Gardening has been my summer raison d'etre from many years....you knew there had to be a French connection!....and I have thought about starting this writing through the past seasons. As every season passed into the the next, I thought this would be a good time to start.
Winter, the season of planning and ordering; spring, the time to plant seeds indoors and plan where to plant; late spring /early summer, the rush to get seedlings in the ground....June when the the days are long and new sprouts emerge from those directly planted in the earth warmed by the June sun--I could find a good reason to start at any of these times!
However, a potager, the French word for kitchen garden--a vegetable garden--really starts with the first picking of its bounty...and this started this week! And since we lived in France, it more about the food!
Those of you from New England will remember the non-summer we had in 2009 which included a wide spread tomato blight--well, it is the same blight that damages pototoes...so all of our lovely Rattes, French fingerlings, blue Peruvian were inedible! However, some of the tubers that managed to overwinter seemed vigorous and we left a few clumps. They are not the strongest plants, so it is better to dig them for new and baby potatoes....and we did!
Winter, the season of planning and ordering; spring, the time to plant seeds indoors and plan where to plant; late spring /early summer, the rush to get seedlings in the ground....June when the the days are long and new sprouts emerge from those directly planted in the earth warmed by the June sun--I could find a good reason to start at any of these times!
However, a potager, the French word for kitchen garden--a vegetable garden--really starts with the first picking of its bounty...and this started this week! And since we lived in France, it more about the food!
Those of you from New England will remember the non-summer we had in 2009 which included a wide spread tomato blight--well, it is the same blight that damages pototoes...so all of our lovely Rattes, French fingerlings, blue Peruvian were inedible! However, some of the tubers that managed to overwinter seemed vigorous and we left a few clumps. They are not the strongest plants, so it is better to dig them for new and baby potatoes....and we did!
And the first green beans--thanks to a warm and early spring!
I learned a new way to cook potatoes at a cooking class at Lenotre on the Champs Elysees.....I steam them--with some fresh thyme in the water used for the steam...they are never waterlogged and the fresh thyme perfumes them as they cook...sliced and mixed with steamed green beans, some more thyme and EVO and vinegar, fleur de sel and fresh ground pepper and you need nothing more!...and it great at room temperature or cold...
Our yard and garden often has visitors.....some welcome and some not!
