We picked up the door way back in the middle of September. Odette told me there was an old door that the now deceased neighbor had long ago given to her now deceased husband that she had always thought would look great on the house. I didn’t expect much, but we went over to rummage in the barn and found this beautiful old door, made by hand of solid oak. The years had made their mark, but nothing a fresh coat of Le Vignaud Blue couldn’t fix.

Lena and Clint both spent some time sanding off the old paint, and Clint also started painting the bars during his visit. Later, I ended up stripping the old paint off the door completely, when I realized no amount of sanding would ever get the ten or so layers out of all the cracks. I also shortened the frame, adding a small window above, and shortened the door itself a few centimeters for it to fit. Hanging the door was a little difficult, as I had to hand the whole frame with the door attached since the beams in the kitchen are too low to lift the door from the hinges once it’s in place. The fit was perfect- just a few millimeters on top and botton, it passed perfectly between the beams and the floor! No more terrible scratching noise (if you ever opened the old door, you have that sound etched in your mind forever!) when you open it! Then, a few coats of paint later, and some new hardware and it looks and feels like new… I may have shocked the neighbors a bit with the ultra-blue look, but the change it brought to the house was incredible. The new door along with the new roof, totally changed the house from what it looked like just two months earlier.

Gallery:

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

Yup, count ‘em- that’s almost SIX WEEKS of roofing, and you get to enjoy it all in a matter of seconds from the convenience of your home. I know everyone has been waiting for months for this! The thing is, when you live in a house with no electricity, encoding video, editing photos, and Facebook status updates happily fade away into non-existence. You’ve all been rewarded for waiting so long though with a very in-depth and media-rich experience brought to you by the kind folks at Le Vignaud Productions.

In the Begining

Now What??

Lena and I began pulling tiles down back in mid-September, the day after our visitors from Germany had left. I had originally estimated we may be able to finish the project in about three weeks, tackling it in three smaller sections, so about one week per 4m section… It took much longer than I had expected, but luckily we were blessed with beautiful fall weather all throughout October. The first few days went relatively smoothly: Tearing down the vines that had covered the roof, taking down the old tiles, and removing the old battens and rafters. It wasn’t until we made it to the point that we actually had to start building the new roof that we bagan to run into problems.

First of all, the outside wall had a taken on a bit of water damage from where the vines had been- they had worked their way in between the tiles and allowed water to seep into the lime mortar which makes it very unstable. So the walls had to be re-built with fresh mortar along the eves and gables. Second obstacle: The house is more than 100 years old which obviously means it was built long before the earth had a clearly measurable gravity field. Of course, I spent a considerable amount of time trying to find the perfect ‘level’ anyway. In the end, the most practical solution (that didn’t involve actually moving the oak beams) was to simply level each individual rafter with small wood spacers between the rafter and the beam. This made the whole process of installing the rafters much more laborious and slow, but in the end the roof line looks much better for it!

'Chien-assis' Window Structure

Next up: The construction of our very special and totally ‘custom designed’ Chien-assis windows. First of all, I had very limited tools available. Therefore, these windows had to be constructed using a variety of highly advanced carpentry methods. That is, I had to build them by hand, with my trusty hand saw and a protractor. Second of all, I am not a roofer. I had no idea how this was supposed to work, much less how to make them both structurally sound and watertight! I had to take what was only a vague idea in my head, put it down on paper, and then proceed to design and build it having to overcome many obstacles as I came to them. I would venture to say that the addition of the two small windows added easily two to three weeks to the total project- Firstly in the physical construction of the window frames and underlying structure, secondly in flashing and waterproofing, and finally in literally hours spent cutting tiles to fit both the windows and the underlying vallies. If it wasn’t for these tiny windows, we could have easily finished in just three weeks. Was it worth it? Who knows…

Lena, wearing her safety glasses after cutting tiles

Lena was with me to help during the first two weeks of the roofing project, and I am happy to say she passed the test! Even the neighbors were impressed how hard she worked, on the roof laying rafters, from the ground cutting tiles, and up and down the latter carrying tiles. Unfortunately, Lena decided she wanted to graduate instead of helping me finish the roof, and so had to head back to Germany leaving me to cope with the last two-thirds of our new project all on my own! If it wasn’t already hard enough, I can assure you, it was certainly MUCH harder to build a roof completely alone. I now had to climb up and down the ladder at least 7,000 extra times per day, not to mention there are just some things that are not practical with only two hands!

Placing the First Tiles

Once I was finally able to get past the first dormer window, things moved a bit quicker though- Section two took only half the time as section one even though it was larger; I saved a lot of time since it was a straight shot all the way across until window number two got in the way on the other side! That’s not to say it was without problems though: After we uncovered the old roof and had a look at the beams underneath, I found a very large rotted section which was also infested with ‘capricorn’ beetle larvae. These guys aren’t as bad as termites, but they had definitely managed to eat away a huge hole in the central structure of my roof over the past 50 years or so… I lost another three days removing the old rotted wood and replacing the damaged section with a new beam and then reinforced with concrete and stone.

