In Front of La Chapelle du Mont St. Jean with the Renault
Summer
Izzy’s Le Vignaud
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.
August Update
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…
Garden Harvest
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.
July Gardening Update
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.
Cherry Pickin’
I said to the [cherry] tree,
Sister, speak to me of Beauty.
And the [cherry] tree blossomed.
–Nikos Kazantzakis
Cherry Blossoms, Early March
Since late March when the cherry trees around the village bust into an amazing display of white or pink blossoms, we have been waiting and watching for the payoff.
Well, the time has finally come and we’ve been stuffed with cherries, filled buckets, pie pans, and jam jars and there’s no end in sight.
Just to Prove That They Really Existed.
People take pictures of the Summer,
Just in case someone thought they had missed it,
And to proved that it really existed.
-The Kinks
Summer is here and the garden is full. It’s a wonderful time of year to be in Le Vignaud, and living off the land becomes easier, healthier, and oh so enjoyable. Cherry trees are full this time of year, mushrooms are popping in the woods, and all the fresh veggies you can eat are at your fingertips.
It’s oh so hard to believe that back in cold, grey February a few friends started digging the muddy French soil and now a few months down the road there’s a garden full of beautiful food for many people. Friends have come and gone, each having put a hand to help the garden along; Some have eaten, some have cooked, but I hope all have learned and enjoyed this experience. For me it has truly been special, looking back a few months and now suddenly nature has worked her wonders on the rich earth and we are blessed with its bounty. I have been eating dailiy from the garden for a few months now, but it is only now coming into it’s full prime. Even the tomatoes are near ripe…
Hey Clint, remember this?
June Gardening Update
First Zucchini Flower
In June the garden was filling out and growing fast with plenty of rain and warm weather. The peas really took over and I discovered a whole new world inside those tiny green pods. I had never really known what a pea tasted like before June 2009, but I made up for it with kilo after kilo smothered in butter and a bit of garlic… The Zucchini plants began to flower; There were some tiny green tomatoes forming, and peas, cabbage, beets, and carrots were not long from harvest time.
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