Sorrel Soup is tasty and nutritious and is just the job when you are feeling a bit run down as it is packed with vitamins, iron and also super tasty. French Sorrel or ‘buckle leaf sorrel’ is related to the ‘dock’ plant and is fairly easy to recognise as the habit and leaves are similar to dock but they are smaller. I cultivate in my potager because I love the fresh zingy lemony flavour and it is needed in fairly large quantities for soup. You can also eat the leaves raw in salads, or cooked in a creamy sauce.

All of the plant ingredients for this soup were either foraged or home grown. I started by gently frying a medium onion cut into chunks, then added some chunks of potatoes and continue to sauté until the potatoes take on a bit of colour. Then add the washed and chopped sorrel leaves and continue to sauté until they wilt. (quantities are guestimated!) Then add water and a stock cube and simmer for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are cooked, season to taste. Blend until smooth and serve with croutons. I normally add hot chilli sauce to all of my soups but the flavour of the sorrel needs to shine in this one, you can add garlic if you like it but I think it doesn’t need it. You can make a similar soup using young nettle tops which is also superb.

Wild leek

Wild Garlic

Jack by the Hedge

Nettle

Mullein

Sorrel (cultivated)

Cultivated Sorrel

Wild sorrel

Walking along the chemin by our land, I spotted a number of edible plants – wild leeks, wild garlic, ‘Jack by the Hedge’ (poor mans garlic) also nettles, mullein (makes a good alternative to toilet paper I am told!!)  Don’t confuse sorrel with Arum (lords and Ladies) which is poisonous, The leaves are a similar ‘arrow’ shape but are significantly bigger, sometimes ‘spotted’ and you can see the unusual spadix of the flower.

Heres the link for the NETTLE SOUP RECIPE

Look out for our new online Veg growing course to be launched in the next few days, use the contact form below if you are interested or have any questions:

We have been busy propagating a variety of vegetable plants which are now available to order & collect. You can come and collect them contactlessly from our new ‘Drive Through’ facility  (a collection point by our small car park).

You can view or current list of available varieties and order form on our Nursery and Garden webpage, or you can find them below. You can edit the order form electronically and return as an email attachment.  Alternatively you can print and fill in by hand, or send us a hand written or typed list by email please to lejardincreatif87@gmail.com (not via Facebook) Please also note the following:

• We propagate everything ourselves in small batches so we may run out of popular varieties – we will substitute for similar varieties where possible.
•  To try and achieve an efficient service we need at least 24 hours notice to prepare your order. Out drive through will be open on Wednesday and Saturday mornings only starting on 18th April. Please give us notice of when you are coming.
• You are advised to be out on route for ‘essential shopping’ when you come to collect and we can only offer edible plants this way.
• It is still very early for some varieties of veg (particularly the peppers, tomatoes and chillies) and they will be supplied as young plants that will need to be grown on in a protected environment until after the night frosts have passed in mid-May.
•  Orders will be processed on a first come first served basis until we run out!
•  You may also be interested in our online Veg growing course that we are launching later this week!
• Please return order forms by email to: lejardincreatif87@gmail.com – not via facebook please

Here is the availability list as it stands on 14th April:

Vegetable plants and edibles available 2020

Order form Vegetable plants and edibles 2020

We can also deliver within 20km, subject to a minimum order of 30€ – There is a 5€ delivery charge or free for orders over 60€. You can combine veg and decorative plants for delivery.

During the period of confinement we are able to deliver our full range of perennial garden plants and sundries, as long as we stick to a contactless delivery system where plants are pre-ordered and we wear the recommended protective gloves and mask while packing and delivering to your gate. You can browse our list pf plants by downloading the Hardy Perennials availability list below – the plant list is simply my list of ‘labels’ for the nursery, it is in no particular order other than the order that I have produced the plants and labelled them BUT it has pictures and descriptions of each plant so you can browse through the list at your leisure – the order form is in alphabetical order (by botanical name) so you can easily find any plant you wish to order. PLEASE NOTE – we propagate everything ourselves and therefore stocks are limited for some varieties. We are busy propagating now for a whole range of new introductions later this spring.