I had managed to lay all the underlying structure for the second section by the time Clint arrived. He then helped me to put up the tiles for this middle section and then take down the tiles for the last section before he left and I was once again on my own. Section three was the most complicated of all: I was once again alone, and had not only another window to install and work around, but also the chimney, as well as the final edge of the roof wich required a lot of tile cutting to make everything fall into place correctly. This is when I really started to lose it- the weeks of sleeplessness and 10-hour workdays up and down the latter hundreds of time had certainly taken its toll. It was an uphill fight to not throw myself off the roof towards the end, I wanted it to be over so badly! I turned 27 on October 24th on my roof, during a 12-hour day pushing so hard to finish. I worked that night until I couldn’t see, but due to inclement weather conditions the next few days, the final tile was not laid until the 29th.

Finished. Finally Finished.

That night, I was surprised to be invited to the neighbors’ house where everyone had gathered to celebrate. After a few whiskeys, the last few weeks of non-stop work seemed to fade away and all I remembered was that I finally had a roof over my head. The finished roof made me truly appreciate for the first time the full potential of the house- It allowed me to look at in in a whole new way, and realize the beauty in this little building that I had missed before. It was an incredible amount of work, but in the end I am very satisfied with the results. For the first time, I feel like I can respectably call this old pile of stones a house… I can look forward to what it can become, and look back on all the work that got us here.

Slideshow:

(click images for larger view)

• In the Begining

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• There's a Hole in the Roof

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• Lena Broke the Roof

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• Now What??

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• Lena Nailing the First Chevron

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• Chevrons and a Little Window

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• Section 1: Structure: Complete

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• View From the Attic

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• Insulation and Lattes

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• Lattes, Ready for Tiles

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• Safety First

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• Lena Placing the First Tiles

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• One Square Meter

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• Section One Complete

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• Looking Good!

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• Capricorn Larvae

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• Rot Damage

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• Rot Damage Repaired

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• Weathering the Storm

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• Construction Site

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• Section Two Ready for Tiles

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• Tiles Going Up

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• Mortar on the Ridge Caps

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• Cutting Tiles

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• Action Shot on the Ridge-Line

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• Glorious Ridge-line View

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• Clint's Last Day

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• Approaching Storm

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• Last Section

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• Chevrons Section Three

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• Tiles Going Up, Getting Close Now!

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• Almost There...

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• Finished. Finally Finished.

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• Beautiful New Roof

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• Inside the Attic, Ready for Cielings

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• Beautiful New Roof, Beautiful Fall Weather

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Konrad under one of the giant stones at Les Pierres Jaumetres

Les Verrines’ youngest member gets his spotlight! Konrad came to visit with his mom Anika and his friend Josie for ten days and helped with a few projects, swam, ate gummy bears, and played. Konrad even got his “Petit Chevalier” certificate in his young knight training course.

Konrad, Petit Chevalier

Group portrait in front of La Chapelle du Mas St. Jean

Konrad also loves to dance. He starts to break out some really special moves about a minute in:

[See post to watch Flash video]

Thanks for visiting, Konrad! Bring your friends again next summer! Thanks Anika for some great photos… =)

Konrad, Anika, and Josie had just just shown up to spend a few days kickin’ back and enjoying the French countryside. I didn’t wait long to put them to work cleaning one of the last of the ‘big messes’ that had been bothering me since we arrived!

Anika Shoveling Coal

A little background: The ‘house’ (if you can call it that?) was actually not a house originally… You could say it was a sort of a stable… where pigs lived. Okay, it was a pigsty to be exact. So, in the the front of the house is a small front yard which at one time is where the pigs ran around, and were fed. Along side the wall is a long, narrow feeding-trough made of giant granite stones sunk into the ground. Over the years this was filled with all manner of rubbish, plastic, rusted metal, a TV antenna, a mountain of rotten wood, and enough coal to fire a locomotive from Cannes to Caen. It didn’t take long for the expert crew to clear out all the mess, tear up the soil, uproot the nettles and briars, and turn a trash pile into our first garden at the new house…

Konrad and Lena planting Lettuce

It’s not much, but it’s certainly better than a pile of rotting wood covered in trash! We were able to plant a few flowers, and our master gardener Konrad set to work sewing our first crop- a batch of Lettuce. It was his first time planting lettuce, and when we told him he could actually eat it later, he was less than impressed. He tasted a leaf and said, “It tastes like grass!” before heading off to find more snails!

Every year in the summer, the gardens are full of plenty of fresh vegetables of all kinds- Even though we had no garden of our own this year, the neighbors are always happy to help out and ensure that we get our daily ration of veggies. Perhaps the most prolific of all is the lowly courgette (zucchini)… They come in all shapes and sizes, for all tastes and purposes. Throughout the whole summer, there are courgettes all over the village and they grow so fast, no one can possibly eat them all. Needless to say, we went through a LOT of courgettes over this summer and have had to literally invent new ways to eat them- Courgette bread, courgette jam, courgette clafoutis, courgette soup, courgette gratin, and the list goes on!

This year’s prize for the biggest courgette EVER goes to Sebastian who brought me this giant- just in time for our new visitors’ arrival! Lucky them. It took five people at least three meals to eat this whole monster!

