Friday 15 May 2009

Beans and more beans and rain / Les haricots et encore d'haricots et la pluie

It's lucky that we finished planting out our tomatoes, peppers and aubergines at the beginning of this week.  Since then we have had unusually cold wet weather and haven't been able to do much work in the garden.  We have been able to pick broad beans and peas, though.  More than we can possibly eat.  We've given them away, frozen them and eaten them every day.

Heureusement nous avons planté les tomates, les poivrons et les aubergines au commencement de cette semaine.  Depuis lundi il a fait froid et il a plu.  Nous n'avons pas pu jardiner.  Mais nous avons ramassé les fèves et les pois.  Plus qu'on peut manger.  Nous les avons donnés à nos amis, nous les avons congelés, et nous les avons mangés tous les jours.

broad bean crop_1_1

The broad beans have done really well this year.  Yesterday we picked nearly 4 kilos.  We've cooked them with artichokes (a favourite recipe of mine), we've cooked them and eaten them with olive oil and garlic, we've frozen some and we're making a salad of beans, potatoes (from the garden), sweet onions and parsley to take on a picnic in a vineyard with our Occitan group tomorrow.

Hier on a ramassé presque 4 kilos de fèves.  Ils ont poussé très bien cette année.  Nous les avons cuits avec les artichauts, nous les avons mangés à l'ail et à l'huile d'olive, et on fera une salade des fèves, des pommes de terre (du jardin), de l'oignon doux et du persil pour une picque-nicque dans les vignes avec le Cercle occitan demain.

rain_1_1

 

Yesterday it rained ... and rained.

Hier il a plu ... et il a plu.

 

 

 

Today it was good to go to the garden in the sun and find that the irises were still in flower, the vines are about to flower, the palm tree has a new leaf.

Aujourd'hui c'était bien aller au jardin au soleil pour trouver que les iris fleurissent toujours, les vignes sont sour la pointe de fleurir, le palmier a une nouvelle feuille.

purple irises_1_1 vine flowers_1_1 palm leaf_1_1

Some of our apricots have fallen in the wind and rain before they are ripe, but I've cooked them with sugar and put them in a pilaf.  They tasted wonderful, although not as good as fresh ripe apricots.

Quelques abricots sont tombés dans le vent et la pluie avant de mûrir.  Je les ai cuits au sucre et je les ai mis dans un pilaf.  Ils ont un gout très bon, mais ils ne sont pas si bon que les abricots mûrs et frais.

We picked wild vine leaves near the garden and I've made dolmas (stuffed vine leaves) for the picnic tomorrow.  The recipe is on the Mediterranean cuisine blog.  / J'ai fait les dolmas (les feuilles de vignes farcies) pour le picque-nicque demain.  La recette et sur le blog Mediterranean cuisine.

dolmas heading_1

And mussels again ... / et les moules encore

stuffed mussels_1_1

There was some rice left over when I'd made the dolmas so we used it to stuff mussels which we ate with tomato sauce.

Il y a resté du riz après que j'ai fait les dolmas.  Donc, j'ai fait des moules farcies qu'on a mangé à la sauce tomate.

thyme   butterflies_1_1 thyme   small butterfly_1 These butterflies - up to about 10 at a time - were attracted to the thyme flowers.

4 comments:

syrahsuzie said...

Sunshine here in the Aude today - at last!
The wind and rain these last few days has been amazing - even our strawberries are sulking.
Those Dolmas look delicious - hope it stays dry for your picnic.

HappyMouffetard said...

You've made my mouth water!

EB said...

What a very nice-looking and interesting blog. My parents live and garden in Quillan. I will look forward to reading more of your blog. I was delighted to see a little Occitan in there too!

Weeping Sore said...

I always struggle when commenting on your delicious posts. I'm torn between the delight in discovering your culinary creativity, and envy of your gardening and cooking skills. See, this post is exactly what I mean!