More about blueberry picking

The deal was pretty simple: we took containers for picking (buckets) and other flat containers to spread the berries out in after picking. At check-in, a member of the farm staff weighs your picking buckets. After you pick, she weighs them again and you pay for the difference, which is the weight of the berries. The price is €3.50/kilogram. After weigh-in, you have to drive out into the fields to pick.

My car parked outside the barn where the weighing and paying takes place. Did you notice that I erased my license plate number?

Some people show up with flats rather than buckets. Same deal, weigh-ins before and after. I took buckets and flats, thinking that I shouldn't let the berries stay in the buckets too long for fear they would crush each other. It turns out that the berries weren't that delicate and I just kept them in the buckets until I got home and they were fine.

The sign with the price list. Pick-your-own berries are €3.50/kilo. Already-picked berries are €9/kilo, 3 kilos or more are €8.50/kilo, and 5 kilo flats are €8/kilo.

The farm also grows irises, peonies, day lilies, and other assorted flowers commercially. My friend K. told me that earlier in the season, when the fields of irises are in bloom, the sight is amazing. I'll bet it is. In July the blooms are all done and the fields aren't as impressive. But the blueberries are ripe!

Wait just a blueberry-pickin' minute

On Friday I went with friend K. to a pick-your-own-blueberry farm not far from us just outside a town called Soings-en-Sologne. This was my first time, but K. is a seasoned pro. She chose a perfect day; the weather was sunny, warm, and dry, and she advised me in advance on what equipment I'd need. We arrived at the farm at around 10:00am and picked for about an hour and a half.

At the farm's entrance you're greeted by this sign. You can't miss it!

Blueberries are called myrtilles in French -- I think they're called bleuets in Québec. We each ended up with close to seven kilos of berries (about 14 lbs.). I didn't realize we had each picked so much. But they freeze well and we'll certainly use them in recipes over the summer. I saved some fresh berries out for eating in the next few days. In fact, today I added blueberries to some yogurt for my dessert. Delicious!

What big eyes you've got

I followed this little flying insect around for a few minutes as it hovered around these flowers. Once it landed I got in for a few shots. This isn't the best view of the bug, but the better one is slightly out of focus. This one will have to do.

You can barely see it, but the upper side of this insect's abdomen is dark and light striped. It looks like he has his proboscis wrapped around some pollen.

The Tour de France churns on. Yesterday the racers passed through Provence and places I've been to a few times. It was fun watching aerial coverage and seeing familiar sights. That's the best part of the Tour for us non-cycling types.

The aftermath

We made pizza for lunch last Saturday. I didn't take any photos of the pizza itself, but once I got the dishes done I thought they looked interesting in the drainer, so out came the camera. I made the dough with almost-whole-wheat flour (farine de blé semi-complète) and it was great.

Still life with dripping. Cutting board, pizza peel, dough mixing bowl, pizza knife, toppings bowls, and wine bottles. Party!

It's overcast again this morning, but the clouds should be clearing out during the course of the day. Predictions are for a week of sunny and warm (almost hot!) days ahead. L'été s'installe.

Funky feline fotos

Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur... Bert came up on the deck Tuesday afternoon and decided to cuddle up with my feet. Silly cat.

Bert likes to cuddle.

Ken is heading to Paris today for a few days. I'm staying home with the animules. And I've got grass cutting and other gardening chores to do.
 

Please don't stop!

Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr.

The grapes are in flower

The vines have started to take off and now the flowers are open. Soon we'll see little bunches of grapes out there. The growers have been spraying to keep mold from establishing itself on the leaves. Pretty soon they'll be out there cutting the vines back to channel growth and sunshine to the emerging grape bunches.

Grape flowers are not very big and not particularly pretty. But the grapes will be great!

It's been warm and dry for the past few days and I've had to water the vegetable garden. I'm still using water collected from the roof runoff (it's free!), but that's just about gone and soon I'll have to use the hose. That's not so free.

Like peas in a pod

These aren't garden peas, but the seed pods of a flowering shrub that grows wild around our region. I think it's genêt (broom) or something closely related. As they mature, these pods will turn dark, almost black.

Hairy seed pods.

We do have some garden peas in our vegetable garden. They're still small, but they are flowering and are actually producing pods. We don't have nearly enough for a harvest yet, and may not, as the plants are not growing very tall at this point.