Lena, Ready for Action

Although this post is titled ‘First Things First’ it’s important to note that we had already done quite a lot of work to make it to this point! This was already our third trip to the ‘new’ house- twice last year, just CLEANING, killing the ivy growing up the walls, cutting down the mess of vines and brambles in the yard. This time around we had already been back for over a month- Once again cutting down all the mess that had grown up while we were gone, making our weekly trips to the Déchèterie with loads of trash, stripping the old yellow wallpaper from the walls and doing drywall, and various other projects.

But- First things first, we needed a toilet! We also needed a shower… So I set about to build a Dry Composting Toilet system and an outdoor solar shower. Of course, the ol’ bucket system just wouldn’t cut it. I wanted something that would not only be functional, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective, but also something that would look nice and pass even the most discriminating of tastes. I broke out the woodworking kit and got to work building a toilet that one might even describe as… beautiful?

Composting Toilet

The toilet concept is actually very simple: Human wastes are combined with a cover material, such as chopped straw or sawdust. We use sawdust since it is readily available, and seems to be ideal in terms of a fresh, pleasant smell as well as being a superb compost additive. When the toilet container is full, it’s emptied in the outdoor compost bin for composting. The compost materials and any pathogens are broken down through thermophilic composting, and after one year the compost is actually safe to use in the garden or around the yard. The composting toilet system uses, NO WATER, is very environmentally friendly (goodbye dirty septic tanks!), and is, one might even say: A pleasure to use. Seriously, I love it.

I also built a Solar Composting Shower setup to use during the warm summer months. This was fairly simple, just a hole in the ground filled with straw, which acts as compost, on top of which sits the shower structure. The straw under the shower acts as a filter for the soap and oil residues, which are then broken down over time through thermophilic composting. Thanks, nature! The view from the shower is great, looking out over the meadow and the woods beyond, and after a hot, sweaty day of work it’s just about perfect. After a month with nothing but bowls of water to dump over the head it definitely felt like luxury living!

In Front of La Chapelle du Mont St. Jean with the Renault

This was a BIG deal. I have never, NEVER in my life, spent this much money at once… Especially on something I can’t use to make photographs!

These weren’t just any tiles, either.

The story goes: Once upon a time, there was a Chateau. This chateau was built a very long time ago in a town called Jarnages. So long ago actually, that the roof had begun to fall apart! So, the French government stepped in and put up a lot of money to put a beautiful new roof on the Chateau. And of course, a chateau certainly can’t be clothed with just any old tiles! NO, a chateau must have special tiles, approved by the bureaucratic powers-that-be to conform to standards of beauty appropriate for preserving the heritage and patrimony of France! But of couse… France being France, only half of the roof of the beautiful chateau was ever finished, while the owner awaiting his FEMA check to complete the other half. (In the mean time, a certain American came along who needed some very special tiles for his own chateau. And he wasn’t going to wait for government bail-outs…)

It was a big decision. Lena and I debated about for at least a month before finally deciding to go for it. It was a lot of money. How would we even move seven tons of tiles from Jarnages to the house? Not to mention, someone would have to put them on the roof…

Luckily, Alexandre kindly offered to undertake the massive job of getting the tiles home. This made the decision a little easier knowing that he was willing to take on the biggest obstacle in terms of physically getting the tiles to the house. We woke early that morning and rushed to the bank to make some financial arrangements before meeting him on his farm in time for lunch. We ate quickly and then set off to Jarnages, about 45km away, by tractor… pulling a 20-ton hay trailer behind.

Once we arrived at our destination (at 45km/h maximum), loading the tiles went fairly smoothly. Then we began the long journey home with seven tons of tiles behind the tractor. I followed in the truck so that I could watch in case anything were to go wrong (though Alexandre never told me what I was supposed to do if something did happen). After a small problem with my tire, and an exhausting drive home, we reached the village and created quite a commotion with all the neighbors when they saw our little convoy pull up. Alexandre’s father had met us at the house with a second tractor equipped with a fork to unload the palettes from the trailer and deliver them to the yard. We almost had to abandon the project and leave the palettes along the road-side when it seemed like the tractor wouldn’t fit through the space between the buildings to make it into the front yard. Luckily though, our friendly neighbor Guy showed up to save the day- He works in shipping and logistics, so technically he qualifies as a trained professional. He helped guide the tractor through the tight space (minus the side-view mirrors), which passed with only centimeters on each side!

At the end of the day, thanks to Alexandre’s excellent tractor-driving skills (certainly not anyone could have done it!) all the tiles made it in one piece… I was too nervous to even watch through the whole ordeal and after an afternoon of watching thousands of euros hover in the air waiting to crash down and smash into little pieces, my nerves were shot! Once again, Guy had just the solution- A nice apéritif with a double shot of whisky to calm the nerves to finish off a long day.

For some inspiration of what’s to come:

Chateau de Jarnages

Sunflowers in Creuse

Jason and Jeanine

Admittedly, the house was in pretty wicked shape when we got back- It’s been over a year since anyone has been inside, or cut the grass! This was what we were greeted by when we drove up… Not exactly the prettiest sight, but it’s more or less what I had expected. Looks like we’ll be spending the next few weeks chopping, and cutting, and burning- before we’ll even be able to begin the real work!

