@biofreak I was born in the early 50s and have similar memories to you. Coming off the Allotments with hands blue with cold, and my mum wrapping them in a warm towel (warmed in front of open fire) after me washing them clean. Yes ice on the inside of bedroom windows was quite usual. As you probably know some crops need a proper period of cold in order to fruit properly. Apples strawberries & garlic (if you can call that fruit) are just a few that spring to mind.
Do you remember Mittens?? I hated Mittens as fingertips always frozen!! Never saw the logic of them! We had a smallholding so always something being planted or dug up or picked like frozen sprouts and frosty walking stick high Kale for the goats.
I too remember Jack Frost making patterns on the inside of windows in winter and rushing into my parents' bedroom to get dressed in front of the heater where our clothes were warming. We moved to a new build in 1966 with central heating. What a revelation! Huge 60's windows tho and poor insulation but I expect it's been sorted by now and double-glazed or it would be impossible with current energy prices.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
The first place we rented in France was part of a disused water mill...took lease out in Summer..wonderful..Had snow the first Winter and straight back to childhood..ice on inside of windows..damp damp damp as alongside stream. Only had storage heaters but open fire which was a joy. However..we moved!! Some farmhouses here still have earth floors, but huge fireplaces you could roast an ox on. Major bonus though even new houses have large gardens even in some town centres where they are long and narrow.
Funnily enough I was just saying to OH as we drove thru Moutiers on our way home from a shopping day, which included new wellies and 3 winter flowering heathers, that all the new builds in town have teeny gardens and 8 new houses have been crammed onto a former field about the size of our paddock.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Hi Obelixx. Maybe it depends on the region...big movement in Normandy to encourage biodiversity and good plots a priority plus solar panels and alternative eco friendly heating in new builds obligatory. Going back to the 50's my best friend's father was headmaster of a school for backward children in our village. It was a Georgian house with stables and beautiful landscaped gardens and a walled potager with 3 glasshouses which were heated by fresh horse manure wrapped round water tanks on the outside that fed through to pipes inside. There were 5 gardeners with Mr Wren being our favourite as he would let us take carrots from the potager for the ponies and taught us alot about gardening and the changing of the seasons. The glasshouses smelt of Lilies and the grapevines were enormous and dripping with fruit. The lawn tennis court had a superb mulberry tree which cropped rich purple fruit every year, and we would like underneath it between matches and pig out on the fruit. Mr Wren had a staff cottage on the other side of this and Mrs Wren would bring out fresh lemonade to quench our thirsts on hot sunny days. There was supposed to be a ghost in the gardens but we never saw her. We were however terrified of going down the stairs into the kitchens as whilst the corridors were nice and warm, one part was always freezing and breezy. The ghost of a maid was supposed to haunt that section and we were truly convinced! But it was the gardens I shall never forget with statues and fountains and a lovely lake with enormous pink waterlilies. I went back there a couple of years ago and whilst the house and stables had been converted into apartments the gardens stayed the same. Nice to know that very occasionally some things don't change.🙂🙂🍒🍅🏡 Do you have memories of any special gardens?
New Lunar Planning Book 2022 arrived yesterday with lots of new info. Sent today outside as milder, cleared raised bed of old sweetcorn stalks refreshed with compost and extra sand for drainage then popped in some Grisor Shallots and Rose onion sets from Brittany. Ran out of space so will find a corner tomorrow for the rest. O/H tells me I can take some more lawn to link some flowerbeds. Hurray!! Planning to put Agapanthus currently in pots there..delighted. How have you got on this weekend?
Hello , would have liked to go to allotment this weekend but needed to do a few jobs around house on Saturday and needed to do paper work at home Sunday O/H volunteers at local vaccination centre , was there Saturday morning , very quiet as around hear , had very very high take up of vaccinations , in-fact next Thursday will be the last one A mild winter so far , still time for some really bad weather Happy gardening
@biofreak , I have been watching a BBC program called Winter Watch , they also do a spring watch and summer watch , a wild life program , wondered if you had heard of them , if so do have an equivalent one in France ?
We have Sky (living room) and Freeview (kitchen) so watch UK TV. Would have to push a few buttons to switch to Orange.fr which gives us a whole range of French TV with our internet modem. I only ever see French TV if I'm staying in a hotel.
No gardening again as it's still perishing here. Garden club committee meeting is as near as I got - received a rose grown from a cutting and some seeds for Black forest squash and a yellow/green courgette. Swaps for Lemon Drop chilli seeds.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Posts
As you probably know some crops need a proper period of cold in order to fruit properly. Apples strawberries & garlic (if you can call that fruit) are just a few that spring to mind.
Going back to the 50's my best friend's father was headmaster of a school for backward children in our village. It was a Georgian house with stables and beautiful landscaped gardens and a walled potager with 3 glasshouses which were heated by fresh horse manure wrapped round water tanks on the outside that fed through to pipes inside. There were 5 gardeners with Mr Wren being our favourite as he would let us take carrots from the potager for the ponies and taught us alot about gardening and the changing of the seasons. The glasshouses smelt of Lilies and the grapevines were enormous and dripping with fruit. The lawn tennis court had a superb mulberry tree which cropped rich purple fruit every year, and we would like underneath it between matches and pig out on the fruit. Mr Wren had a staff cottage on the other side of this and Mrs Wren would bring out fresh lemonade to quench our thirsts on hot sunny days. There was supposed to be a ghost in the gardens but we never saw her. We were however terrified of going down the stairs into the kitchens as whilst the corridors were nice and warm, one part was always freezing and breezy. The ghost of a maid was supposed to haunt that section and we were truly convinced! But it was the gardens I shall never forget with statues and fountains and a lovely lake with enormous pink waterlilies. I went back there a couple of years ago and whilst the house and stables had been converted into apartments the gardens stayed the same. Nice to know that very occasionally some things don't change.🙂🙂🍒🍅🏡 Do you have memories of any special gardens?
O/H volunteers at local vaccination centre , was there Saturday morning , very quiet as around hear , had very very high take up of vaccinations , in-fact next Thursday will be the last one
A mild winter so far , still time for some really bad weather
Happy gardening
No gardening again as it's still perishing here. Garden club committee meeting is as near as I got - received a rose grown from a cutting and some seeds for Black forest squash and a yellow/green courgette. Swaps for Lemon Drop chilli seeds.