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Ian
- 58, Male
- Bergerac
- France
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Ian's Groups
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Orchards
45 members
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Permaculture
50 members
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Vermiculture
53 members
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Tomatoes
56 members
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Root Cellars and Food ...
58 members
Ian's Discussions
INTRODUCTIONS
59 Replies
Started this discussion. Last reply by Sheryl Stewart Nov 14.
kitchen Garden in France
A Wet Autumn Day
Today is the first day for many weeks when it has been raining here in the south west of France so it was time to attend to all those indoor domestic jobs that inevitably need doing before the onset of winter. You know, things like fitting a new light in the kitchen and rehanging a door that had fallen off a cupboard, things like adjusting the time clocks on the central heating the more pressing needs of the cooler wintry air, (we had minus 2C(28F) overnight this week). Actually, there was quite a list of such jobs which was quite daunting.... so I decided to sort my saved seeds!
Over the year I have saved from numerous fruits and vegetables. I tend to collect the seeds and then store them in a paper coffee filter in the kitchen whilst they dry. This seems to work well, as the filter paper absorbs any moisture that is still in the seeds and also provides a medium to write the identification information on. You know, things like "Seeds from that delicious melon which we bought from the lady that sells leeks at the market at Villereal". So today I have been moving the seeds into better storage jars for their winter rest.
Actually, this whole operation has been precipitated by a recent holiday.
Last week we suddenly decided to go away for a few days and take advantage of the autumn sunshine that this part of France was enjoying. A couple of hours here on the Internet and I had found a secured a beachside apartment just a couple of hours drive away. It was in a resort which is far busier than I like in the middle of summer but which I felt would be interesting again, now the crowds have thinned. So we upped and went and enjoyed a whole week of doing very little, swimming in the Atlantic, lazing on the beach and drinking good French coffee and eating good french patisseries.
Before we went, we moved all the seeds from our kitchen into our utility room for the sake of tidiness!
Sadly, on the day we left, a mouse, or maybe a whole horde of mice moved in. Maybe in this instance I should use an alternate collective noun for the mice.... a mischief of mice!!!!
Anyway, the result was that the mice feasted for a whole week and I have now learned that mice prefer melon seeds to pumpkin seeds, are particularly partial to tomato seeds, especially those varieties where I only had a few seeds saved and generally can make a great deal of mess.... indeed mischief... when confronted with rows of paper coffee filters full of tasty seeds.
We Are All One
Once again I need to thank Kate of Hills and Plains Seedsavers for bringing this video to my attention. It is self explanatory..... Take just ten minutes out of your day, grab a coffee, and settle down and watch the video I'm sure you will be moved. |
Thanks for dropping in on Ian's Page
Latest Activity
Profile Information
- Where do you live and garden?
- South West France
- How long have you been growing food?
- 4-10 years
- Dream garden travel destination:
- I'm going to try and attend all the KGI Global meet-ups.... 2009 shouldn't be too difficult, after that we'll just have to see.... 2010 is a long way but.... 2011 I'm sure I'll manage...
- Favorite foods:
- In France you don't have "favourite foods". All food is treated with reverence and meals aren't made they are constructed. For me , I really like duck in it's various forms - foie gras, confit de canard, duck with pineapple and ginger sauce. I also love homemade bread, homemade chutney and homemade jams and any fresh vegetables.
Well, I think they are interesting!
Ian's Photos
Ian's Blog
Fun in September
The weekend is in support of Kitchen Gardeners International's commitment to encouraging vegetable gardening across all the nations of the world.
The fun will start in France on Friday evening and go through to Sunday evening with visits to local gardens and markets etc. There will be ample opportunity to sample some of Perigord's exquisite cuisine and, after all, Perigord is one of France's gastronomic delights.… Continue
Posted on May 12, 2009 at 11:58am —
Ian is on the sick
Posted on December 8, 2008 at 2:50pm — 10 Comments
My Friend Bernard
 | I visited my friend Bernard the other day and was forced to try a couple of his wines. The first was his 2007 AOC Bergerac Rosé. Of course, this wine was still very young at only a few months old but rosé is best drunk young. This one was a very |
Posted on May 31, 2008 at 6:30pm — 3 Comments
FOOD GROWING BLOGGERS GET TOGETHERS
Well things have been quietly going on in the backstreets of the towns and countries around the world and I’m pleased to report that there are now Food Growing Bloggers Get Togethers planned for the next few years.
They kick off this year with events on August 24.… Continue
Posted on May 16, 2008 at 4:40pm — 1 Comment
Reflections on times past
So there we were, usually in a real ale pub, five fairly conscientious veggie growers and me. Every so often someone would claim they had grown the biggest potato,… Continue
Posted on May 8, 2008 at 3:39pm — 5 Comments
Comment Wall (321 comments)
- At 7:40pm on October 21, 2009,
Gillian said… - Hello Ian,
There is a blog about cellulite by robbie williams - I am sure most people on this site are more concerned with their gardening than pinching their skin to inspect their cellulite. He doesnt seem to have posted any type of gardening items. Maybe he is lost....
thanks Ian
- At 4:53pm on October 6, 2009,
Maggie said… - Thanks for the instructions Ian. I shall give it a go .