Listing # BLZ119
Price €149,900
Approx. Sq. Meters: 102
Bed/Bath: 2 / 1
Approx. Acreage: 3.29
-Nature’s beauty and end of the road privacy makes this 2/1 cottage with detached woodshed and three caves a special part of this enchanted forest. A dream great room to spend many happy moments, a patio area surrounded by stone wall and wooded privacy. Summer cottage or year round home, you choose. A sense of comfort and warmth will capture you as you enter this home – be prepared to enjoy!

Virtual Tour

Features:

STYLE: 1 Story Cottage/Bungalow
EXTERIOR FINISH: Stone
STORAGE: 3 Cave Storage Cellars
FLOORS: Ceramic Tile, Vinyl, Cement
ROOF: Vintage Ceramic Tile
HEATING: Wood Fire
WATER: Natural Spring
SEWER: Septic
YEAR BUILT: 1917
INTERIOR FEATURES: Master Bedroom, Furnished Kitchen, Finished Ceiling Beams, Split BR Plan, Water Heater
EXTERIOR FEATURES: Stone, Large Garden, Workshop, Woodshed
APPLIANCES: Gas Oven/Range, Oil Lamp, Candles
LOT DESCRIPTION: Long Range View, Rolling, Trees, Winter View, Wooded and Prairie Land with Large Vegetable Garden

Local Map

View Les Verrines in a larger map

When one time’s just not enough…

Winter gray and falling rain, we’ll see summer come again,
Darkness falls and seasons change (gonna happen every time).

Lena and I head back to La Creuse to start fresh… As if I hadn’t learned my lesson the first time around. March, 2010.

Intimacy with another country is ripened by pleasures but also by loneliness and error. It is nurtured through long wet winters as well as radiant days.

–Shirley Hazzard, Italian Hours

Le Vignaud, 2 November 2008

It’s been quite a while since I have had the time to write or share any photos on the website- things have been busy over the past few months. Needless to say, I have plenty of stories and photos to share! I should have regular internet access coming soon, so expect to have some new updates on the way…

. . . . .

One year has passed since I drove from Germany in a rickety old Renault truck, bound for my tiny village in France. It has been a wonderful ride- I have made life-long friends, followed a longstanding dream, overcome many obstacles, and fallen to others. But through all the cold, the rain, the sunshine, the good food, the up and the downs, I wouldn’t trade a day of the last year for anything else.

I could never imagined that when I first walked into Le Vignaud over seven years ago (!) that I would one day come back to experience it in the way that I now know it. I know every footpath, many trees, the fields, and the lake better than any others in any other place in the world. This little village has become my home more than any other place has ever been. The people here have become more than friends, they have a permanent part of my family. They have helped me in ways that I could never have hoped for or expected. It’s a hard feeling to describe…

There have likely been as many hard times here as good ones. Many cold, lonely nights. Lots of worries, lots of aggravations, lots of heart break. But along with all of those difficulties have been many wonderful sunny afternoons, picnics in the clover patch that we planted back in February, the satisfaction of completing many wonderful projects. All these experiences combine to form somewhat of a strange void in my memory and in my heart. There is so much emotion and mixed feelings, it can be hard to come to terms one way or another with what I have experienced here.

One thing I do know for sure, is that this past year had changed me in so many ways. I have learned and grown so much, and I am happy to see those changes. This experience will stick with me for the rest of my life, and as I have mentioned before, I hope that it is also something that has changed the lives of others as well. I have been told many times by the people here that I have made a positive impact on this little community. That is a start. But also I hope that I have at the very least provided some new questions for myself and for everyone else who has followed along; even if the answers are still vague.

This is my home… And no matter where life’s winds will blow me from here, the seeds have been planted. It will always be a part of me. The land, the people, and the lessons will follow me where ever my feet may take me next. Every time I go away, I miss this place. When I return I take a deep breath and bask in the familiar feelings and memories. My feet feel sure beneath me here; the ground they tread is welcoming…

Breathes there the man, with soul dead…
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d
As home his footsteps he hath turn’d
From wandering on a foreign strand!

–Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

Thank you once again to EVERYONE who has taken part in this experience. For better or worse, you have all been an incredibly important part of making it happen. I hold no regrets.

Thank you,
Jason

Le Vignaud, 2 November 2009

Jason’s decision set off a series of events and adventures in my own life, which most recently took to me to the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada. Burning Man was my own experience, but I still paid homage to its origin in my life.

On the base of the Man

One of the first things I did after arriving to Burning Man was walk over to the giant wooden effigy and leave my mark in Le Vignaud Blue. Nearly a week later, after the Man was just a pile of burning and smoldering ashes I threw in a 200 year old piece of oak, taken from an old roof beam in Le Vignaud.

At first I wasn’t sure why I put this memorial at the Man instead of the Temple. I think it’s because although Jason’s role in Le Vignaud may soon be at an end, the village itself and the few people living there will keep on truckin’. And who knows, maybe being burned with the Man as a symbol of rebirth will prove to be a bit of good luck for the little commune.

