Essential French gardening tips for October: from fruit picking to potager jobs

Getting fruity

Readers with apple or pear trees will know that the récolte (harvest) of hard-to-pick, high hanging fruit can be tricky, even a little dangerous if you use a ladder. 

A great solution is a canvas bag lined with ‘teeth’, on the end of a handle or a telescopic pole – which is sturdy yet lightweight to avoid fatigue. Simply rotate the fruit picker and tool’s claws will then grip the fruit, which lands in the padded, washable bag. You can then lower them to the ground without damaging your bounty. 

Of course, you can also use the fruit picker to collect fallen fruit off the ground, saving back-breaking work.

Model pictured above, Darlac Swop Top Fruit Picking Set, price €48.

Gifts for gardeners

While Christmas seems way off, now is the time to consider picking up gardening gifts for loved ones, keeping an eye out for retailers selling stock at bargain prices. As well as tools, other ideas include wellies (bottes de jardin), gloves (gants) and a gardening apron (tablier de jardinage) with handy pockets.

Potager jobs this month

Plenty to do this month: start installing some winter protection over fragile vegetables; sow cabbage, spinach, broad beans and peas; and plant out garlic, artichokes, shallots, tarragon and onions. 

If you have a lawn (pelouse), gather up dead leaves and drop them into your compost bin, before scarifying the lawn. There are several options when it comes to buying a ‘scarificateur’, including electric ones or accessories for your mower (pictured, price €125.99 from Truffaut).

Instajardins

Instagram is a brilliant place to enjoy other people’s gardens in France, with everyone from visitors to chambre d’hôtes owners posting seasonal snaps and quirky updates from their gardens (users can search using hashtags #jardins, #monjardin, #jardinage or #potager).

French gardening content on Instagram is not just about advice – we love the humour of Sarah, a gardener who posts under the name troquetaplante. This fun guide to purple flowers is entitled ‘I like to mauve it’.