After a three hour train ride, a four hour wait for our bus, and a confusing bus ride that ended with us missing our stop, we finally arrived in the tiny town of Thurins, France. This small town is home to the organic vegetable farm we connected with through WWOOF. For those unfamiliar with this organization, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms is a way for anyone interested in learning about organic farming to experience it first hand. Dozens of countries around the world run their own version of WWOOF, and each allows organic farms to post information about themselves on an internet database. Interested travelers can then join the country's chapter and connect with the farms.
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| A view from the farm of the Rhone Valley |
We decided that we wanted to work on a fairly small farm or vineyard so that we could get to know the owners and learn about the ins and outs of running an organic farm. This farm is in the Rhone valley, about 20 miles outside of Lyon, and has a countryside similar to that of Tuscany in Italy - rolling hills, small villages, and dotted farms. The farmers we stayed with are a young couple that started three years ago after taking over some family land. They decided to become certified organic (EcoCert in France) to respect the environment and those who ate from their farm. Each season and year bring different produce to the farm and during our stay we have seen lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, radishes, raspberries, cherries, leeks, potatoes, carrots, green beens, peas, and eggplant being grown or harvested as well as eggs from over 200 hens.
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| A neighboring farm using high tunnels to extend the growing seasons. |
While this is an ideal and picturesque setting, the work we have done on the farm is of a true farmhand. During our week here, we have come to appreciate the difficulties of organic farming and thus why it costs more than conventional methods. We have pulled out hundreds of weeds by hand (something conventional farms use chemicals for), planted thousands of leeks using traditional methods, pruned hundreds of tomato plants (not necessary when using genetically modified seeds), and preserved fruits for the winter time so the family can eat seasonally and not purchase food from outside the community. While this certainly has not been easy work, we have learned a lot in the process and learned to appreciate those farmers and workers who spend countless extra hours working in fields to provide the rest of us with safe and healthy food.
Speaking of food, we have loved being able to eat fruits and vegetables literally from farm to table (or sometimes straight from tree to mouth as is the case with the multitude of cherries we have eaten off the trees during our breaks). Breakfasts consist of bread from local bakeries, preserves from last years harvest, delicious French butter, eggs from the farm, and yogurt. Lunches begin with fresh cut salad and homemade mustard vinaigrette, local bread and amazing French cheese (normally from local producers or chevre from the farm next door), and seasonal vegetables prepared various ways.
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| One of our first dinners using produce from our farm. |
The farm owners' evenings are often filled with selling at local markets, delivering produce to their 200 plus CSA participants, and getting their two-year-old to bed (in a few months they will have a newborn to add to this mix - we can't begin to imagine what evenings will look like then). As a result, we are able to enjoy quiet evenings to ourselves to cook dinner with produce from the farm. Each day we take whatever was freshly harvested and a fresh loaf of bread. We have greatly enjoyed being able to work with such fresh and flavorful ingredients and made some delicious meals. One of our most memorable has been an omelette with eggs, zucchini, and potatoes from the farm, French brie, and a salad of lettuce and radishes, also from the farm. And of course, since we are in France, a crusty baguette round things out.
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| Our omelette and salad made with farm-fresh produce. |
This truly has been a memorable experience and we have learned some important things. We don't want to be farmers when we grow up, but will forever appreciate those who are and those who are leading the way on sustainable farming methods. There is no substitute, though, for fresh produce, and we know that when we can we will have a garden of our own to grow some of our daily food.
We have a few more days left on the farm, and then we are off to explore Lyon, southern France, and the northwest Italian coast before arriving at our next farm. Stay tuned to see where these adventures take us and the food we enjoy along the way.
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| Another view we will not soon forget. |
