May Calendar 2015

tomatoes

looking south in early may

It’s been a very dry May here and we have had to water the plants on many occasions due to the heat. The picture above shows the Belle de Fontenay early potatoes at the start of the month, the difference today can be seen in the picture below.

belle de fontenay potatoes

All the main crops are out now with only the borlotti beans hardening off to be planted up next week, though we have the bed and canes all ready for them.

looking north over the pea and bean beds

Many flowers are now in bloom and the currant bushes are laden with fruit. A lovely site every year are the egyptian walking onions as their strange bulbils develop at the tips of the plant.

aquilegia

hesperis

red currants

broad bean flowers

geranium

jerusalem artichokes

egyptian walking onion with”bulbils”

egyptian walking onions

geranium

campanula

The main problem of the month has been Voles! In particular the “Campagnol Terrestre” (Arvicola terrestris). They looks cute, but inflict terrible damage in the garden. They have taken over an old mole run (caught by our cat…) in the garden and have been burrowing into the raised beds and eating our leeks, broad beans, lettuce and jerusalem artichokes from below. Our cat has been helping as she has been killing about three or four a week and I had tried some non lethal methods to discourage the voles. All to no avail, I don’t like killing things but living off a small pension we do depend on being able to grow most of our own vegetables. So a lethal “piege” has been purchased and placed into one of the underground runs. We have killed one so far on its way to the leek bed and so far the leeks are now undamaged. We will move it around the chambers to protect the other beds as required.