We have put the young tomato plants under the protection of
glass Ball canning jars to keep them warm during this first week of cool spring
evenings.
In the 19th Century, French market gardeners placed Cloche
(pronounced kl-osh- French word for
"bell") over plants in the spring and fall to act as portable
miniature greenhouses. These glass bell-shaped jars covered acres
of fields outside Paris that supplied out-of-season vegetables to the city's
households and restaurants. Because they were made from heavy glass and were
small, the air trapped within could quickly get too hot on sunny days,
possibly killing the plants. The French would trudge out to cloche-covered fields on
bright, frosty mornings to slide a block of wood under one side of each cloche
to vent it during sunny days and return in late afternoon to kick out the
blocks, so the cloches would sit flat on the ground and seal in the warm air
for the night.
This will be our week of experiencing 19th Century French
country-side living. We plan to take on this practice so to keep the one
hundred heirloom tomato plants safe and healthy. If all continues well, we should start to enjoy
the bounty come late July.
