Chris Slade describes the son et lumiere presentation at the abbey of Bon Repos called "Le Pays de Conomor" in Brittany, which takes place during the first two weeks of August.
I am rather nosy when it comes to other people’s gardens.
I love peering over their fences to see what they are growing, and comparing their crops to mine.
There is a man in the centre of the village who is a keen gardener, and his vegetable patch is immaculate.
Everything is in dead straight rows and his crops ALWAYS seem to be ready a good two weeks before mine.
He is a very helpful chap, and whenever I pass he is always giving advice to someone about how to deal with tomato blight, moles or carrot fly.
This afternoon I was having a secret peer over his fence and I noticed something very strange… there were radishes growing amongst his carrots.
I sniggered to myself. The orderly garden didn’t look so orderly now !!
“Bonjour Nicole.” He appeared from nowhere with a hoe in his hand.
I couldn’t help but ask. The radish and carrot melange looked so out of place. Perhaps he had dropped both seed packets.
“Non, non, non. It is intentional. I mix the radish and carrot seeds and plant them in the same row. The radishes grow quicker than the carrots so I eat them when they are ready and this provides a natural ‘thinning’ for the carrots.”
How very very clever. I really should not have doubted him….