Welcome to May MEMOIR!
Day 25
For the entire month of May, I'll be sharing part of each chapter from my memoir, Ca va? Stories from Rural Life in Southern France.
Spring time is a very busy time for us. Each year, Christophe sows our enormous garden in preparation for the hundreds of vegetable seedlings we get from Madame Gousse. Our first step is to plant early spring vegetables, such as potatoes and onions, and the seedlings will be planted a few weeks later when the weathers warms up. The work in the garden is a welcomed break from our winter chores, but it also has its dangers.
Chapter 24: Early Spring Plantation
Christophe turns off the motor tiller and begins to set up the rows for the potatoes. He pulls out a piece of cord wrapped around two small wooden stakes. He sinks one stake into the ground at the edge of the garden and then walks to the other side of the garden with the second. The cord between the two is pulled tight and acts as a ruler, creating a straight line for him to follow with the hoe. In a matter of minutes, he has dug a small trench that runs the width of the garden. He takes a potato and shows me how deep to plant it.
“If there are any sprouts, make sure they are pointing up because they will become the plant”, he explains and then covers it with dirt.
I plant a few potatoes under his supervision, and once he is satisfied with my work, Christophe moves the cord and the stakes and starts on the next trench. He is just about finished with the second trench when he jumps.
“What is it?” I ask sensing a bit of panic.
“I think it was a bee”, he explains.
“Did it sting you?”
“No, but I might have just gotten in its way. Marie’s beehives are about a hundred yards away, so that can happens sometimes since we are in their flight path. The garden is in a great spot, but you don’t want to disturb the bees since they are really busy in the spring.”
Looking at my slightly worried expression, he continues and reassures me, “But stay calm. If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you. They can sense when you are scared, and that is when they can get aggressive, so you always want to stay calm.”
“Oh, okay”, I reply and hesitantly go back to the potatoes.
Christophe picks up his hoe and just as he is about to strike the dirt again he cries, “Ouch! Damn it. It stung me!”
He inspects his arm and then starts jerking to the left and to the right; he bobs and weaves, swatting at the air and I hear very angry buzzing.
Within seconds, a swarm of bees is upon us. Now, both of us are darting up and down swatting at the attacking bees.
“Run, Lynn
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