KGI GET TOGETHER....WHEN A MEETING IS ALL ABOUT FOOD....GROWING AND EATING

  Tuesday was the day I met the other Kitchen Garden International board members at a meeting at Roger's. There is Roger Doiron of course, Maya, who you met in my last post, David who brought bagels to heat up, and runs Turkey Hill (organic) Farm, Jan (pronounced Yan) who is originally from Belgium but now lives only 148 miles from Roger, and me.

We talked about all sorts of stuff..... plans and ideas and events and finances and of course stopped for coffee and the cake I made at Maya's as well as the hot bagels with whipped cream cheese and chives and then lunch outside in the sun.....

Later on we went to Turkey Hill Farm for a potluck dinner. David runs the farm which grows food for needy elderly folk in the area, as well as being an educational facility for school children and, next year, hopefully a place to go and see what you grow in small spaces, with a series of gardens suitable for any size home...great idea. David is also involved in the local Slow Food chapter and does an enormous amount for helping the local food cause. Roger had invited some of the loveliest people to dinner and I so enjoyed talking to all of them and would love to have more time with them one day.

 

It was an inspiring day.....in so many ways....I am not sure what else to say!

This morning I went for a walk before leaving for the airport....

The colours are stunning and the size of the trees amazing...

and the feeling of woods between the houses....and the squirrels so cute....

It was fabulous staying with Roger and Jacqueline; their friendship and hospitality were quite overwhelming and I do so hope they will bring their boys to visit us in Adelaide one day.

Now I am on the plane from Chicago to Seattle and my battery is nearly flat..... next stop Melinda's (One Green Generation)

Of course there are loads more photos in the link.

GROWING, COOKING AND EATING.....STILL !

I spent a lovely afternoon and evening with Maya, from KGI, and her family, who live about 15 minutes from Roger. On the way to their house we visited the Portland Head Lighthouse and did some shopping in the shop Pattie from Foodshed Planet is often writing about, Wholefoods.

On the one hand it is great to have access to lots of organic and some local foods in one gigantic shop but on the other hand it has caused quite a few smaller retailers to go out of business and Wholefoods seems intent on screwing down the prices they will pay farmers for their goods.

Maya's garden is one of those that is so perfect for the adventurous and creative child, with places to hide, to climb and construct. The vegetables meander here and there too and are like an adventure in themselves.

 

Then, of course, there was the cooking.... first the cake for the KGI meeting that I hadn't had time to make at Roger's, then some pickings from the garden and from Maya's CSA box.....with a splash of cumin, fennel seed and very local honey.

There was yet another new drink and several local products....Note the apron...from Eric's home town.

Thanks again to a lovely family and their wonderful hospitality...

 

 

At Wholefoods I bought the ingredients for my new favourite breakfast, common in France. It is plain yoghurt mixed with nuts, chopped dried figs and (curtesy of Teleri and Richard) chunky fig jam. Of course in France there is always also a selection of wonderful cheeses and some freshly baked bread.....but those things are why I have put on weight, so I am just having the first course from now on!

AUTUMN IN PARADISE

I am thinking of renaming this trip to Voyage to the Most Beautiful Places on Earth! Or Voyage to Meet the Nicest People on Earth ! Out of the 6 billion people and millions of destinations I am not sure how I came to be visiting people so interesting, friendly and hospitable as well as places so beautiful, historic and interesting! Here in Scarborough, Maine it is autumn.... just look at the photos of the trees in and near Roger's street....

Breathtaking....

 

I have been clamming.... digging up clams (about 5 times the size of cockles) from the beach at low tide....and Roger cooked them while Jacqueline made Belgian French fries with potatoes from the garden, which traditionally are served with mussels but hey, clams will do nicely. Excellent meal....I ate far too much...again!

Jacqueline cooked crepes for breakfast which we had with local maple syrup...very local.... the sugar maples grow in the streets and woods everywhere and are the most red of the deciduous trees in the photos above.

 

I spent the morning gardening alone in Roger's vegetable patch, listening to the birds and taking in the vibes.... I dug up the Belgian endive, trimmed them and put them in a bucket in the dark for regrowth. I weeded the strawberry patch....and nibbled on the salad greens....lovely.

 

Now I am going to make the apricot and chocolate chip cake that we often have at Wednesday gardening, for the KGI meeting tomorrow morning.....

FROM OXFORD, UK TO PORTLAND, USA....

