Magic Mushrooms

The cèpe de Bordeaux is mandatory fare for me since I am here next to Bordeaux and they are growing in the surrounding forests.

This is good news because this meaty mushroom is delicious. Also known as Porcini, the scientific name for this mushroom is boletus edulis from the Latin stem bolet meaning “superior mushroom” and edulis, meaning edible.

Slice and cook with potatoes or fry with shallots, salt and pepper. Yum.

Milking the cows

Jarouilles is the local language for Oak trees

Ferme des Jarouilles is near Coutras to the north east of Bordeaux. It is run by Isabelle and Laurent Tite. They have three children; Noel, Laure and Abel. Taking Wwoofers is a new thing for them and I am their very first.

ma chèvre preferée

They have 45 cows and 1 bull, about 30 goats, pigeons, guinea fowl, chickens, 5 horses and a donkey. I have milked the cows, milked the goats, made yoghurt and cheese, and helped with deliveries to shops and various AMAPs.

A little too at home making yoghurt

AMAP markets are held weekly in a community. A group of organic producers, and consumers wanting to purchase organic fruit, vegetables, and dairy products, enter into a contract- normally for two seasons of production- whereby those in the group prepay for a “panier” of items each week. The panier may contain different fruit and vegetables according to season. Other products, such as dairy products may be included in the panier or may be optional. These markets are really popular here in the South of France and are a great way for people living in the same community to get to know each other.

A little bit of Guinea in Foix

Ba at Foix

Whilst I was staying with John and Rose I accompanied Rose to the market in St Girons on Saturday. It was very busy brimming with “alternative types” as one alternative type confided to me. People flocked to Rose’s stall for her Bio fruit and veg.

I was introduced to Tony Smith. He used to be an excellent runner. He also used to be married. He is now neither and lives in a quaint house up in one of the valleys surrounding Moulis and spends his time helping Rose with the market and enjoying the laid back lifestyle. Paula Radcliffe lives nearby.

Tony had a friend visiting called Paul and Paul’s thirteen year old twins. I spent Saturday with them and on Sunday the four of us went to an African musical festival in the town of Foix hosted by Ingenieuse Afrique.

Be alive

Hot, sweaty drummers mmm...

There was some great music especially the band (named after its lead singer) Ba Cissoko who hail from Guinea. They had two Kora‘s and their music was a mix of traditional and modern. The energy that ripped through their performance was so contagious that one could not help but love it.

Un goûteur ici: albums.html

Meet Madonna… and Sundance

Flat out or perfectly still

Onto farm number three not far from St Girons. The nearest village was Moulis, which was 4km away from the farm.

très jolie

Rose and John Gunning are originally from Cornwall but have been in France for 20 years. Before I arrived John notified me that I would be able to meet their new parrot called Madonna. The couple have four grown up children called Sundance, Rain, Orion and Etoile.

Bilbo Baggins spring to mind?

They grow vegetables on a steep plot of land which stretches up the side of the valley behind their house. I lived in a cabin up the Road. It is the bottom floor of a small house with each floor comprising of one room. My floor was unfinished and pretty much unfurnished, but at least had a stove. When I enquired where the toilet was, John mumbled something and gestured towards the forest. I never discovered whether there was one.

Touched for the very first time

I helped to weed among the plants which was hard going on the steep slopes. I also picked beans, trimmed blighted potatoes, and helped load and unload the van for market. They attend a couple of markets including the big one at St Girons on a Saturday. The couple sell some of their own produce but increasingly rely on buying and selling fruit and veg.

Fresh air, exercise, and a big fat spliff

Don't tell the gendarmes

Jonathan, Marielle and Salome took the Wwoofers ( Benoir, Marie, Solya and me) to visit their friend Manuel who lives in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

Manuel used to be a fantastic cyclist but now dismisses this as something he did years ago. He lives in a slightly crumbling house in the Pyrenees near St Girons. He grows vegetables in his garden among other things.

We had the mandatory long lunch of salad followed by rice and fried green and yellow courgettes washed down with beer, then took a walk. The babies had their own chauffeur.

Bring me my chariot

Yurts and Doryphores

Jonathan who lives in a yurt and pig. Qui est le plus beau?

Next I ventured further South to a farm where the nearest village was Pouy-de-Touges.

The couple, Jonathan and Marielle had a daughter called Salomé and they lived in a Yurt.

What would a Mongolian herder think?

They had a large farm where they grew all sorts of tomatoes including Coeur de boeuf, rose, martina, St Pierre. They also had courgettes, betterave, shallots, garlic, aubergines, carrots, potatoes, peppers and chilli peppers.

I spent a lot of time weeding and capturing doryphores which were destroying the aubergines.

Benoir and Sorya, Wwoofers can be any age.

I lived in a tent and stayed for two weeks. There was always four Wwoofers. There was a group of French people about my age and we passed a lot of time playing cards. Then there was a young couple with a little baby.

Parmi les poules, le persil, et les potirons

The house that Jack built

Ferme numero une: This farm was in St Sulpice sur Leze.

In fact, it wasn’t exactly a farm. I stayed with a couple called Christian and Fanny. They were both 26 and had bought a house in this sleepy village near Toulouse. Two Irish girls and myself were their first Wwoofers. They had quite a big garden where they wanted to grow enough vegetables for themselves. They already had a patch of pumpkins growing. They also had a patch of land about 2km from the house which was on a slope and totally overgrown. There were lots of berries growing wild like blackberries, raspberries and blackcurrants. Christian had plans to create beds for vegetables and to clear space for fruit trees.

On my first day Christian and I bought a couple of hens and I constructed the poulailler or hen house.

Fanny was into mosaics and she wanted help with this. Her first aim was to decorate a big pot in the garden.

I helped to dig beds in the garden and to plant parsley, courgettes, carrots and broccoli. I also helped Christian construct a device for catching rain water at the plot of land. We also helped Fanny with the pot mosaic using bits of broken plates.

Down on the farm

Fancy a frolic?

The Times recently had a report on “Care” farms. There are currently about 100 in the UK where the sick, vulnerable and outcast can go for respite, recovery and rehabilitation. These farms have been so successful that the National Farm Care Initiative is urging Hilary Benn to champion the scheme.

I am spending a couple of months in France working on farms as a Wwoofer. This is not as dubious as it sounds and actually stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic farms.

The idea is that you work 4 or 5 hours a day on an organic farm and in return you get bed and board and a glimpse of someone elses life. It is the best recession deal going. For the first time in years I have gone for at least a week without spending any money. The idea for me is to improve my French, have a fun experience on as low a budget as humanly possible.