Le potager partagé

Our apartment block has a roof-garden, laid mostly to lawn by surrounded by fruiting shrubs, a couple of hazel trees and with four raised beds.

This is overseen by a company which put shared vegetable gardens in various office buildings and apartment blocks. We'd wondered whether we could actually use the raised beds or whether the produce would be taken and distributed to the poor of the parish.

It transpires that we plant and look after the beds, with plants supplied by the company, grown in their nursery in nearby Bègles.

We are also supposed to cut the grass.

So yesterday two chaps from the company came and supervised our planting of herbs in two of the raised beds, including mint, thyme, rosemary, chives, hyssop, sariette, lavender and strawberries. 

In May we'll be planting up tomatoes, courgettes etc...

Meanwhile on ou balcony we've sown some cut and come again lettuce (laitue à couper), some tomatoes ("it's a bit early!" said the chaps) African marigolds to deter the mosquitos and some petunias for the flowers. We're contemplating getting another couple of planters for strawberries and peppers.

(I really don't think we'll have more frosts now...)