World Naked Gardening Day 2019

World Naked Gardening Day 2019, hidden in the hollyhocks

World Naked Gardening Day 2019

On the first Saturday in May, gardeners of the world are encouraged to garden a little more ‘naturally’ than they might normally to celebrate World Naked Gardening Day #WNGD which is now in its 15^th year and something I have joined in with since 2013. 

World Naked Gardening Day 2017

Why? Firstly, it is a bit of fun and by finding just the right angle I hope my pictures raise a smile rather than cause any offence. However, there are more serious messages behind the fun too. One is about body image and accepting who we are and what we look like and the other is about addressing our relationship to the natural environment. 

World Naked Gardening Day 2016, tomato seedlings

From people obsessing about having the perfect body shape, to gardeners determined to have a weed-free lawn whatever the chemical cost and farmers penalized by supermarkets for not growing straight carrots, I think we’ve lost the plot and need a little reminder to get back to what nature intended.

World Naked Gardening Day 2015, raining

Here are a few quotes from the WNGD website:

“Our culture needs to move toward a healthy sense of both body acceptance and our relation to the natural environment. Gardening naked is not only a simple joy, it reminds us (even if only for those few sunkissed minutes) that we can be honest with who we are as humans and as part of this planet.”

“Stay private or go public. Make it a quiet time or make a public splash. Just get naked and make your part of the botanical world a healthier and more attractive place” 

World Naked Gardening Day 2013 and 2014, pottering

Whether you are up for baring all or maybe just taking a barefoot stroll on the lawn today, I hope you get the chance to enjoy your garden, balcony or public open space. Please don’t forget your sun cream, especially on those delicate areas that might not normally get too much exposure.

Signs of summer in France

The first Hollyhocks in bloom

May is the month of publicholidays in France, with seemingly more days off than at work, which I think leads us nicely into summer and long summer holidays. Now June has arrived I can feel a real change in the season as the signs of summer begin to appear all around me.

The first of our hollyhocks have opened this week marking the start of a riot of tall, show-offy blooms that will cheer our garden all the way through to autumn. By encouraging them to scatter their seeds, they pop up wherever they feel in our courtyard lawn in whatever colour they choose and I just love them.

Cherries and cherry cake

The cherries are ripe, and so begins our first orchard harvest of summer. My days this week have been spent picking, washing, oven drying and freezing, baking and not forgetting eating cherries. My fingers and most of the kitchen are sticky and stained with cherry juice, but my winter breakfasts will be adorned with the dark red jewels of dried cherries; the fruits of my labour and the taste of early summer enjoyed all year.

Squash ready to plant out in potager

The hard work in spring; weeding, rotivating and digging in the potager (vegetable garden) has been worth it and our summer produce is now finally planted out; six aubergines, six peppers, forty-seven assorted tomatoes and fifty-seven squash (pumpkin, melon, patisson, butternut, winter squash and my favourite, courgette) have joined the twenty beans that have looked rather lonely these last few weeks. I know we are late to planting out (as usual) but better late than never. I’m already looking forward to the harvesting that will follow soon; let our summer evening routine of watering now begin.

The first moules of summer

The moules (mussels) lady returned to our village market this week selling the first of this year’s moules. They will now be our weekly treat until October, served with homemade chips and walnut bread, eaten on the terrace with a glass of chilled white wine; a true taste of summer in France.

Tour de Rêves September 2017

The elderflowers in the hedgerows are out and smell fantastic. There is nothing quite like a warm evening bike ride accompanied by their sweet perfume to put a smile on my face. Although I have to admit it has been tricky to squeeze cycling into our busy days spent gardening, harvesting and cherry processing, but I can’t forget I have a challenge to prepare for. Cycling over 400km in six consecutive days, where some days will be over 70km in distance and others will be on quite hilly terrain can’t be pushed too far to the back of my mind, September will be here all too soon. 

If you would like to read more about our Tour de Rêves charity bike ride just click here, thank you.

Probably the scariest sign of summer is that Ed will finish school next week. There will still be revision sessions and exams to keep him busy for a few weeks, but I can’t quite believe how quickly this school year has zoomed by.

I'd love to know what things always remind you of summer and I hope that you have fond memories of summers spent in France, wherever in the world you live.

This post has been linked to Lou Messugo’s All About France link up. Click here for more posts All About France.

Here are some summer reading suggestions, set in France, just for you.

Summer hollyhocks in the Deux Sèvres

Summer hollyhocks, white

Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, so I thought a wander around the garden would be a nice way to mark this special occasion. The sun has been shining for a whole week so it feels like summer at last and although the sunflowers in the fields are not quite in flower, the hollyhocks in the garden are putting on a great display. 

I love our hollyhocks as every year they self-seed all over our garden, giving us tall spires of vibrant colours. They also decorate the roads all around our village and can be found in the surrounding villages all the way to the coastal resorts of the Charente-Maritime. Here are just some of the colours I found flowering today, in our garden. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Here's to a great summer!

Summer hollyhocks, pale yellow

Summer hollyhocks, white with a hint of pink

Summer hollyhocks, two pinks

Summer hollyhocks, dark pink

Summer hollyhocks, cerise pink

Summer hollyhocks, deep pink

Summer hollyhocks, dark purple

Summer hollyhocks, almost black