july

Craft workshop with Shirley McCann

[ Sat 20 April; 09:30 to 16:30. ] This month we’ll be learning how to create the wonderful traditional monogrammes that are found on old French linens.  Worked traditionally in white on white they could equally be done in colour.  We’ll be making something more accessible than the pieces shown here but once the basics of the technique are mastered you can work [...]

Scything

There is a problem that is familiar to most of us – you come over to Brittany and buy a house with a large garden and possibly a field attached, and you are then faced with the question of what to do about the grass.
Initially, you assume that one of the solutions on hand will [...]

Apple Props

Don’t forget that overladen apple branches commonly snap under the weight of the fruit. If there seems to be any danger of this happening, either remove some of the fruit, or prop up the branch with a suitable prop.
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Harvesting Potatoes

Traditionally, people leave the main crop of potatoes in the ground until the autumn, but in my garden, I find that the longer I leave them, the more that I lose to mice. I therefore dig them up once the tops die back, and providing they are reasonably dry, store them in bags in a [...]

Swedes

July is the time to plant swede, or rutabaga as it is known here. I have only had moderate success with it in the past, but it is a much-appreciated vegetable in the winter months, and I therefore intend to try again with it this year. It is a member of the cabbage family, and [...]