Organic Vegetable Farming at La Grande Bastide: A vegetable-lover's paradise. Villelaure, Vaucluse, PACA (11 January - 4 February, 2015)

Back on track now after a 6-week pause!  Our first stop in the new year ('15) is an organic vegetable farm in Provence.  Here, Pierre and Françoise have created a CSA-based business (community-supported agriculture, known as AMAP in France) over the past 17 years on an old farmstead in the Durance river plain.  What makes this story interesting is that their daughter Solange is gradually taking over the running and operations of the farm, and we are in for a nearly 4-week stay, which will be our longest yet, and the first of this trip on a commercial organic farm...

THE PEOPLE:

Mr. Bodhi Fell himself, now nearly 20 months old, meeting one of La Grande Bastide's cats.

Gettin' familiar with the tractors, as usual.

Solange reads Bodhi a French childrens' book, Cachatrou.

George comes from the nearby village of Villelaure to volunteer on the farm several days a week, which he's been doing for over 10 years with his partner Mireille.  He and Bo get along like old pals.

L-R: Bo, Jeff, George, Solange, Mireille, Pierre.

Jeff and Bo clowning around on the farm.

A lunch to celebrate nearly a month together.  (L-R: Jeff, Katy, Solange, Mireille, Françoise, Pierre)

Mireille prepared this fabulous tartatin: a classic French dessert made from apples.

In good hands in Aix-en-Provence with Elena (Italy), Nora (Germany), and Mariana (Argentina).

Solange, planting cabbage.  We had lots to talk about with Solange, who spent nearly 4 years living in Buenos Aires, Argentina and who is gradually taking over the operations of the farm from her parents.  Her aim is to maintain the organic vegetable business while expanding the scope of La Grand Bastide to include partner projects involving the larger community.

THE PLACE:

Rosy daybreak in mid-January at La Grande Bastide.

The farm at a distance.

Our lodging here is actually a gîte during most of the year (a self-contained B-n-B).  For us, it was de luxe, with two bedrooms and a fully-equipped kitchen.

Katy reads Bo a story...

... and Bo careens about the gîte on his new balance bike, a christmas prezzie from Nana and Grandda.

All set for a ride.

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One of the dominant features of this farm is its use of greenhouses, of which there are many.

In a green world of spinach.

Plenty of gorgeous lettuce, even in January.

Bo knocks about the barn, which is used for storing root vegetables, mainly, and for vegetable cleaning and basket-preparation.

Muddy puddles!  High on the list of ultimate fun for Bodhi, nevermind the chilled temps of mid-winter.

The Durance River, about 150 meters from the farmhouse.

Jeff and Bo came down to the river nearly everyday for a walkabout.  Bo really started to get his off-road walking feet here.

Wild rosemary growing close to the Durance.

Running about in early-February snow-dusting.

THE WORK:

Jeff and Solange digging up carrots.

Pierre and Katy harvesting leeks.

The Harvest Crew: Mireille, Solange, George and Katy busy gathering spinach for the vegetable distributions.

Mid-morning tea-break with Mireille, Katy +Bo, and Pierre.

Bo was eager to help out, harvesting carrots here with Jeff...

... and knocking about the chard patch with Katy.

Bo hitchhikes with Mammy and Cyril, who is interning at the farm at the moment.

Truly, a dream come true: a tractor ride with Solange!

Spreading manure on the veggie fields, Solange lets Bo take the wheel and drive unassisted, which he did for like 5 minutes and refused to give it up!

Cleaning out the strawberry patch in evening moonlight.

Part of a broad selection of vegetables for the basket distribution.  Pictured are: cabbage, carrots, yellow turnips, Jerusalem artichoke and potatoes.  Other vegetables we harvested (and ate, of course) during our stay: celery, celery root, cabbage root, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, parsley, spinach, corn salad, batavia lettuce, rugula, white turnips, cilantro, cayenne pepper, garlic, leeks, butternut squash and potimarron, radishes, chard, and spring onions.  In January!

AB, one of France's organic-certification standards, to which La Grande Bastide adheres.

A Friday vegetable distribution, held at the farm and presided over by Solange.  AMAP members gather their own vegetable baskets.  La Grande Bastide does distributions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings all year round save mid-February to early April.  There are an average of 40-50 baskets per distribution, which implies a hefty vegetable production!  Hence all the greenhouses and associated fields.

Although most of the work we did at the farm was harvest-related (and greenhouse-maintenance tasks), we also had the opportunity to do some fresh planting: cabbage, fennel, and potatoes.

OUT AND ABOUT IN THE REGION:

Riding past vineyards in the countryside near Pertuis.

A sweeping view of Le Grand Luberon, the mountain range that dominates the landscape to the north of the Durance and one of Provence's compelling natural features.

Following in the footsteps of his parents, Bo wolfs down a pain au chocolat in nearby Pertuis.

These folks out for a Sunday ride near Villelaure.

The stunningly-situated village of Lauris.

Pastoral scenes on the Durance plain...

Sheep herding in confined quarters.

You could say that he is more-than-comfortable in his home-on-wheels by now. 

We hiked up into the Luberon for some clean mountain air.

Mammy and Bodhi picnicking on the mountain.

Not one to sit still for long, Bo was up to explore the trails.

The panoramic views back towards the Durance plain.

The nearby village of Cadenet...

After tractors, trains are definitely second on Bo's list of favorites.  Playing in the charming village of Lourmarin.

The medieval castle of Lourmarin.  Lourmarin was home to Albert Camus and he is buried there.

We used Lourmarin as a base to explore the nearby Luberon on a beautiful Sunday in mid-January...

... We were rewarded with astonishing panoramas extending to the Alps...

... and to the Mediterranean, with the Durance Valley in the midground.

Happy to be here at 600 meters elevation.

Bo gains his balance in whipping winds and heads off down the trail...

Our final weekend in the area we decided to pass in Aix-en-Provence, well-known as the home of Cezanne.

Le Cours Mirabeau, Aix's principal thoroughfare.

... plenty of wild embellishments on the palatial-like hotels that line the Mirabeau...

Bo found walking the pavement faster and easier than the muddy tracks at La Grande Bastide or the riverside pebbles of the Durance, and he proceeded to walk all over Aix.

Hopping in front of the Cathédrale Saint Sauveur.

Katy, Solange and Mariana at a soirée that Mariana organized with her flatmates, who graciously hosted us for a night in Aix.

The theme of the soirée was pizza and crepes.  Pictured here are all language teaching assistants from abroad placed in Aix public schools.  A great group of motivated and interesting folks from Italy, Spain, Germany, USA, Egypt, etc.

Mariana, Elena and Jeff + Bo in Aix's La Torse park.

Picnicking outside the Musée Granet, Aix's premier art musuem.

This nap started outside the Granet and continued inside, allowing Jeff and Katy over 90 minutes of peaceful art appreciation, a rarity...

One of our favorite paintings at the Granet, depicting a transhumance (mass seasonal herding) of goats in the nearby Camargues plains.