It's the final straight before the Comice. Most days this week have been taken up doing "stuff", but unless that stuff is already out in the streets and fields, it is embargoed. The weather has meant less progress has been made on some aspects than we would have liked - the wind and rain made working on straw bales nearly impossible. It was possible to progress items that will be installed on the fields in due course, as we are working on them in a disused piggery, so we have shelter, power, space and quiet (unless we have a bluetooth speaker with us to blast out radio). And when I say we, it isn't just John and I, it is all sorts of other people, including my next door neighbour's granddaughter, getting involved.
Next week I will find links to blogs I have written on previous Comices (Comici?) to show what the fuss is all about.
When not working on decorations, I have been keeping an eye on the new trail camera. The boar are still around and a deer or two have passed by - they look rather odd from a higher angle!
On Thursday, I caught a different strange animal on the camera - one that I would not expect to see on our land before September. I wasn't delighted, but I think I remember seeing a couple around this time last year too.
We think that the cristophine might be contemplating flowers - today there was a slightly different growth on a couple of the main stems. It has grown another three feet or so in a number of directions so there is certainly enough oomph in it to think about flowering and fruiting I would suggest.
The sweetcorn got a real battering in the winds during the week - two named storms at this time of year and this side of the Atlantic is a bit odd. While we were not near the strongest gusts, the gaps in hedges and trees funnel the wind in weird ways. The big fields of maize are closely planted and dense, while our wee area of sweetcorn is only three rows deep, but it has all survived and the silks are out and starting to turn brown, which is good!
Digging up the week's potatoes, I met one of my garden helpers. From the size and shape of her, I think she has been doing very well on slugs, and certainly none of the potatoes have slug damage, so I think she is rather effective, if not the prettiest person on the plot.
Anyway, I must now go and deal with a rather pleasing problem. Back in the days before Brexit was even considered, my mother in law bought us a Victoria Plum tree, to take the place of the medlar tree that didn't seem to like our garden (shame as the flowers were gorgeous). It wasn't cheap and we had to source it in the UK, as they aren't a thing in France. Since then we have nurtured it and protected it and been rewarded with at best a dozen fruit in a season, and only if we can get to them before the chickens. This year is different. This year it is loaded and we have supports under many branches to help it cope. This afternoon I have promised myself I will make a batch of plum crumbles for the freezer, as well as one for tonight, so I'd better go and pick and stone some fruit and get baking.
Have a good week!
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