Yet another crazy collaborative effort that took a few months to complete! It’s worth the wait though… This is Izzy’s view of Le Vignaud from her visit back in June. I think it may be the most complete view of Le Vignaud yet available on the WWW. Of course nothing beats a visit in the real world, but this is about as close as it comes. She’s captured some great moments, and lots of nifty details about the place that have never been documented. This is one for the LV Historical Society Archives.

Including Guest appearences by Jeneane, Le Vieux Cochon, Jason, Genvieve, and The Rooster. Also, documenting important projects such as stair building, gardening, a trip to the lake, and finding buried treasure…

Watch BIGGER.

[See post to watch Flash video]

Some Highlights:

We're having a party tonight

This doesn’t have so much specifically to do with Le Vignaud, but somehow I feel it’s appropriate. There have been so many struggles in the past year–the difficulty of Jason and I separating, his move to France and ongoing complications with the house, and my six month odyssey that, at first, orbited around him. It’s been a year now since that fateful trip to the desert. Jason is in Europe with a car and possibly a house. I’m back on Wilson Drive and preparing for my own Burning Man adventure. But through it all we’ve had redbeans.

There was my 22 birthday, when Jason made a big pot of redbeans and we fed 17 people, all sitting on the steps of my front porch and laughing. There was the time I was WWOOFing in France and cooked a pot of beans, partly to show my gratitude to the family who had taken me in but also to feel connected to my warm sunny home half a world away. There was the pot of beans I cooked at Izzy’s house in Prague: it was a celebration of friends and a recreation of our Louisiana lives. Both of those meals involved failed attempts at biscuits. Later in Bonnat, Jason and I cooked an especially large pot of beans, with bay leaves picked from the tree in the backyard. We shared it with our new friends on Gigi’s birthday, and the next day he brought the food to his friend Breton, another Louisiana girl who had been stuck in a Parisian hospital. Luckily, that time my biscuits came out right, and I was glad to be able to share a bit of home.

So now I’m in my new home, just two doors down from my old blue house where we all had so much fun. Everything is familiar, but nothing is exactly the same. I have several pounds of beans simmering on my stove, waiting for tonight when 15 or so of my friends will come and join me for a meal. It’s such a New Orleans tradition, not just the food, but the act of using a pot of food as a nucleus for relationships. Tonight I’ll be completely immersed in my company as we feast and sweat on the back patio, but for a moment this morning, as I dropped the laurier into my giant pot, I couldn’t be sure where I was.

I cooked up a mess of beans to celebrate the new president while WWOOFing

Le Vignaud in August

August has finally arrived here in La Creuse. Surprisingly though the weather has so far remained mild, and we haven’t gotten the typically hot summer of past years. The lake is warm though, and every other day another fruit tree is ready to be harvested is some forgotten corner of the village. I’ve done my share of collecting, harvesting, digging, and eating all of the bounty that surrounds us in this time of year…

Of particular note, is the now finally completed Dandoodlies video which describes our first attempt at dandelion wine making here at Le Vignaud. This has been in the works for over three months now – along with the wine, and now both are ready for consumption.

Added yet another super excellent stop-motion video; This one’s of the Tour de France as it passed under the Glénic viaduct on Bastille Day.

Also, Cherry Picking occupied much of my time in late May and early June, and I’ve thrown together some thoughts about those experiences as well, including, Clafoutis and Confiture.

I have literally hundreds of photos from the past few months waiting to be picked through and a few stories to go along. I hope to be able to get some of that online over the next week or so while I happened to be ‘connected’ for the moment. I will be back-dating those articles, so please check back often, or even better- Subscribe Now.

Thank you once again to everyone for your continued show of love and support- both for me and this project in general. From family to friends, to neighbors and strangers; so many people have had a hand in this. I hope this project has been and will continue to be a source of inspiration in whatever form it may continue.

Love and light,
Jason

Click through for more photos…

Dandelion Fields at Malval

This post has been in the works since way back in April… Countless hours of editing and collaboration have been wasted bringing this to you now, four months later. So, please enjoy… more photos and stories hopefully to come soon.

Love, Jason

. . . . .

By Julianne Dodds

One day late in April we decided to drive up to Malval, where there is an old mill as well as ruins of a millennium-old castle. The fields on either side of the rural road were bright yellow, completely filled with dandelions. It was a beautiful sight: the sunny flowers are not really considered much of a weed in France and are allowed to grow sans herbicide. Penelope made a casual comment about making dandelion wine, but it really fired up Jason’s imagination. He’d never even heard of it before, but suddenly he had a new project.

Neither of us had ever tasted dandelion wine or made any wine before, but luckily Google had us taken care of. We found a few intriguing recipes which we then synthesized into one master recipe.

Juli in the Field

The next step was to pick our flowers. After running to the village thrift store for our genuine French costumes we headed out into a neighbor’s cow field.

Down the road and under the electric fence, carrying our baskets and wading out into the sea of yellow. It was charming to sit out in the sun and fill our baskets with flower heads. We would clear out an area of the largest flowers and then move on, leaving a trail of negative dandelion space in our wake. Watch out Robert Smithson, l’art de terre is about to get revolutionized.

