On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, November 1, we had a lovely housewarming party at our new house. Lots of friends from Entrecasteaux, Aix-en-Provence, Puimoisson and other parts of the Provence came and celebrated with us.
We served organic vegetarian dishes along with organic wine from Correns, and everyone contributed to the buffet with a dish - the true spirit of 'Organic Living in the Provence'.
A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village. A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked how long it took him to catch them. "Not very long." they answered in unison. "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"
The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.
"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take siestas with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. We have a full life."
The tourist interrupted: "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!
You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat." "And after that?"
"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one
and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man,
you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant.
You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles , or even New York City ! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."
"How long would that take?" "Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist. "And after that?" "Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting, "
answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"
"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.
"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."And the moral of this story is:
........ Know where you're going in life. You may already be there!!
The time has cometh... andwe get to move into our own house! This is an old farmhouse in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04) and has been home to various tenants over the last 100 or so years. Originally a sheep barn this is where the kitchen is nowadays. Yesterday we discovered next door in the 'grange' the horse barn, still with the feeding trough and hay rack in place! So this is an old structure, entirely built in stone, but over the years many things have been added, most likely not with the types of materials we would have chosen.
So it is up to us to make improvements and do what we can to make our lives in this wonderful home as pleasant for us as possible.
That is why we use all-natural cleaning products, with ingredients straight out of the kitchen cupboard. To give your home a pleasant scent at the same time simply add lavender or teatree essential oil.
windows: Previously we had tried using vinegar and water only but that always left the windows a bit dull and streaky. I then read about the reason: it is the waxy residue from commercial (aka blue colored) window cleaners! So the first cleaning cycle should include liquid soap, to get rid of that waxy residue: 2 parts water, 1/4 part vinegar, up to 1/2 part liquid soap. For the second and following cleaning cycles, simply omit the liquid soap or use this recipe: 1 part vinegar, 1 part lemon juice and 1/2 part water. Simply use a spray bottle for this and afterwards use newspaper to wipe windows and mirrors dry. Voilá, it works!
bath tub: We inherited an acrylic bathtub in 'English rose' color with a bit of soapy residue and limescale, courtesy of the previous owner. What works really well is baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) : mix baking soda and water until you get a frosting-like substance, then scour the bathtub with it.
fixtures: Put rubbing alcohol on a cloth and leave to evaporate, do not rinse!
tiles: Use 1 part vinegar to 4 parts warm water and wipe onto tiles. For the grout use vinegar straight up and scrub with an old tooth brush or put in a spray bottle and wipe tiles after 2 minutes.
toilet: Pour vinegar into the toilet bowl. Leave for 30 minutes then take a toilet brush, dip into the toilet to wet and some baking soda onto the brush. Scour the inside of the toilet with the brush repeating the sprinkle procedure until the baking soda is gone…..voila, clean toilet!
Mind you: doing all these chores under the Provencal sun makes it a lot of fun!
The second week of August - a very hot time of year in the Var - we set off to the Drome Provencal, somewhere one hour's drive from the nearest exit of the autoroute (Loriol), in search for cooler temperatures and an interesting experience of helping out at a farm. Through WWOOF (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) we had come across a small biological farm which produces its own vegetables and goats cheese! La Ferme du Pescher is nestled in the middle of a long valley, a 5 km drive on a forest road.
We were welcomed by Florence, who along with her husband Olivier (Olaf), are the founders of this assocation, which includes Florence as the cheese maker, Olaf the goat farmer, Olivier and Dany, the vegetable farmers and Nicolas, the future chicken farmer.
So we spent a week helping the different agriculteurs with their daily chores: gathering tomatoes, courgettes, green peppers, cantaloupes (yummy!), carrots and whatever was in season, to be sold at markets or at a small co-op store near Montelimar.
Jim helped out at the fromagerie and after 3 days was given the full responsibility, to make the cheeses in the morning and turn in the evening, so that they would be ready the following day.
Claudia worked every morning with one of the two vegetable farmers in gathering food for the various outlets, like farmer's market or shop.
The way it works is that we got free lodging in a big caravan, away from the other guests who pay to stay in yurtes, tipis or chalets; we also got free food which meant that we would go off with our little basket and search the fields for ingredients for delicious meals, fresh from the garden! What a delight, to be able to make ratatouille the way it was intended to be. A green salad with tomatoes, garlic and onions, straight from Mother Earth. To eat goats cheese fresh from the fromagerie.
It was a wonderful experience, to be able to help on such a small farm, to be included in the daily life and find out about people's motivation to live such a life style: away from the stress of most people's everyday lifes, to live by the moon calendar as much as possible and treat the world kindly, to learn from the experiences of others and to meet people who are willing to share them with you.
Back in the Provence we look back onto this week with a smile on our face!
Ratatouille is as Provençal as lavender and its blue sky above. It simply combines all the delicious vegetables which are ripe in the summer, allowing for the full flavor to develop by letting it simmer for almost two hours. Best served in the pot, along with some fresh country bread: in Provence bread is eaten along the main course and to soak up the sauce on the plate.
serves 4 - 6
Use a heavy cast-iron pot like Le Creusset, with fitting lid to trap the vapor during cooking
500g potatoes
5 medium-sized carrots
1 red or yellow large onion
2 large courgettes
200g string beans
3 medium-sized or 5 small tomatoes, ripe and juicy
4 cloves of garlic
5 sprigs of thyme or 1 full teaspoon dried
fresh bread or baguette or lightly toasted in a pan
Fry onions and garlic first, then add all vegetables chopped in bite-sized pieces and layer them according to the list of ingredients above, with the hardest vegetable on the bottom. Add some water if necessary or possibly some white wine. Allow to cook covered on gas mark 2 for 1 hour, then reduce to gas mark 1 for another 45 minutes. Stir only occasionally and very gently.
