First corn! Pictured this way it reminds me of The Good Witch's wand from The Wizard of Oz. That sure explains the magic going on around here, in the veggie patch! (Forgive me for the over-saturated photo. All that Instagraming is driving out the purist in me! More photos from our corner of France right here at Instagram.)
Today's word is in English – for our French readers' enjoyment:
Late Bloomer
: a late-blooming plant (une plante tardive)
: someone who took his or her time to learn something or to bloom
(quelqu'un qui a pris son temps pour découvrir sa passion)
Audio File: Listen to the sentence in French, below: Download MP3 or Wave file
(Today's example sentence is in honor of one of our readers, Herm, who also has a blog Herm's Rhyme Thyme)
He is what we call in English "a late bloomer." He began to publish his poetry after the age of 85.
Il est ce qu'on appelle en anglais "une plante tardive." Il a commencé à publier sa poesie après l'âge de quatre-vignt-cinq ans.
A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse
Sometime in May, I began to notice how everyone else's tomato plants were growing and mine were not. I started pacing up and down the pathways in our garden in search of spontaneous seedlings. (New to permaculture I hoped for natural, automatic crops–raised from the ashes of last year's abundance!)
In June my husband brought home store-bought tomato plants, au cas où. Around that time, I began noticing how everyone south of Paris was racking in loads of strawberries. But my own fraisiers were no more than masses of green leaves, no berries in sight.
By the time the neighborhood fruit stand ran out of strawberries, my plants began to show blossoms. Then came the tiny fruit. There was never enough to fill a whole basket, but it was easy to enjoy a few strawberries each morning while out pulling weeds in the would-be veggie patch.
Finally, the tomato seedlings shot up! There were no tomatoes yet but that didn't matter–by then my neighbor, Annie, was delivering sackfuls from her potager!
"Compte sur moi le mois prochain," I promised Annie, pointing to those aromatic seedlings (the tomato scent was unmistakable!) which would ripen just like the strawberries–plus tard. I would then reciprocate, sharing a bounty of my own!
Now, each morning passes and I'm out in the garden, popping giant strawberries (green tops included!) into my mouth as I go about my chores. I don't have baskets and baskets to show for it, but if you added up the incremental "harvest" or the number of times I've opened my mouth and thrown back a strawberry you could equate that to an entire farmers market stand marked "FRAISES A VENDRE!" (And if you added the times my golden assistant, Smokey, sneaked a berry, you might count a truckload!)
Caught in the act!
Oftentimes while digging in the garden I wonder why I didn't learn to jardiner years ago. Meantime, I'm enjoying watching my tomatoes fatten up (they still have not turned red) and can you believe those kernels of corn grew up? (Oh, I have not told you about them!) As for the maïs, I have no way of knowing whether I'm behind again this time–as no one grows corn in Provence. Either way, I've learned a thing or two about my garden and myself, namely that we're both late-bloomers.
Roma tomatoes. The yellow flower in the background is wild St John's Wort, a good insectary and a good herbal treatment for Jean-Marc's biodynamic permaculture* vineyard. (*he'll be adding fava beans between vine rows soon!)
FRENCH VOCABULARY
au cas où = just in case
un fraisier= strawberry plant
le potager = kitchen garden, veggie patch
Compte sur moi = count on me
le mois prochain = next month
plus tard = later on
jardiner = to garden
le maïs = corn, maize
A precious few, or enough to share.
Now find a toothpick and recycle some stationary….
And don't worry about your French too much, just let someone know you're thinking of them:
Annie,
It's just a little "kiss" to tell you I'm thinking of you. It's hot and I don't go out much. But (thank goodness) it's summertime.
Kristi
Pictured in the canning jar: tarragon to fill in all the empty space, mint blossoms to add charm, fennel flowers for a burst of yellow! and a precious handful of fraises for neighbor Annie's dessert.
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Believe it or not, here in Novato, CA, we never know for sure when our tomatoes will ripen! This year, the time is right now. Other years they start the 4th of July or late August into September. It is usually a mystery, but a fun one.
Time to roast them and put in the freezer to make sauce and soup in the dark days of winter. And to use right now for fresh tomato salads and pasta!
Thanks for sharing your garden treats!
Bon Appetite!
Believe it or not, here in Novato, CA, we never know for sure when our tomatoes will ripen! This year, the time is right now. Other years they start the 4th of July or late August into September. It is usually a mystery, but a fun one.
Time to roast them and put in the freezer to make sauce and soup in the dark days of winter. And to use right now for fresh tomato salads and pasta!
Thanks for sharing your garden treats!
