I was suddenly inspired this morning to prune my old arbousier, or strawberry tree, into a 'niwaki' cloud tree. geneviève, a friend of mine who has a pretty mediterranean-style garden, had pruned one of her olive trees this way and it looks amazing! i had already cut down part of the tree before installing my herbs because it had become too big fo

2017 is peas and potatoes! i have been away for a while with so many things keeping me busy but i haven't forgotten my potager! each year is different, and this year my cucumbers didn't work. i planted them and it was either too cold or too hot, but they disappeared! oh well, i'll try again! other things have been wildly successful. i sowed an enti

Eeek!!! like most people, i used to hate spiders! that was until i discovered what efficient aphid control agents they are. this year a few spiders have elected to work hard among my tomato plants keeping them pest-free. so now i just leave them alone and let them do their job cleaning up my tomato plants as they are really quite unobtrusive. in fr

March means my flowering cherry try and magnolia solangeana welcome spring with flamboyant blossoms of pink chiffon and absolutely delight me year after year! i cannot figure out why everyone doesn't have them in their gardens! this year i have planted two prune trees and the mirabelle is also showing off some pretty white blossoms. i love prunes,

And strawberries, and peas and potatoes... i have planted a full row of snow peas demi-nain normand and two rows of little potatoes i had saved from last year and everything is growing splendidly! i am renewing my strawberry plants so i won't be picking as many as last year. :( that's what makes this garden project so intresting. each year is diffe

August is tomato heaven in the garden. this year's newcomers are rose de bearne, black cherry tomatoes, and st. pierre tomatoes. they are much smaller than last year so i'm not sure what that man sold me at the plant market (maybe marmande)! they are still quite meaty and have the same flattish shape though. got a lot of potatoes and sweet peppers,

La préparation de mon potager commence à l'intérieur, et plus précisément dans une salle de bain libérer juste à temps par une amie venue rester un mois chez moi. c'est mi-mars et c'est le moment de préparer mes semis de tomates et autres légumes de soleil à l'intérieur, bien au chaud. :) cette année j'essaye deux nouvelles variétés d

September coming to an end and cooler nights means time to pick green tomatoes and this year i have plenty!! growing up in southern usa i had always heard about fried green tomatoes but i had never eaten a green tomato. ever. as i have mostly green cherry tomatoes and after searching the internet i have opted for two recipes: green tomato jam and g

C'est officiel, c'est le printemps et je suis heureuse d'avoir nettoyé mon potager. tout est prêt pour les plantations, sauf le carré de fraises qui recevra la courge ! le cerisier à fleur a subi une taille sévère cet hiver pour le rajeunir, et j'ai gardé toutes les branches qui serviront de tuteurs pour mes pois. :) bien que les après-midi

Eek!! i have found some very strange mushrooms growing in my garden. after some research, they are clathus ruber. strangest thing i've ever seen! clathus ruber at different stages of maturity. april also means spring is here in all of it's glorious color and i could spend hours observing my garden coming to life!