Showing off the Bounty

Two hours of picking had our baskets overflowing. The sun was still up as we sat down for part two: removing the petals from the heads. Some recipes said this was unnecessary, but others said that leaving the greens would make the wine bitter. Better safe than sorry, we told ourselves. After about 30 minutes of plucking, Jason declared that I was better suited for the job, as my fingers were smaller and used to meticulous needlework. Yeah, right. The sun soon set as I sat at the kitchen table, plucking petal after petal. I felt like Horton sifting through a field of clover, searching for the one with his Who-filled speck of dust. Meanwhile, Jason was boiling the loose petals into a foul smelling dandelion juice. By the time all the bowls and tureens in the house were filled and covered, I had only gotten through about half the flowers we had picked. But at this point it was 3 AM and we had been working on the damn project for eight hours, and we didn’t have any more room for dandelion juice. With 10 liters of opaque yellow water we hauled ourselves up to bed.

A Harvest to be Proud Of!

Once the juice was completely infused with dandelion extract we had to strain the liquid. First we skimmed out the petals by hand, molding them into balls and squeezing out the water. Finally my tiny, delicate, very lady-like hands got a rest, as Jason’s work-worn hands could do this task much better than mine.

Once all the petals were removed we poured the juice into a 20 L plastic jug. We stretched my stockings over a filter to strain out as much pollen as possible. Then we added the rest of our ingredients: zest and juice from oranges and lemons, cloves, yeast, and about 7 kg sugar. We twisted the lid back over the mouth of the carboy and set it aside. Now all we had to do was wait for the wine.

After it had been fermenting for a few days it was time to move the wine into bottles. These had been saved and washed over many weeks.

The first task when it came to bottling was to make sure the bottles were properly cleaned and sterilized. Then the wine was filtered well, and the decanted into the bottles. The bottles then remain uncorked for eight to twelve weeks as the wine ferments. The fermentation process causes the release of carbon dioxide which can cause the bottles to explode if they are corked too soon. Once the fermentation process is completed, the wine is ready to be consumed and the bottle may be corked and allowed to ‘mellow’ further.

Continuing the Cycle

As the wine sat in uncorked bottles for weeks, many industrious ants met their maker in our sugary eau de morte, but c’est la vie. At one point we re-strained the bottles, pouring carefully to leave behind the settled pollen as well as the insect carcasses. The wine still had a while to go before the fermentation bubbles stopped rising, but it was time for me to leave France. I filled a 1L bottle with an air-releasing cork with the sweet yellow wine, wrapped it in my sweatshirt and extra clothes, and hoped for the best as I placed it in my checked suitcase. Luckily it survived its trip across the Atlantic quite well, and I was so excited to finally drink a glass. I waited until arriving in Maggie Valley, NC, to share it with Jason’s mom. It was so sweet and tangy: very delicious but I’m not sure what foods it would go with.

Some might say it wasn’t the best idea to make 24 bottles of a wine we’d never tasted before, but really they should know better than to give us that kind of advice. Not only did we make this mystery wine, we also documented the entire thing and made a stop-motion movie about the whole affair. So enjoy the film, and wait until next summer when my own Dandewine Americain will be vintaged.

Enjoy the low-res movie below, or if you prefer watch it in HD here.

[See post to watch Flash video]

Photo Gallery:

The Recipe:

Dandelion wine does not require any special equipment to make. Just dandelions, some sugar and yeast, oranges and lemons, and pots to boil water in. This recipe uses cloves and ginger, which I think give it a nice touch. If you have dandelions around, give it a try! We Made 20 liters- but you may want to start with smaller amounts… the recipe below will yield about 4 liters.

* 1 package dried yeast
* 50ml cup warm water
* 2 Liters dandelion blossoms
* 4 Liters water
* 250 ml orange juice
* 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
* 8 whole cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
* 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped orange peel
* 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped lemon peel
* 6 cups sugar

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Set aside.

Wash the dandelion blossoms well. Put them in the water with the orange, lemon and lime juices. Bring to a boil and continue to boil a few minutes. Let stand 24-48 hours, then strain and pour into large carboy or jug. Add the cloves, ginger, orange and lemon peel, and sugar. Shake well and then let it rest for one week while the fermentation begins. Then strain again and pour into bottles. Allow uncorked bottles to set in a darkened place for three to six weeks. Then cork and store bottles in a cool place.

Note: Choose dandelions from an open field far from any insecticide spraying. Pick early in the season when the leaves of the plant are still tender. Flowers that have just opened are best.

Enjoy your vintage and please consume reponsibly!

Potatoes in the Cave

Jeanine is an incredible lady- She’s 74 and has lived in Le Vignaud her entire life. When she asked me to help her dig her potatoes, I was more than happy to help. She is always giving me something, whether it’s fresh eggs from the chickens, or a nice warm meal in the evening on my way back from the garden and I’m always looking for an opportunity to reciprocate the generosity. She had about 200 or so ‘pieds’ of potatoes- some fifteen or so rows about three meters long each- all ready to be dug. She also has bad knees. The fact that she even planted them on her own is already amazing. Then, she surprised me once again when she held her own in the digging and dug row after row with no complaint.

