Unsettled

The weather, that is. We're in that part of the season where the weather just can't decide what it wants to be, so it's everything. Periods of fog, overcast, sun, rain, and wind, all mixed up. But the trees are making leaves. The big maples in front of our house are covered in fat buds. The birches already have little leaves. Radishes are up in the garden, and the snow peas are sprouting.

Looking up through some trees. No leaves on these, yet.

The little garden greenhouse/tent did well in the light wind we had all day yesterday. I did find some loops on the back that I used to tie it to the fence. I also added some cement tiles over the ground-level tubes to help hold it down. I may do a little more reinforcing today based on some of the comments I got on yesterday's post.

Framed

I spent about an hour on Tuesday morning putting together the frame for the garden greenhouse. It's more sturdy than I expected. Today, I'll remove the roof section so I can pass it all down over the deck railing to Ken. Then we'll take it out to the place where we hope it will stand.

I put the frame together on the deck. Now it has to go over the side.

If all works according to plan, the back of the greenhouse will be up against our fence, and either side will be buffered by hazelnut hedges (there's a gap in the hedge just about the width of the greenhouse). I'm hoping that I'll be able to figure out a way to secure it to the fence. That means putting holes in the tent thing that goes over the frame; I'm thinking "grommet tool," but there are some details to work out first. Stay tuned.

The north side

Moss, it is said, grows on the north side of the tree. The shade favors its growth, while sunlight stunts it. The problem is, however, that in the woods, the bases of most trees are shaded most of the day. Moss can grow anywhere. I guess you have to look at more than one tree to get your bearings.

Pointing toward the north. Roughly.

Our ersatz greenhouse was delivered on Monday, so I plan to put it together today. It's a collection of rigid tubes over which a reinforced plastic tent gets attached. There are shelving units for pots on either side of a narrow center aisle. The trick will be in securing it to the ground so that wind won't blow it away. I'm sure the stakes that come with the thing won't be sufficient, so I'll add to them. I won't know how that will work until I get it all unpacked and assembled.

A wine run

On Sunday, I went over to the village of Angé, two towns down river from us, to the annual open house of a local winery called Clos Roussely. Every year, the owner, Vincent Roussely, hosts a group of winemakers from around the country. I especially like the producer from Chablis, whose winery we visited in 2014. So I went to get some of his wine. I also bought some red Burgundy from a producer in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune. The Chablis is made from chardonnay grapes, the red Burgundy is made from pinot noir.

At the Clos Roussely winery on Sunday morning.

Both of those wines are different from what we get here in our Touraine region. That's why I like what Vincent Roussely does: bringing in vintners from other regions once a year. He also goes to their regions to share local Touraine wines with people who might otherwise not have access to them. It's a cool thing, kind of a wine exchange program. This is my third year going, and I hope it continues.

I got there when they opened at 10 am. I think I was the first customer. I didn't see any others. The producers were all standing around in the building chatting with each other. I felt conspicuous. I tasted a few wines, but I noticed that one of the producers was also sipping, so I wasn't alone. Then I bought my bottles and made my way home. As you can see in the photo, Sunday was a beautiful day. The people that were planning to have lunch at the winery (they have a nice picnic area and serve lunch during this open house weekend) got lucky.

Thick and thin

I liked the contrast between the thicker tree branch and the thin vine stems in this photo. Technically, the depth-of-field is a little off, but I don't think it's bad enough to ruin the shot.

I think the stems and the branch are dead. And there is some moss growing on the branch toward the bottom.

It's supposed to be a warm day today. Saturday was a bust. It stayed relatively chilly and I didn't grill hamburgers as planned. We cooked them on the stove instead. They were still delicious, though. Today we're planning "thingeritos," a friend's name for burritos made at home with whatever ingredients you have on hand. Ken slow-cooked some turkey legs, so that will be the meat. We also have some left-over lentils, so they will stand in for the beans. Millet will play the part of rice in today's production. And so on.

Poste 21

Here and there, along the road that winds through the vines, I see these numbers tacked to trees and vine posts. They used to be hand-written on short lengths of plastic tape, but now they're pre-printed and nailed up. I'm pretty certain that they have to do with hunting. During organized hunts for deer or fox, some of the hunters stand waiting at strategic points while others, with dogs and horns, drive the prey toward them. I think these markers identify the strategic points.

The hunting season is basically closed until fall.

We're expecting a relatively mild weekend, temperature-wise, and I'm planning to fire up the grill to cook hamburgers for lunch today. We'll have them with French fries and cole slaw. Typical American fare.

Pottering around

Not with clay, but with soil and seeds. Here's my temporary potting setup. The green bin is filled with dirt that I use for planting the seeds. It's a very satisfying little endeavor because, as it happens, the seeds sprout. And then they grow into plants that will, with a little luck, eventually bear fruit.

My temporary potter's bench.

Normally I start the seeds in early to mid March, but this year I'm late. So it will be a few weeks before I can transplant the seedlings into bigger pots and hope that they grow big and strong. Then, by the end of May, they can go into the garden. I planted eight varieties of tomato, some zucchini, and some local butternut-style squash called sucrine du Berry.

The seeds are planted and the little pots are in little greenhouses on the living room floor to keep them warm and humid until they sprout.

Ken just ordered a kind of greenhouse contraption for outdoors. We would love to have a real serious greenhouse, but that's a major investment, so we're going to try a less expensive thing to see how it works. There will be photos. Unless a storm blows the whole thing away. Stay tuned.