Vegetable gardening

[runningdog]

We are ex[ecfting to finalise our move to the Vendee [near Challans] and be in residence by end September / early October.  I am a keen vegetable grower in the UK and plan on continuing when in France.  I am wondering whether there are many British growing their own vegetables and, if there are, would welcome any advice on the key differences between the UK and Vendee.  I am expecting the growing season to be a bit longer and a bit warmer, the soil looks very good - in my garden at least.  Any thoughts or advice welcomed!

[Patf]

We aren't in the Vendee but further south. I've grown vegetables here up to last year when we moved to a different house and I had an operation too. I hope to start again next year. In very general terms there isn't much difference between growing veg in England, especially the south, and in France. I often watch the english gardening programmes and notice they're planting at roughly the same time as we are. Others might not agree. The only differences I can think of is that some veg can be grown outside here where they can't in England eg peppers, aubergines. Also some fruit eg melons. Also with the greater extremes of weather weeds and insect pests are more virulent. If you were to move to the SE of France the answer might be different.

[foxyloxy25]

I have a veg garden in S/W France, I find that we are about two three weeks ahead of the English gardening season,  I tend to follow my neighbours who are farmers, if they plant so do I.  As mentioned, I grow my peppers, aubergines, melons outside, but this summer has been so awful I am sure that the peppers, chillies and aubergines would have preferred the green house, but that is another problem, all the fun of gardening.

  

[Patf]

foxy - I watch what the locals are planting too. Have you noticed too how extremely neat and regimented the french potagers are? All straight lines and equal distances between plants. It does put me off a bit - as soon as a weed dares to rear its head, out with the rotovator and back to perfection again. You do see a few people hand weeding. Another difference is the tomatoes - this is the favourite outdoor crop here and they're beautiful.

[Hoddy]

We grow our own vegetables too and have found it relatively easy to adpat to the different conditions. What we have found quite difficult though is the different pests and diseases. We'd never had to deal with Coloado beetles or mice before. Some people on this forum have reported problems with deer and boar - it all depends where you live.

I hope it goes well for you.

Hoddy

[Loiseau]

We have always found Vendee soil to be very fertile.  Even the sticks we stuck in to mark things had a habit of taking root!

My older neighbours swear by planting with the phases of the moon: sowing root vegetables during the waning period and leaf vegetables during the waxing period.

My asparagus bed is offering luscious shoots to eat in mid-April; I think it is more like May in the UK.

Good luck with the growing!

Angela

[sueyh]

One fact told to us by a great many of the french in our village was to plant north to south.  Whether this is right or not I do not know.  Answers on a postcard please.

Suey

 

[loz]

I agree with previous comments, watch everyone else the farmers for sure. I even watched which potato varieties the old timer's were buying down at the garden centre. As there is a huge selection.

Good luck

Loz