More unmissable dates for the diary ..........

New Events 

Thursday 28th May 2009 Walk and Picnic - Lac de Chamboux - organised by Graham and Jo Bridgeman - All welcome!

Sunday 21st June 2009 Garden Open - near Cussy en Morvan - hosted by Kris and Adri Harpman in aid of Cancer Research (France)

Regular Events

Sunday 7th June 2009 Bookswap - hosted by Mike and Carol Arnold at their home near La Clayette, 71800 St Racho - South Burgundy

Friday 12th June 2009 Lunch Rendezvous - another new venue - Bouche à Oreille, near Marmagne (on the N80)

Full contact details for directions, bookings, more information etc are posted on the calendar.

Thank you

to Ralph and June Quarton for hosting the May Bookswap at their home and to John and Joyce Bennett for the recommendation and helping to organise the May lunch rendezvous at La Ferme Auberge in Ouroux-en-Morvan; one not to miss next time for quality and quantity of food and hospitality!

New Events for Keen Gardeners.............

One of Burgundy's attractions for many of us, is the beautiful countryside and natural surroundings we enjoy here (yes not just the wine!).  Not surprising therefore that we appear to have many keen amateur and not so amateur gardeners in our midst, some of whom are hiding their talent under a bushel!

I know many of you already share your experience and the challenges of your own "terroir" and micro climate with friends.  There has been a lot of plant and seed swapping too over the years!  I thought it might be a nice idea to build on this and we are therefore launching a trial "Open Garden" event this year.  Initially very small scale, but which hopefully may capture the imagination of interested parties so that in years to come we can have a series of gardening rendezvous throughout the year and see how each other's various projects are developing.  These events will be open to all and it is intended that there will be a small entry fee to cover the host's cost of providing afternoon tea with the balance to be donated to an appropriate charity.

To start the ball rolling I will be having a "Pimms with the President Portes Ouvertes" chez moi on Friday 8th May 2009 to launch the scheme between 3 - 6pm.  My "work in progress" is a modest courtyard/cottage style garden and potager but amazing how much you can cram into a small space and more importantly how it can survive a major renovation!  I am now praying for a dry day to show off my pride and joy wisteria in all it's glory! 

A much larger event is planned at the home of Kris and Adri Harpman on Sunday 21st June 2009.  Kris is also a keen gardener and founder member of Burgundy Friends and has created a beautiful terraced, landscaped garden and potager (against all the odds!) on sloping land and in the challenging variable Morvan climate.

A further event is provisionally planned for July in the south east of Burgundy and we would like to hear from anyone else interested in opening up their garden between now and the end of September. 

Your garden need not be grand scale (mine is very bijou) nor Chelsea Show Garden standard.  It may be that you simply have a particularly well organised productive potager or a particularly individual project or planting scheme, which could be inspirational to other gardeners.  All are welcome to share experience and plants/seeds!  Please contact Debra Tomlinson on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for further information or to register your interest.

More details with individual descriptions of the host gardens and what to expect from each event will be posted on the calendar.

Debra Tomlinson