Novice French Gardener Needs Help

[Georgina]

Okay, I am really excited, I have just had my veggie patch turned over with a rotivator and rid of those horrible weeds that have been growing for about three years. This is the first time I have had the opportunity to grow some vegetables.

What can I plant and how soon that will be easy for me to start with.

Georgina

[opas]

will keep an eye on this thread with bated breath! hopefully this weekend I too aquire a potager...perhaps we can have a race for the first ground to table goodies!

Do not even know the size or position of mine yet, ooh er missus, but hope to get some winter goodies going, ie sweedand cabbage.

Mrs O

[Ron Avery]

[quote]Okay, I am really excited, I have just had my veggie patch turned over with a rotivator and rid of those horrible weeds that have been growing for about three years. This is the first time I have had ...[/quote]

Georgina

I hope as you went along with your rotovator that you picked up all the weed bits because if you did not pick up every single piece of bindweed and other weed's roots you will have just spread it all over the place and will be fighting to control them next year.  It is one one of the drawbacks of rotovators, the experts say that you should dig up perennial weds before using one..

Not sure where you are but if you are in the southern half of the country, given the very dry conditions, and forecast of little rain,  there is not a lot you can start that will survive the temperatures, much of the grass is dead here, but you could try some late peas, possibly get some carrots and swede in if you are allowed to water, have a look at what sseds are still for sake in h supermarkets, that will give yopu a clue.  If not forget planting until next year and get all your weed roots out.

[Fantine<br><br><br><br>Susie]

Try pushing some courgette seeds in about an inch into the prepared soil. I put mine in less than 3 weeks ago and there are fruits coming (I've had no rain for yonks BTW - it's extremely dry here but I have watered them with the can).

Salsify and carrots could also go in now too.

[Iceni]

John's back was bad and a friend rotovated a patch of ground for us to plant American sweetcorn for us and a friend (we have a large potager - this just extended it). No weeding was done. We have a good crop of corn - some weeds but not the amount of dandelions I imagined as the land was riddled with them.  The next bit we cleared has courgettes on it (some only planted as seed three weeks ago) and there is no sign of perennial weeds. The plot we treated this way last year is also perennial weed free but full of annual weeds - our farmer neighbours plough and plant on a new bit of land each year - they make no attempt to weed once the veggies get big enough to hold their own.

Our most weedy patch is the oldest and is a raised bed of bought in soil, just last night I was tackling the annual weeds. If all you can do is rotovate - do it. I heard such horror stories about our patch which is full of dandelions but the reality is that even though we both have back problems, we cope and the veggies are stonking.

[chirpy]

put in some lttuce seeds and you will have stacks in a few weeks.

french beans also will germinate

we live in haute vienne.

buy a book or viit garden centre and they may have some leaflets on what is ok now.

[Patf]

whatever you plant it's essential to water every evening while the dry weather lasts. I've been a bit neglectful and found some plants burning up. You can still but small lettuce plants here. Pat.

[Coco]

Radishes are REALLY easy as well.  If they don't work I wouldn't even bother trying anything else!!  Parsnips are good too, and essential in my opinion.  I think you might be a little bit too late for them now, ours went in back in April - but someone may be able to tell you different.

[Harvey]

I would suggest that, if you are not able to plant the ground that has been rotavatored straight away, put plastic sheeting down. Otherwise, the weeds will be back – with avengence.

 

I spent a week digging over an area, away from the house. A few weeks later I went to show a friend the freshly tilled soil....to my horror, the weeds were nearly waist high!

 

You may find this website of interest, www.frenchgardening.com . I found it through this forum and is now in my ‘Favourites!.

[niemeyjt]

There is a thought that potatoes help establish new veg patches as you have to churn the soil to plant and again to lift.

HOWEVER, from personal experience I would avoid root crops like potatoes for first year as soil is likely to have a higher level of wireworms and other root-eating pests that will feed on the tubers.

Also, be aware that rotovators can create a pan of compacted soil beneath the churned up soil

HTH

Julian

[Patf]

You're certainly right Harvey about how quickly the weeds return. My gardening magazine says to hoe regularly, but my english hoe doesn't touch the weeds. We have a french tool which I call a hacker - like a hoe but with a bigger blade at a 90 degree angle to the handle -  and that does the trick but you've got to put some force into it. Pat

[Ron Avery]

[quote]You're certainly right Harvey about how quickly the weeds return. My gardening magazine says to hoe regularly, but my english hoe doesn't touch the weeds. We have a french tool which I call a hacker -...[/quote]

I call mine  thumpers, great for getting bramble (ronces) roots out, god leverage on the handle, never seen one in the UK but the French seem to use them more than a spade.

Having done the rotovation two years ago without digging out the pretty pink bindweed, and the salad plant mentioned a short while ago before rotovating, when I dug up some potatoes yesterday I was amazed at the root systems of these ******s  sitting just under the soil.  THey are very clever as they double back creating knots which when you pull them break off leaving the rest of the root to thrive, and like the UK bindweed, if you leave a tiny piece in the soil, thrive it does.

 My French farmer neighbour ploughs his patch each year, saves him time and as he plants spuds very easy to plant, it all goes back in weeds and everything, and every other night he is out there with his mini rotovator weeding between the rows, even with this effort he has more weeds than potato plants.

 

[Harvey]

I have just come in for a sit down, having spent the past hour ‘weeding’ I no longer refer to work in the garden as ‘gardening’!  How I marvel at the potagers I see nearby – all the vegetables standing to attention, in dead straight lines with not a weed in sight. I was told the secrete is to work at it everyday - in rain, wind and shine……. well, maybe next year I will have mastered it, and people will be looking admiringly at MY potager

[LisaJ]

Probably the best thing to do is to go to the local market, see what seedlings the local growers have got and put them in - and then keep building up that compost....

As far as seeds are concerned think about autumn and winter brassica, winter salad crops (mache etc).

It does depend where you are as well...

regards

Lisa

[goose]

We're in the north east lot and have noticed that everybody grows leeks during the winter....

[Georgina]

Thanks for all your help, I will get started shortly. Yes, I have dug all the weeds out Ron, or rather my dad did. But I expect after I get back shortly, there will be a few to take out.  The weeds I did have before had shallow roots so hopefull not too big a job.  Lettuce sounds like a good idea, I will try that and raddish.

Happy gardening.

Georgina