- At 5:29pm on October 4, 2009,
Gail Wolf said… - Ian, how do I get rid of the "Update Status" feature that appears right under my page title? I notice that some people don't have it on their page. Thanks vary much.
- At 6:24pm on October 3, 2009,
Maggie said…
- Hi Ian, Can you please tell me how to change the title of "my page"?
I would like to write where I blog as Tamra has done.
http://my.kitchengardeners.org/profile/Tamra?xg_source=profiles_memberList
I would also like to suggest some of our gardening in Australia Group do the same, a lot of folks have good gardening blogs.
Many thanks
Maggie
- At 3:01pm on September 30, 2009,
Mary Heaner said… - Well done on the KGI meet up. Thanks again.
- At 2:24pm on September 19, 2009,
amna mufti said… - Hi Ian! I have posted a recipe on my page .
- At 1:17am on September 18, 2009,
RawZi said… - This is very possibly Carol's Sharon: http://tinyurl.com/l7559w. If you'll note they have posted nothing since they joined, not even checking their comment wall when the spambots posted to them, until apparently someone else noticed and deleted the spambots.
- At 12:10pm on September 16, 2009,
Gail Wolf said…
- Hi Ian,
This is just a general inquiry....Has the profile format been changed? It seems like I used to have some text on my profile which described my gardening activities in the past when my kids were little...now I don't see that text on there anymore. I didn't delete anything on my profile that I can remember.
- At 6:15pm on August 31, 2009,
Michelle W. Flannery said… - Hi Ian. Ankit Khare is still spamming members about her yoga site. See Maggie's page. I know of at least a half dozen other members she's done this to. Makes friends first. Then spams.
- At 7:22am on August 29, 2009,
Maxine Walker said…
- Looks like two more solicitors Ian, webhost and mfairport mac om
KGI's book of the month
Latest Activity
From the KGI Main Site
Notes
HOW TO - ADD A LINK
Several people have experienced difficulty putting working links into comments and blogs etc and I know it is clumsy.... so here is how you do it.....
First type the text you want to appear.... ie IAN'S PAGE
Then go back and highlight the link text.
Then hit the hyperlink button...a pictogram of a chain link.
Your browser may intervene and request permission to allow temporary scripting or some similar message. Allow it and go back and highlight the text again
… ContinueCreated by Ian Jun 7, 2009 at 7:28pm. Last updated by Ian Jun 8.
Forum Policy
Hi, I'm starting to put together a few guidlines on using the discussion forum on here.
I would be happy to hear any comments you may have. This is very much a work in progress so plese feel free to ask me to add anything you think is needed.
I don't want to make our community hide bound by rules and regulations but I think that, as the community has grown, some explanation of what is expected is needed.
Administration
You can refer any que
… ContinueCreated by Ian May 23, 2009 at 1:55am. Last updated by Ian May 25.
Climate maps
Hi following recent discussion I have put climate maps of the USA, Australia and Europe on here for reference..
… Continue
Created by Ian Sep 12, 2008 at 6:20pm. Last updated by Ian Apr 14.
Recipes, Recipes, Recipes
Hi Everyone, I've started to collect together recipes from various posts on the site and put them all together here.
If you have a recipe you want to add on here, just post it on the site and leave a comment on my page telling me where it is and I'll go and fetch it back here.
They are organised in Contributor Order but I'm open to better suggestions!
BEVA'S RECIPES
… ContinueCreated by Ian Jun 2, 2008 at 9:54am. Last updated by Ian Apr 13.
US STATES ABBREVIATIONS
US STATE ABBREVIATIONS
AK - Alaska AL - Alabama AR - Arkansas
AZ - Arizona CA - California CO - Colorado
CT - Connecticut DC - Dist of Columbia * DE - Delaware
FL - Florida GA - Georgia GU
Created by Ian Jan 27, 2009 at 4:27pm. Last updated by Ian Jan 27.
HOW TO - MAKE COMPOST
Recently there was an excellent discussion about composting. I’ve pulled together all the various comments here. You can also watch KGI's video on composting here.
KATE’S ADVICE
I used to have a tumbler that we made from a wine-barrel but
1 you have to fill it up all at once
2. it seemed mostly
… ContinueCreated by Ian May 30, 2008 at 5:29am. Last updated by Roger Jan 15.
Notes Home
Welcome to Notes.
To view notes that are in the system hit the "all notes" button above.
ContinueCreated by Ian May 28, 2008 at 12:10pm. Last updated by Ian May. 30, 2008.
A Note about Notes
I have just written this note so that I can see what we can achieve by using this new feature.
If you read this and have any suggestions then please leave a comment on my page or email me.
Ian
ContinueCreated by Ian May 28, 2008 at 6:19pm. Last updated by Ian May. 28, 2008.
© 2009 Created by Kitchen Gardeners International
