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Hi there,
We are from the south west of the UK but have lived for ten years in the Pays de la Loire not too far from Saumur and Tours.
Here we have several acres of garden including a very large pond, a little river going through the grounds, and terribly heavy clay soil. We have around half an acre of dry stony soil where almost nothing will grow and where we have planted trees, most of which have died in the summers, even after two years.
We have a very large polytunnel which is fantastic especially for out of season crops in spring and we cultivate most of the vegetable garden on a combination of deep beds with deep mulch. The weeds still defeat us each summer though!
We are able to grow figs well, apples but not pears, and a few peach trees. We are lucky to have an old south facing stone building partly buried into a slope which remains frost free. We have covered this with polycarbonate panels and glass doors from the tip, and made a frost free conservatory where we grow edible passion fruit, guavas, and citrus fruit.
We have just got back from a trip to the Pyrenees and north west Spain with some Tarbais white beans and Asturian 'fabas', both of which are climbing white beans ideal for cassoulet or 'fabada Asturiana'. We also visited Espelette where the famous Basque peppers come from and have a lot of seed for growing these too next summer.
Winters here can be dreadfully cold with minus 20C not abnormal. However, the cold weather is intermittent and many things survive underground, like dahlia tubers. Things like broad beans, purple sprouting broccoli, and even kales often fail to make it through to spring as they turn to mush in the alternating cold/warm weather.
We have probably been gardening for 30 years and still looking for the 'ideal place' where everything will grow without difficulty..... not sure it exists!
We are from the south west of the UK but have lived for ten years in the Pays de la Loire not too far from Saumur and Tours.
Here we have several acres of garden including a very large pond, a little river going through the grounds, and terribly heavy clay soil. We have around half an acre of dry stony soil where almost nothing will grow and where we have planted trees, most of which have died in the summers, even after two years.
We have a very large polytunnel which is fantastic especially for out of season crops in spring and we cultivate most of the vegetable garden on a combination of deep beds with deep mulch. The weeds still defeat us each summer though!
We are able to grow figs well, apples but not pears, and a few peach trees. We are lucky to have an old south facing stone building partly buried into a slope which remains frost free. We have covered this with polycarbonate panels and glass doors from the tip, and made a frost free conservatory where we grow edible passion fruit, guavas, and citrus fruit.
We have just got back from a trip to the Pyrenees and north west Spain with some Tarbais white beans and Asturian 'fabas', both of which are climbing white beans ideal for cassoulet or 'fabada Asturiana'. We also visited Espelette where the famous Basque peppers come from and have a lot of seed for growing these too next summer.
Winters here can be dreadfully cold with minus 20C not abnormal. However, the cold weather is intermittent and many things survive underground, like dahlia tubers. Things like broad beans, purple sprouting broccoli, and even kales often fail to make it through to spring as they turn to mush in the alternating cold/warm weather.
We have probably been gardening for 30 years and still looking for the 'ideal place' where everything will grow without difficulty..... not sure it exists!
! 
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