Saints de Glace - Ice Saints

 

Bonjour from a chilly SW France,

It is freezing in most parts of France and we are back in winter coats. It is not good news for French agriculters as many plants have their Spring growth and the arrival of freezing temperatures means that this growth dies.

Many are resorting to methods to stop the ice forming on the new growth but the majority of these methods are costly and require a lot of  resources. A lot of vineyards use pots of parafin but you need a a huge quantity of these and each one costs 10 euros. This works on a small scale but as most vineyards in France are huge it is not an ideal solution.

Others use huge fans or even helicopters to stop the ice forming. Spraying water continually also helps but again these systems are expensive in terms of initial cost and use of resources.

There is a saying in French : “Avant Saint-Servais, point d'été ; après Saint-Servais, plus de gelée.” 

“Before Saint-Servais, no summer; after Saint-Servais, no more ice.” This saying suggests that summer doesn't really begin until after the Ice Saints period, and that the risk of frost disappears after this date.

Saint Servais is the 13th of May so I have a feeling that winter will be staying with us for a while yet and we may just have to get used to the chilly mornings and evenings.

Belle journee a tous ♥

Leeann x