I am sitting in the back seat of a small plane flying from Washington to Portland, Maine to stay with Roger from Kitchen Gardeners International for a few days. This plane reminds me of flying  TAA, our local airline in Adelaide, when I was a child. In those days the planes were small and noisy, like this one, and if you were a member of the Juniors Flying Club you could go up the front and talk to the pilot.....how things have changed!

I have had a few days off from vegetable gardens and even from taking photos.....after taking over 1000 photos in 3 weeks I needed a break! It was great to see Alex in Oxford and hear of the fun he is already having as he starts a PhD in computer science at Oxford University. The first thing I said when he showed me the back yard of the place where he is housed is that there is heaps of room for a vegetable garden! I think he will at least get some herbs and hopefully send me some photos! I am sure Teleri (Olives and Artichokes) could offer advice as she had quite a vegetable garden in Oxford a few years ago, and even a goat that she took for walks with the dog!

 

Well, I did visit something called a Herb Centre which was a bit of a flop but they had a good vegetable garden and view!

 

 

 

 

In an organic farm produce shop I came across they were selling all the regular vegetables and packaged organic foods like breakfast cereals and rice and so on and they had some organic seeds. I was a bit shocked to see F1 hybrids being sold there as organic. Although theoretically they could be organic I guess, it seems against the principles of organics to offer plants that have seeds that cannot be saved. I would not expect this to happen in Australia but I may be wrong.....(goodness this plane is SOOOO noisy....I wish I hadn't given up my good seat to someone whose friend was originally in this back seat!!)

I have been doing some shopping in quaint little English villages and finally found the Bronnley lemon soap my mother especially asked me to get for her! Plus I have bought a few other presents....some even for readers of this blog!

The traffic in the UK is horrendous and the motorways are groaning under the strain. In Adelaide we only have one road that you would call a motorway - the S.E.freeway and luckily it is a far cry from the hectic nature of traffic in the UK and the constant bottlenecks and noise. While I am on about numbers of people, South Australians would not believe Dulles Airport in Washington where 3 million people a day pass through! That is twice the population of our state, everyday! If you thought the Royal Adelaide Show was crowded, just walk down to any departure gate in this airport.....a solid throng of people as far as the eye can see. But the bloke making the announcements about what flights were leaving next was quite a comedian and had everyone laughing at his comments.

Anyway, here I am in the USA with my seeds all in tact..... now I wish I had brought more as I feared they would not be allowed in! It is getting on for midnight in UK time, where I left this morning, but I feel really good as the sun is shining here as it is only about 6pm..... I am looking forward to meeting Roger and I hope he has some dinner for me as this flight only has drinks....

SHE WHO HESTITATES GOES HUNGRY!

What I would like to know is how we in Australia, and in Adelaide in particular, came to have what we call a 'flat white' coffee. I have been away now for 3 weeks and a couple of days and despite a concerted effort to track down the perfect flat white coffee in England and France, have discovered that such a thing does not exist. Sure, the coffee in France is good, excellent even, but you can't get a flat white. At breakfast time it was usually cafe au lait being served. After that it was espresso. The list on offer in all the multitude of cafes I tried..... just for research, you understand.... was short: cafe (short black or espresso is what we would call it, in a tiny cup), cappuccino (which I think everyone knows), cafe au lait (short black with lots of hot milk, in a large cup) and noisette (a short black with a little hot milk, in a tiny or medium sized cup). The noisette was a good option, especially if I could get them to understand in my bad French that I wanted the milk in a small jug, so I could add just the right amount! My favourite coffee was actually at Teleri and Richard's in Gabian, where Richard, despite being from the UK (!!), made the perfect espresso and with the exactly right amount of hot milk to make me smile every time! He used Lavazza il supretto.

Our cafes in Adelaide are primarily run by Italian people and I do wonder if the flat white is an Italian  invention ... with just that right amount of agitation of the milk to thicken it, without turning it into cappuccino, but at the same time not leaving it thin.... and making the espresso strong and full-flavoured, with the double-roasted coffee beans that glisten, exuding an unmistakable aroma of richness and creating a feeling of anticipation, knowing that it will all culminate in a perfectly executed flat white.

There are 2 places I frequent in Adelaide that serve great coffee....Zuma's (in the Central Market) and Grimanldi's ( a cafe / restaurant on Greenhill Road opposite Burnside Village).

