Feature: Gardening in Poitou Charentes - September tips and advice

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August has also come and gone with the drought continuing. I have been unwell for the last six weeks, banned from gardening and how frustrating it has been! BUT it gives me time to really look at the garden instead of always rushing around working out the next strategy. The drought has halted the growth on some plants and the real survivors are the plants we all know as the "Mediterranean" ones. The lavender looks quite at home though flowering has halted, (we have an early variety) the fennel hedge still attracting a multitude of insects, but the so called English cottage garden plants are looking very unhappy.

We try to save as much water as possible and only been using our meagre supply (more on that later) on the food producing plants. The tomato crop this year has been more than the combined total of the last two years-they have had relatively frequent watering but not more than say the courgettes and squashes. I have come to the conclusion that lack of heavy rain does no harm to the tomato plants. This is because their shallow root systems are quite close to the surface and they make use of every single drop of water given. This is the reason grow bags make good homes for tomato plant.

Another interesting point is, not being able to; I have given up on side shooting this year. The plants are wayward and untidy but the crop is still magnificent! The squashes have not been quite so lucky in the drought; we have quite a few but compared to last years crop the freezer is not going to be groaning with squash soup this winter! Talking of squashes; once the skins are hard and the fruit ready store them in a cool dark place and they will last for several months. The butternut variety should be yellow when ripe.

Courgettes have put on a poor show but after the avalanche of fruit last year a reduction in courgette stir fries, courgette soup, courgette cake, courgette salad etc is not unpopular! The sweet corn earlier in the season was utterly delicious and I highly recommend growing it. I bought my seed in one of the local DIY shops instead of the usual from a British seed company and I was delighted with the results. It is very simple to germinate (in garden room-unheated, in home made propagator (croissant box and lid!) back in early March. Once any signs of frost have gone, plant out in a square so they will be easily fertilised. They do not take up much room and worth three or four square meters of any garden. Do not use seed from your own plants as they are mostly hybrids and will not come true to parent plant.

Sweet corn does need plenty of water and they benefited from any spare rainwater gathered in the butt. We utilised every spare drop of water this year by washing dishes (and hands in the bathroom) in basins and when full enough, carried them out to the garden to give to the chosen plant of the moment! We use bio degradable and eco friendly soaps and wash up liquids so no harm came to the ground or plants. Many, many gallons of water that would go normally straight into the fosse was re-used in this way. It also develops strong arm muscles-much cheaper than the gym!

Now is the time to be putting any winter or spring plants into their permanent beds. Give a good covering of well rotted compost onto the beds that will have been used by the summer plantings and remember your rotation system. I try to write down what has been where as I tend to forget and cause problems in the rotation scheme of things! Do not use manure that is too fresh as the over wintering plants do not want too rich a soil. A slow gentle feeding over winter is all that is needed.

This is the time of year when we are busier in the house (than the garden) making jams etc and in the garden shed cleaning tools and storing seed or fruit and also having a peep at next years seed catalogues planning changes or different growing systems-next year I am thinking about hydroponics (growing in water and liquid feeds). Some plants really suffer from drought and I need to study the statistics as to whether constantly having said plants in water is less wasteful. I have never tried this system before so any helpful hints will be gratefully received and discussed. Good planting!

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Story by Sheilah Kennedy of Kennedy Paragiste

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