Deliveries will be restricted to Thursday mornings and a 20km radius (see order form for details of delivery rates and ordering). Download the order form and return by email to let us know what you would like, we will check availability and reply with details of how to pay (by PayPal or cheque only) and delivery times. You can also print it, fill in manually and scan it or post it to us.

You can also visit our webpage NURSERY AND GARDENS for details of seeds available by mail order as sell as the perennial range

AVAILABILITY LIST AND ORDER FORM: CLICK IN THE LINKS BELOW

Hardy Perennials availability March 2020

Perennials order form March 2020

You can also contact us using this form:

We are now able to offer vegetable and herb seeds by mail order. We have a limited range and we do not have a fancy ‘shopping basket’ on our web site but we have a seed list with descriptions of each variety and order form that you can download. You can edit, save and return the order form by email and we can either send you a PayPal request for the total, or we can check our stock and send you a confirmation of the total so that you can post us a cheque. You can also print and post it to us.

The forms are available below and on our NURSERY and GARDENS webpage.

Seed List with descriptions2020

Seeds Order Form

COMING SOON:

Vegetable plants to order and collect (list will be available in the next couple of weeks)

Deliveries of pre ordered plants from our full range of perennials, veg, herbs – We are busy compiling a list of plants available and hope that this will be online in the next few days.

All orders will be handled under strict adherence to the government guidelines for sanitation & protection. Deliveries will be non contact and to a ‘safe place’. 

Due to the continuing spread of Coronavirus we have been putting some sensible measures in place to ensure the health and safety of our customers while they are here.

First and foremost we will be continuing to operate as normal unless nation wide measures prevent this. However, we will be operating a non contact greeting policy i.e. no ‘bisous’ (kissing on arrival and  leaving) and no hand shaking for the time being.

Amongst other heightened hygiene measures we will also temporarily be using paper towels for hand drying which we will dispose of by burning.

If anyone has any questions please ask. We hope to see you all as usual over the spring and summer months for lots of creativity and fun. We have lots of new courses and activities planned – we hope you enjoy them 🙂

Due to the exceptional rain that has fallen over the last couple of days we have taken the decision to open for a limited time tomorrow 7th March.

The water is beginning to subside but the track up to the nursery is still very muddy and slippery in places. As there is sunshine forecast for tomorrow we hope that this will help to dry out the field a little over the morning. Therefore we will open from 1pm-4pm.

We have our range of herbaceous perennials and ornamental grasses, herbs and aromatics. (Vegetable plants, patio plants, tender perennials and our new range of perennials will be available from late April)

We have had a new delivery of compost and also sell vermiculite, horticultural fleece, enviromesh, pots and trays, seeds etc.

We hope to see you soon, if you do decide to come along tomorrow then wear wellies!

We hope to be back to normal next weekend.

Many people are familiar with the common honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)- a climbing woodland plant with fragrant flowers that scent the evening air in early summer. Did you know that the genus Lonicera also contains what are known as the ‘shrubby honeysuckles’? There are several species of honeysuckle that form mounded shrubs, some are evergreen such as Lonicera nitida (a good alternative to box hedging if box blight has been a problem) and Lonicera pileata – a good ground cover plant. These two are grown more for their foliage and habit than their flowers which are much smaller than the classic climbing honeysuckle and with far less fragrance.

My favorite Lonicera if Lonicera x fragrantissima – as the name suggests it is highly fragrant, this semi-evergreen arching shrub produces pairs of scented flowers along the length of its stems from early January until early May. It is a stunning winter flowering plant that provides vital nectar and pollen for bees that get woken from hibernation on those sunny winter days. The sweet fragrance attracts the bees from a wide area and the flowers provides life saving nutrition for them. It is also a superb cut flower – one twig will fragrance a whole room.

Other winter wonders include the Hellebores, Sarcococca, Cornus and Hamamelis. Our nursery opens again  on Saturday 7th March for the 2020 season, we are open every Saturday from 10am-4pm until end October. Come along and enjoy a walk through our ‘winter border’ which is packed with ideas to add interest to the garden in the winter months. We have just a few Lonicera x fragrantissima left on the nursery, plenty of Hellebores, Cornus, Sarcococca, and lots of other winter/spring plants.