Allotments 4 All

Hi,
I've just got back from a couple of wet and windy weeks in Normandy. The food made up for the weather. Why is it they have so much great stuff to eat?
And another thing - their civic flower displays are absolutely amazing. Really imaginative - not just a bunch of petunias and bizzy lizzies. We saw ornamental gourds, pumpkins in the middle of roundabouts, stunning Ruby chard and celery in amongst the flowers.

Bizarrely, the children seemed to really miss the allotment. My 4 year old played "allotments" on the beach, marking out rows and doing the digging, and my nearly-2 year old shouted "lotment" every time he saw a bean or a courgette etc - ahh sweet!

Sarah.

Oh I love the Normandy cuisine! Sounds as though you had a wonderful time.

I am jealous but we are off to France for a couple of weeks soon. Can't wait! All that cheese, pate, yummy bread! Mmmmmmm! Hope my two year old likes it as well!

We had a week in Britanny back in July.....seems like a trillion years ago!  Fab food, wine and countryside.  Ava wouldn't mind setting up home there, me, I just cannot get to grips with the language at all!

We've had several holidays in Normandy as my sister and partner have a share in a farmhouse near La Haye du Puits. We don't eat out but always spend a fortune in the food shops - especially the local greengrocer and the bakery. First up makes the trip each morning to get the croissants for breakfast - guess who! Worth it, though.

The beaches are wonderful - Utah is probably our favourite. It has the added attraction of trotting horses being exercised there most days.

Last time we were there I tried to visit local garden centres without much success. One was closed for lunch every day and the other was closed for weeks at a time! The locals seem very fond of a combination of violet blue and scarlet for their window boxes etc, but with garden centres like that, where do they get the plants?

The only drawback is the journey from Scotland to the ferry at Portsmouth....

Sue

Quote from: SueM on September 03, 2004, 20:33:47
Last time we were there I tried to visit local garden centres without much success. One was closed for lunch every day and the other was closed for weeks at a time! The locals seem very fond of a combination of violet blue and scarlet for their window boxes etc, but with garden centres like that, where do they get the plants?

Sue if you were there in August the French are pretty keen on their summer holidays and a lot of things do just shut for August!  Also its pretty common for things to shut for lunch between 12 and 2.
I found their garden centres really expensive and rather limited but if you visit the markets its a different story-the ones we have been to nearly always have someone selling plants and seeds and they are normally lovely healthy plants for a really good price-lots of young veg plants too.