Rhubarb Rheum x cultorum a favourite for people to grow in their gardens for culinary use. If you have never grown rhubarb before and want to start you can grow it from seed, it’s best to sow the seed in spring about 2.5cm deep in rows 30cm apart and then plant out the strongest ones in their permanent position in autumn or possibly the spring the following year.
Author Archives: Susie Burt
Spring is in the Air
Spring is in the air here in the French Alps, some unseasonably warm weather is with us and temperatures have risen to 15 – 18 degrees Celsius in the valley. The snow is melting fast and spring bulbs are poking their heads up in my flower beds already, along with the primroses peeking through.
House Plant Care
I have never been very good at caring for the few house plants I have! Recently I have dedicated more time to learning about caring for them which has included re-potting them into new compost specific to house plants, feeding, watering and dusting their leaves on a more regular and structured basis.
A Store Cupboard for the Year
One thing I love about having a bigger garden and growing my own food is not only being able to cook and enjoy eating the produce but also to be able to make jams, chutneys, tisanes (herbal teas) and other things that I can store away to enjoy all through the year.
The History of the Christmas Tree
As we know a Christmas tree is usually an evergreen conifer that we decorate at Christmas, they are generally spruce, like a Norway Spruce (Picea abies); a fir like the Nordman Fir (Abies nordmanniana) or possible the Colorado Spruce (Picea pungens) with it’s beautiful blue hue to its needles.
Winter Gardening
You might not think there is much to be done in the garden now with the arrival of winter and in truth, here in the Alps there isn’t. Once the snow has fallen and the ground is frozen you can only enjoy the snow in a garden until the spring thaw allows you to get back outside.
The Alpine Gardener 