This is yet another occasion I am proud to count myself among the ranks of these tough country people. The amount of potatoes we dug from the ground that day was astounding… But the fact that those potatoes will literally help Jeanine get through the Creusois winter is ever more amazing. The mindset is to use every part of the land to it’s best advantage when possible. During the summer, one grows and collects all he can so that in the winter he still needs little else.

Jeneane and Alexi in the Garden

Alexi Collecting the Potatoes

It may seem like such a simple act, but digging potatoes in the middle of France on one hot summer afternoon will long be counted among one of the very special things that this entire experience has brought to me. It is often the simplest of things that remind my why I am here, and what value there is in helping others whenever possible. It is for my own benefit that I help. It is satisfying in so many ways… Physical labor, time to think, working with friends, helping others, discovering culture, opening new doors.

Often I am conflicted with needing a purpose in life: a raison d’etre. But here, the life is simple. There’s a feeling that I get working in the fields or helping someone in even a very small way: It’s a feeling that there is no other place I am supposed to be at that moment. That I am exactly where I am meant to be, doing exactly what I am supposed to be using this short life for. It’s a feeling I have not felt often, or for very long. But in Le Vignaud, I feel it more often than not.

Thank You, Jeanine for giving me a home, a place to be, and a reason to be there.

Wonderful Winter Harvest

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Dirty Darren came by one Sunday afternoon to help with the garden. All the hard work was finally paying off, the garden was full, and it was time to begin the harvest. In late July, it’s time to pull and dry the onions, garlic, and shallots, as well as dig the potatoes. It was a great help to have an extra hand to harvest and pack kilo after kilo of these, which will hopefully last through the winter. There were also tomatoes, plenty of GIANT courgettes, beets, cucumbers, peppers, beans, and salad. I can’t help but to say again how incredible I find it that this much food can come from such a small piece of dirt, with truly minimal effort.

Finally Finished!

Those things are better which are perfected by nature than those which are finished by art.
-Ciccero

Back in February when we cleared out the yard, we built some steps up the front path near the mailbox. Still, on the opposite side of the yard near the house, there was another drop-off with no proper way down. I always felt bad when Jeneane would come over and she couldn’t come down into the lower yard. If she wanted to come into the house she had to go the long way around through the driveway. I had been promising her I’d build some stairs to get down to the house since probably November or December. This is the story of Jeneane’s stairs.

So, this is what I had to start with: A drop-off where the stone wall had fallen down which we had been using as a temporary passage. I wanted the new stairs to blend in as much as possible with the old wall, so I didn’t want to dig out too much of the existing structure. I wanted to build the new stairs using the structure and shape that were already in place; the idea was to merely edit it, using the same rocks that had already fallen to make it functional and aesthetically pleasing without destroying what nature had already created.

How it Begins

The first step was to clean up the existing ledge and begin to fit some new rocks in place. Once I found a pleasing combination, I began the mortar. I had to do it one stop at time to allow the mortar to set as I worked. It was hard work, digging, and moving rocks, but I found the challenge pleasing. I looked at it as a giant earthen jigsaw puzzle, which when finished would also be useful. To me this is the pinnacle of art: to create something functional and beautiful that (hopefully) no one will ever notice to be art. The real beauty in art is not believing that it’s art, but rather to make something indistinguishable from what it truly is.

First Steps

Earth's Jigsaw Puzzle

So once the stones were in place, I began the mortar. I used a mix of natural sand a lime. In a few months, this will take on a wonderful patina and blend nicely with the surrounding environment and the existing century old wall.

Another integral part of the project was incorporating the old bottles which we had dug up from the yard over the last few months. This was more than just using readily available materials: As explained before, sticking bottles in the ground was nothing new. Also, these bottles are part of the history of the house. Some of them are quite old, bearing the marks of various local beers, Pastis, oil, etc. All remnants of the time when the house was a small café and general store during the war. So to me, the bottles are beautiful, but they mean so much more. They are just another line from the poem we call history… lines that hopefully will be read again one day by future generations.

This was likely one of the last major projects I was to undertake at Le Vignaud. Do your work, then step back, I thought. I hoped that I would have at least left something beautiful and useful for whoever may come along next. I leave the rest to nature; To continue and to prefect my humble craft.

More Mortar

More Bottles to Come

Looking Down

Finally Finished!

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Holy Courgettes!

In July, the big words on the tongue of every gardener were Tomatoes and Courgettes. In fact, after a few weeks of all you can eat style stuffing our faces, it was a challenge to get rid of them faster than they were coming out of the garden. It was a wonderful problem to have. We all had to get creative thinking up new dishes and finding new friends to share all the wonderful things coming from the garden.

Once again the garden was amazing me with the incredible amount of food that it produced. In the case of courgettes, from one plant you should get a fully gown squash every other day or two. I had planted eight plants in Jeanine’s garden and by now they were full-sized and producing like mad. That meant plenty of Pain aux Courgettes, Soupe aux Courgettes, Omelettes, Farcie, and more. The tomatoes began to turn red across the village somewhere around July 14. Might have been a coincidence, but it really felt like summer and the tomatoes knew it too.

