offset the bitterness, or add a bit of sweetness to your vinaigrette with a spoonful of honey or reduced apple cider. Or #2 pair with strong flavors that stand up to the bitterness, like bleu cheese, bacon or citrus.

Note also that most winter greens, including endives, watercress and dandelion greens, are a bit toothier than other lettuces, so will stand up to a warm element without wilting.  For example, toss dandelion greens with warm lentils or a warm bacon vinaigrette. Yum!

Grape harvest has arrived! This year, we harvested almost three kilos of grapes from our three grapevines, not a ton, but plenty for the two of us. Enough that we have explored new culinary combinations with grapes: grapes as an apéro snack, grapes with roasted pork, grapes with charcuterie, grapes in smoothies…  Seasonal eating means that when something is ready to eat, you eat it till its gone!

Three years ago, when we tore out the invasive Virginia Creeper on a west facing stone wall in our yard, we discovered supports for grape trellises dating from the 70’s.  It only made sense to plant some grape vines. We selected an Italian table grape varietal that were recommended to us by the local nursery as one that grows well in our area.  I dont remember the name of the varietal, but our grapes have a distinctly muscat taste?

It’s been a funny year for the garden. Very wet in the spring through May, then very hot in June, and now milder in July and even rain as I write this – a nice change!  Our garlic and onions, planted in December of last year, have weathered it all pretty well and were ready for harvest in early July.  Here are the drying for a few days in the sun before going into the garage, where it is cool and dark, to rest until completely dry and ready to be stored for the fall and winter.

It should be noted that, having lived all my life in the city, I know next to nothing about gardening, so I am sure that you who are experts will wonder what I am on about.  Each season and each new year presents new opportunities to learn a little bit more, mainly through having things go wrong and trying to fix them.  Plus I spend a lot of time looking  for gardening advice on the site of the Royal Horticultural Society. 

Couple days ago, we pulled the onions we planted last winter, a yield of about 2 gallons of small onions, not bad for a plot of about a meter and a half on a side.  They are firm, crunchy and delicious…should last us for a couple months.  I think that they would have gotten bigger if we had watered more consistently, but one has to have a life outside of the garden.

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!

Strawberries are THE quintessential fruit of springtime.   We enjoyed these with just a drizzle of heavy cream. Yum!

I planted 6 strawberry plants spring 2023, but they didn’t really get much traction during their first year; the few strawberries that they produced got eaten by birds or slugs. This year, with the help of  anti-bird netting and a slug trap filled with beer, they have come into their own. We have enjoyed  a number of meals so far, and more on the way.  Being new to the gardening game, I still get a big kick out of any little success that comes along.

I’m so excited!  The garlic I planted in January is up and 4-5″ high! Yesterday, I planted onions and dandelions around the edge as a sort of natural barrier to pests;  dandelions attract pest predators like ladybugs, and also repel certain insects that feed on the garden.  At least that is the theory. I have a lot to learn about gardening!