Of course all is forgiven in France because nothing compares with the French patisserie, where sweet delights are created, not merely cooked, and not only are a pleasure to behold but are so indulgently delicious that, although I have just had breakfast as I write this, I am dizzy with the memories of all the delicacies I have eaten as I researched the patisseries of France in earnest.

Then there is the boulangerie where one buys things made with yeast. This ranges from the quintessential French baguette, through a multitude of breads such as the epi, which are made to be eaten on the day and people are shocked if you suggest finishing off yesterday's bread! It is true what you see on TV.... French people out buying baguettes very early in the morning and riding home on their bikes with them in time for breakfast.

Of course one cannot forget the croissant. It deserves a paragraph of its own. Croissant dough comes in different shapes and sizes and can be rolled up with chocolate or raisins or several other things, and are all consumed for breakfast or later in the morning, on the whole. Since everything closes between about 12 and 2, you have to be quick to get your goodies from the boulangerie or patisserie and any decent shop will not have much left by the time the doors close and the bakers go out or go home for lunch! In the afternoon the range will be limited.

In Adelaide excellent croissants can be bought from Breadz'n'More at the market.... otherwise they are pretty ordinary, I find. In France they are generally excellent although I have had the odd one that is not, usually in touristy places. It is funny also how the restaurants and cafes will not serve you lunch after about 1.30!

So my suggestion to any would-be travellers to France is to get up very early, go out to the local boulangerie and patisserie and get your morning's food fresh, eat it immediately and be ready for lunch by 12.30! Save up for dinner....that requires another post of its own! Food comes first in France. He who hesitates goes hungry!

......I never hesitated....!!!

LE POTAGER D'UN CURIEUX

Every now and then I meet someone who inspires and amazes me with their passion for growing food and living in tune with their land. One such person is Jean-Luc Danneyrolles who is a gardener-philosopher who has started growing little-remembered plants and herbs,and lots of beautiful vegetables, common and rare. He sells his creations in the Apt marketplace on Sat. morning and opens his garden to visitors during the warmer months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He grows and sells seeds, flowers, plants and vegetables at his idyllic property in a lush, gently sloping valley, near Apt.

 

 

He grows everything without chemicals and is dedicated to a simple life, full of biodiversity and the love of slow....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He writes books and is part of many groups such as Slow Food etc.

There is a room full of his seeds which he saves and sells.

Everywhere there are artistic creations and, actually, he very much reminded me of Deb.

THE SOURCE

There is one very special occurrence common to all three of the homes I have stayed in here in France; something I have never heard spoken of in a similar way in Australia, and something that  I personally find the most attractive aspect of life here....it is the source.The source is a beautiful word and means a spring or the beginning of a stream and here at Mas du Diable, high up in the mountains, it is in a cave under the house..... a deep hole in the natural rock that fills slowly with pure spring water and is pumped direct to the house when you turn the tap on....icy cold, almost crisp and so sweet. All the houses around here were built in the last 800 years and have a source. In fact there are 3 here on this land; one for the house, one for the garden which fills a small dam and one spare!

The photo at left shows Rachel at the entrance to the cave which houses the source.

 

The photo at right shows the face of the rock and the hole, left rear, with some stone steps winding up to a door, just out of sight, where the original inhabitants would have come down from the house with a bucket to collect water without having to go outside. Now there is an electric pump on the right that does the job.

The photo at left is the hole with the crystal clear water....so clear that I thought it was empty when I looked in, until I put my hand in and felt the water....

 

 

 

 

At Gabian, in the little square, there is a fountain where the water flows down from the source, and people would come and collect water from it, in buckets that could rest on a special frame still in place today. It flows simply by gravity and has done for 1000 years!

 

These children are playing around the fountain on their bikes.

 

Water for the village homes also comes from the source and when there is excess, the gardeners at Teleri's plot can use the water for their vegetables.

 

 

We also visited this nearby allotment which had a wonderful series of trenches and sluices that the gardeners used to run water down very well defined channels between the rows of vegetables.....some of their construction was ingenious and it seemed that everyone had their own method of making use of the water coming from the source.

 

Ian's place is actually called Les Fontenelles and also has a relation to a spring and I am looking forward to a visit to the source when I get back there on Tuesday.

It is so lovely to experience the ways that people over the centuries have made their homes at water sources, securing the viability of the villages and the inhabitants into the future. There are springs in the hills around Adelaide but somehow the history linked to these water sources here in France is quite awe-inspiring.