Shiny Green Cherry Tomatoes

Tomatoes on the Vine

Onion

The New Bottle Garden

The Bottles Continue

Front Garden

Gladiolas and Morning Glories

Photo Gallery

Bon Papa Brand Confiture

The wonderful cherry harvest was finally drawing to a close, and we had stuffed ourselves with as much of the fruit as possible before the rain the birds got to it. There still clung a few precious bundles of sweet fruit, and after three weeks of nearly daily visits to the cherry grove, I still wasn’t ready to surrender back to nature what remained of the year’s bounty.

After a few too many cherries eaten by the handful, eaten in pies, and in Clafoutis all over the village, there was still one rock left to uncover… Confiture.

The cherry harvest only lasts for a few weeks in the spring when there are literally more cherries than anyone can or would care to eat. Then, winter comes and the trees are bare- not a cherry to be seen for a few months at least. So, in just about every French home you will find a cave or a cupboard literally packed with amazing confitures, sirops, jellies, and preserves. In this way the amazing variety and surplus of fruit projects from warm spring and summer days, stores over the winter.

The were fruit trees all over the village unattended and full of ripe fruit. After the cherries, came the cassis and groseilles. Then, raspberries, and just recently the blackberries are growing into their name. Once word got out that there was ‘free labor’ available I had invites all over the village to come harvest what fruits I wanted, and I brewed up confitures of all colors. I started joking around the village that no one would need to buy Bonne Maman (local brand) anymore since I was around to fill up their old jam jars with fresh, organic, home-made, and super-delicious confiture of my own…

Now they call me Bon Papa.

Confiture is actually amazingly simple to make and doesn’t require and special equipment as canning does nor any of the elevated risks of improperly preserved foods. Simply wash the fruit well, cook over low heat until it is slightly soft and then add about 800g of sugar for ever 1000g of fruit. If you want to make jelly or remove pits and skins from the fruit, you can pass it through a vegetable mill and then add the sugar to the resulting juice. Then cook over low heart until the mixture begins to thicken, and add to sterilized jars while it’s still hot.

That’s it. Get out there and hit the local woods- those blackberries are waiting for the pickin’.

'Traditional' Cherry Clafoutis

Yes, there’s an exclamation mark in the title, that’s the way it needs to be.

Since late March when the cherry trees started blooming, I have been hearing about Clafoutis. Seems like every time the subject of cherries happens to come up (and often it is when the villages are all eying the multitude of cherry trees waiting for the fruit to ripen), a long conversation inevitably follows about how insanely delicious it is, how tasty it is, how fluffy it is, etc., etc., usually followed by a lot of lip smacking and drooling on the part of those in the know.

Unfortunately, I had never had the opportunity to goûter this specialty. Finally, the cherries everywhere were ripe and I waited patiently for the chance. I had been given a beautiful new oven (Thanks to the wonderful Mains family!) a few days previously, I had a couple buckets of cherries just sitting around, and Jeneane sealed the deal when she gave me the hook up on some amazingly fresh (still warm) eggs and a liter of unpasteurized milk. If I was ever going to try this famed delicacy, now was the time to do it.

Only one problem: Not only had I never baked or eaten one of these myself- I had never even seen one. I had only a vague idea of what it was like based on what I had heard from others, and that description was always pretty vague and mixed with more lip smacking and reminiscing on how damn good it was anyway…

“Make it like a crêpe batter and then add in the cherries and bake it.” This was the most definite description I had to go on… So, I got to work immediately.

In the end it turned out rather nicely- I was really afraid at first when the batter was all runny and it puffed up in the oven like it was going to explode. Then, when the crust was starting to brown it looked like the center was still an eggy mess… I just went with the flow and took it as it came. Sure enough, over the next few days my novice recette was tried and approved by Creusois everywhere. “Don’t change a thing,” I was told. I didn’t listen. I had to perfect it, and so over the next week I climbed the cherry tree daily looking for the freshest and sweetest fruit, lugged it back to my dirty kitchen and worked some magic. I think I’ve got it down, and solidified my reputation in the village in the process. This one’s a keeper…

So, here it is… Give this a try. It’s sooo worth it.

Cherry Clafoutis:

Four Eggs
50g Sugar
25g Butter (softened)
100g Flour
250ml Milk (or 125ml Milk and 125ml Cream)
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Cherries (lots of them- about 600-800g)

Mix first four ingredients in order. Then add milk slowly while stirring. Mix in vanilla and add to greased tarte pan and then gently lay cherries (float) on top of the batter. Bake in 180°C/350°F oven for about 30 minutes. When the outer edge is brown, it’s ready. Let it sit for about 15 minutes and eat while it’s still warm!

TIP: “Some purists strongly advise against de-pitting the cherries used in a clafoutis. According to them, the pits release a wonderful flavor when the dish is cooked. A traditional Limousin clafoutis contains pits. If the pits are removed, the clafoutis will be milder.”