MedocGreenie

Further to previous tomato news I would like to report that, as with last year, my Brandywine Tomatoes are doing very well, enjoying the mix of powerful sun and maritime showers in the Medoc. Tigarella less so, and this is the last year I'll allocate space to them. Ditto Shirley and Alicante. Marmande, the local variety, always does well and along with the Brandywine varietal they're a metre high and vigorous. Tumbling Tom also doing well, they seem to thrive on being ignored. anyone else doing well on the Tomato front ?

I would agree that terracotta is best for a Lemon. Plastic is really unnatural for any plant, the only exception I can think of is perhaps if you live in the alps or pyrenees where frost will murder terracotta. Lemons lived for x millions of years before plastic! A really good feed for citrus is stinging nettles crushed and soaked in water for a month. Good luck. I have a tangerine from Thailand, you know those oranges with a green skin, and its living the life of Riley here in the Medoc in Terracotta. M-G

I've had that problem too. I now grow it in the Serre in plastic pots with copper sticky tape around the circumference. Outdoor on its own it seems to be the herb of choice for all manner of creatures including deer.

Has anyone erected a fruit cage in France ? I understand that if concrete isn't used, and it doesnt exceed 4 meters in height, there are no restrictions. I am thinking of turning a quarter-acre portion of my land over to a large 3-meter high steel-framed fruit cage, as I am incurring losses to Sanglier and Deer as well as voracious birds. any advice / anecdotes would be welcome MedocGreenie

My experience with out-of-date seeds is that one shouldn't spend too much time and money on them. I just agglomerate them all in a little seed compost in a tray and water.. and see what happens.  sometimes a few germinate and can be grown on , but generally it doesn't warrant expensive compost and individual pots, (and precious space !!) good luck

Dear 5-element I'm near Lake Hourtin, so have a huge lake, a huge ocean and a huge estuary all within 20miles. The soil is sandy loam and thus great for carrots and parnsips and beetroot but being so windy so much of the time vines will only grow with clever winbreak plantings all around. Also have to box a bit clever on tomatoes in that way, I plant them amongst sweetcorn and french beans so gain shelter and nitro-fixing. Bush varieties are a bonus for me in this windy microclimate. Marmande as I mentioned earlier is "the norm" here and yokels nearby seem to plant nothing else which is disappointing. next year when I have my long-dreamt-for huge new serre erected I shall go totally nuts and grow Ukrainian Black tomatoes, and a whole host of american heirloom oldies as well as sauce/paste tomatoes for passata and winter storage. Some of the links posted on this thread have opened me up to groups and organisations I never knew existed so I am eternally grateful. Good luck with your growing this year, I guess its warming up there nicely right now. Love some of the wines coming out of your neck of the woods, much more exciting than the stuck-in-the muds here ! Cheers!

Dear Hakunamatata, Perhaps Its a bit late for seed raising . I recommend you stay with plug plants this year and buy bell cloches or some type of propagator for next year. Harrodhorticultural do good ones. My french asst. assures me that now is the time to transplant the first bush tomato seedlings , at 6 inches high in the serre plastique, and pot them in a raised patio pot with a glass bell cloche over them overnight. I'm wary about doing this given I have only 6 bush tomato plants raised this year but he's a wise old bird... However, if the weather at long last is turning for the better I'll get some really early fruits. When is everyone else going to risk going "outdoor" , those of you who live sufficiently far south? I've decided to keep my brandywine plants in the serre for some time yet, likewise the Marmande and the Roma, the latter which seem to dislike being hardened off in any way shape or form and would do just fine in the sahara ! Next year I'm going to change my tomato varieties thanks to the links provided by kind members on this thread.

Dear 5-element Yikes ! thanks for that, the  troc-au-jardin seems pretty cool.  the picture of the overflowing composter is disturbingly like mine...

For late planting I would recommend Leeks, Kale and Japanese Senshyu Yellow onions amongst other things.

Thanks Patf and Tony. I've set some Alan Titchmarsh organic Moneymaker seeds away in the serre, and risked a couple of 6 inch plants in the fleecy cloche, a variety called Brandywine (if only that were literally possible from seed....) , which a friend sent to me from canada. I agree with you, frost is still a risk, even here 4 miles from the atlantic. Still , I have to find a way to achieve successional maturity and not to have a gazillion giant marmande toms all screaming to be eaten in the first week of august. Do any of you know of seed swapping communities locally in the aquitaine or dordogne ? MedocGreenie

Dear Colin many thanks for the help. The semences-bio-languedoc is a great site, they seem like good folk. Regards,  MedocGreenie  

I have tried to grow my favourite English varieties of tomato, in my place in the Medoc bleu, with mixed results. I have also grown, successfully, the much loved Marmande variety. Does anyone know of  other varieties of Tomato indigenous to the south of France, that I could source, and from where I could get them. I do like Marmande, but want a mix of varieties and a mix of maturity times too . Space is no object, I have a hectare, and a small serre plastique. Thanks in anticipation

Dear Alleycat, Well done for growing organically. Locally here in the Medoc some smallholders simply sell their fruit and veg as "raised without synthetic chemicals" or "Biologique".  As a member of the UK Soil Assoc I have had some experience of the issues/bureaucracy involved. I would guess that if the volumes are small it would be prohibitively expensive to go for the AB certification. Good luck to you anyway ! Try selling to good local restaurants locally, any decent chef can tell organic veg from synthetically raised stuff.

Just wanted to say thanks for this, has saved me a long journey and lots of petrol to see a very user-unfriendly mayor