Planting melons and cucumbers / Planter les melons et les concombres

We try to grow as much from seed as possible and this year we've grown almost all of our 64 tomato plants from seed, some from our own saved seed. But we do buy some plants. This year we shall have to buy pepper plants. We sowed several different varieties in March and they germinated well, but the plants haven't grown well. All the other gardeners we talk to in Gabian say their plants are the same. It's been a cold spring.

Ce printemps il a fait froid ici et les poivrons ne poussent pas bien, ni dans notre jardin ni dans les jardins des autres à Gabian. Nous en devrons acheter.

This year, as usual, we've also bought Charentais melon and cucumber plants from a local producer, in the market in Gabian. The plants come from Fouzilhon, about 3 kilometres from here, so I don't mind buying these. The same stall also sells other produce from the same farm: strawberries, chick peas, wine, and melons later in the summer.

Cette année, comme d'habitude, on a acheté aussi des plantes de melon Charantais et de concombre d'un producteur de Fouzilhon (3 kilometres d'ici) qui vient au marché à Gabian. Il vend aussi les fraises, les pois chiches, le vin, et plutard les melons.

Melons and cucumbers need a lot of water so we have put some effort into preparing the ground for them. In January we dug in some goat manure. Now Lo Jardinièr has made a wide bed for the melons, surrounded by a bank of earth so that it can be flooded.

Les melons et les concombres ont besoin de beaucoup d'eau, donc nous avons fait du travail en préparant la terre. En janvier on a mis du fumier de chèvre. Aujourd'hui Lo Jardinièr a fait une parterre large entourée d'un mur de terre afin qu'on puisse l'inonder.

The plants are protect from snails by collars made of plastic water bottles. / Les plantes sont protégées des escargots par des colliers en plastique.

For the cucumbers we have made three channels where we will put drip-hoses for watering. Between the three channels there are two rows for the cucumbers, which will be supported by frames made from canes and wires. We'll have eight plants - four we've bought and four we've grown from seed. The latter are not quite ready to go out yet.

Pour les concombres on a fait trois gouttières où on va mettre des tuyaus pour arroser. Entre les gouttières il y a deux rangs où des cannes et des fils soutiendront les plantes. Il y aura 8 plantes.

Let's just hope the snails don't eat them! / On éspère que les escargots ne les mangeront pas!

Aren't irises amazing? / Les iris sont extraordinaires!

Yesterday - a bud with the texture of silk. / Hier - un bourgeon à la texture de soie .....

Today - this huge flower / Aujourd'hui - cette fleur énorme. Iris Night Laughter

Roses and an artichoke / Les roses et un artichaut

Our Rose Banksieae has really become well established after four years and it has covered our sun shelter with beautiful, delicate yellow flowers.  / La Rose Banksieae s'est bien enracinée après quatre ans et elle a couvert l'abri des belles fleurs delicates et jaune.

We've picked the first mangetout peas / on a ramassé les premiers petit pois mangetout.

The irises are out and you can see why they're called 'flags' when they're blown about by the wind like this.  /  Les iris fleurissent et on peut voir pourquoi on les appele 'drapeaux' en anglais quand ils volent au vent comme ça.

The first artichoke / le premier artichaut

We cut the first artichoke of the year and ate it thinly sliced and fried in olive oil - it was wonderful!  /  On a coupé le premier artichaut et on l'a mangé coupé en tranches fines et puis sauté à l'huile d'olive - il est superbe!

It's really difficult to leave the garden at this time of the year, but I'll be away for the next few days.  There should be some more artichokes to come back to, though, the three little ones growing around the one we ate today and more on the other plants.

Irises

These irises were hard to photograph in the wind today. These are in our garden, but growing wild when we found them in the undergrowth and they're coming out all along the roadsides and by the side of the vineyards now too. The purple ones seem to come first, following by the white-flowered ones. They must have been planted at the edges of the vineyards, but they seem to naturalise and spread and enjoy the dry climate.