Fifty shades of green

May is one of my favourite months here and this year we are having marvellous weather. The countryside looks amazing and the many shades of green make a fantastic backdrop to our every day life. Everyone is busy outdoors and we have been having fun moving things on all around the garden.

One of our ongoing projects is the liberation of the lavoir. There is a natural spring on our land and long ago villagers came to this source to was their clothes. The lavoir has become silted up and invaded by bamboo over the many years that the house was uninhabited and we have started the long task if clearing it out. Our gardener has cut it all down  (he likes this kind of brute strength job) so we are sorting it out into what to keep and what to get rid of. Next step will be our digger man in to dig out all the stumps and dredge the pool. Then hopefully if Kevin keeps mowing with his big new tractor it we will keep it contained.

The final stage of the building has been completed - the pointing of two of the barn walls. It looks amazing and just gives that finishing touch to the buildings. It also makes a fabulous back drop for the new veg plot.

 

The greenhouse is up and planted up and the raised beds are made. We still have a few of them to fill but are pleased with how it's going especially as we had to wait to get going. Following permaculture principles the beds are designed not to be walked on so everything in them is accessible from all sides and the paths are wide enough for a wheelbarrow (or a kneeler as friend pointed out the other day!)

  

 

Kevin is making a frame for the squash to go in and building a fence around the whole potager. We are trying fennel for the first time this year and also it's our first time trying the principles of square metre gardening.

 

We've been working on other parts of the garden too - a bamboo trellis and border near the pool, flower borders around the house and tidying around the lily pond.

 

The Massey Ferguson 35 seems to have come to the end of its days so we replaced it with a MF165. We really want a mini tractor though so will be selling this  big boy soon - meanwhile Kevin is having fun with it.

A little break from all that gardening today and we tootled off to a local strawberry and flower fair. I bought the last of the flowers I need for planting in pots. We had a beer in the sun and met two of our French friends for a catch up.

Driving home we both commented again on how beautiful this region is and how there were many more than 50 shades of grey to please the eye. Now for a swim.

A bientôt.