Bon Appetite!
Your strawberry arrangement is precious, Kristin! I think my garden also is a late-blooming garden. Everyone I’ve spoken with who is maintaining a backyard garden in our area has been enjoying tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini for a while now. We have just started tasting our first cherry tomatoes and I’m happy to say I finally spotted a small zucchini peeking out from underneath the green leaves and yellow flowers. Better late than never. 😉
Your strawberry arrangement is precious, Kristin! I think my garden also is a late-blooming garden. Everyone I’ve spoken with who is maintaining a backyard garden in our area has been enjoying tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini for a while now. We have just started tasting our first cherry tomatoes and I’m happy to say I finally spotted a small zucchini peeking out from underneath the green leaves and yellow flowers. Better late than never. 😉
Hi Kristi,
Not to worry about the late corn crop. I live in south west British Columbia Canada and our local corn is just starting and we have had a hot and dry month to help it along. I wonder where you got the sweet corn seeds? I know that French gardeners often regard corn as food for animals, not people. I have seen corn in the the Saturday market in Annecy, but it’s packaged in plastic and looks like it was picked 6 weeks ago! Happy gardening!
Hi Kristi,
Not to worry about the late corn crop. I live in south west British Columbia Canada and our local corn is just starting and we have had a hot and dry month to help it along. I wonder where you got the sweet corn seeds? I know that French gardeners often regard corn as food for animals, not people. I have seen corn in the the Saturday market in Annecy, but it’s packaged in plastic and looks like it was picked 6 weeks ago! Happy gardening!
Another sweet post! J’aime la petite cadeau pour votre voisine, Annie!
I have just this past week been able to start harvesting my black pear tomatoes. They are so good! My cherry tomatoes are not ripe yet. Hopefully soon! I got a late start to planting this year so I am a bit behind. And, I had a small, bit by bit harvest of strawberries myself! Just a handful at a time. Sadly, they are all finished for now.
Another sweet post! J’aime la petite cadeau pour votre voisine, Annie!
I have just this past week been able to start harvesting my black pear tomatoes. They are so good! My cherry tomatoes are not ripe yet. Hopefully soon! I got a late start to planting this year so I am a bit behind. And, I had a small, bit by bit harvest of strawberries myself! Just a handful at a time. Sadly, they are all finished for now.
Hi Honey,
Just checked out all of your wonderful photos, I hope everyone will start sending you interesting seeds. You should get a post-office box in your village for your personal mail.
XOXO
MOM
Hi Honey,
Just checked out all of your wonderful photos, I hope everyone will start sending you interesting seeds. You should get a post-office box in your village for your personal mail.
XOXO
MOM
Wondering if the Ministère de l’Agriculture would approve of people planting things mailed from foreign countries.
Wondering if the Ministère de l’Agriculture would approve of people planting things mailed from foreign countries.
Corn should do well in southern France, as long as you have soil with good organic content and can keep it watered sufficiently. The modern hybrids of sweet corn are something that are not to be missed!
Corn should do well in southern France, as long as you have soil with good organic content and can keep it watered sufficiently. The modern hybrids of sweet corn are something that are not to be missed!
Thank you, Kristi, for you inspire such acts of kindness.
Such a sweet note and caring gift for your dear neighbor Annie, a sweet note of a story for us too! I am growing corn for the first time and was excited to see the tassels and silk appear last week. A late-bloomer too, both to gardening (my second year) and planting (only the eggplants are on schedule). The deer have helped themselves to all my hollyhocks, sunflowers and my tomato plants; though I ate a few ripe cherry tomatoes fresh off the vine. I am thankful my dear neighbor shares her abundant crop of tomatoes with me. I best pull the tomato tarte recipe out of the drawer, thanks to Chris for the reminder.
Enjoy the gifts of the season!
Thank you, Kristi, for you inspire such acts of kindness.
Such a sweet note and caring gift for your dear neighbor Annie, a sweet note of a story for us too! I am growing corn for the first time and was excited to see the tassels and silk appear last week. A late-bloomer too, both to gardening (my second year) and planting (only the eggplants are on schedule). The deer have helped themselves to all my hollyhocks, sunflowers and my tomato plants; though I ate a few ripe cherry tomatoes fresh off the vine. I am thankful my dear neighbor shares her abundant crop of tomatoes with me. I best pull the tomato tarte recipe out of the drawer, thanks to Chris for the reminder.
Enjoy the gifts of the season!
Your thoughtful gift for Annie was priceless … for us too! Merci!
Your thoughtful gift for Annie was priceless … for us too! Merci!