We went to the mystery farm, it's about a half hour drive. It's a little further north, again in the mountains. Our goal was to clean up one of the fields in preparation for planting grapes. This "cleaning" consisted of using a backhoe to dig up trees and rocks and roots and move them out of the way. "Out of the way" for stumps/roots/wood is beyond the tree-line, but for rocks they were to be moved uphill to contribute to a retaining wall. (Sisyphus, get it?)
On the drive over, Jean Louis asked me all about what I do for a living. This developed into a pretty long discussion about school being way too expensive in the US and French Socialism. It was interesting speaking with him, he was very engaging.
The lower part of the farm already had broccoli growing, and had a fair amount of heavy duty construction equipment (Bulldozer, backhoe, mystery machine, etc). We took the backhoe up the rocky hill (again not my idea of farmland), occasionally stopping to rip up a random patch of earth. Once overturned, Jean-Louis would tell me about how beautiful the earth was there, and we'd move on.
Up higher, there are a couple relatively flat fields! But they are really rocky. Jean-Louis would dig up s bit of earth and I would lug the big rocks up to the wall, to be assembled later. I'm not kidding when I say this is exactly what I wanted to do.
We encountered a pretty large tree (well, deep-rooted) that had roots digging deep into the wall. Jean Louis said it had to go, so he attacked it with the backhoe and the bulldozer for an hour or two. I went to go get a shovel and an axe and a crow bar to help, but by the time I got back the tree (and a pretty big section of wall) was uprooted. Tomorrow we rebuild the wall.
We then gathered 20 kilos of uncut French.... Broccoli. This was kinda fun, though Jean Louis works approximately twice as fast as me. For those who don't know, broccoli is essentially a tight cluster of buds that have not yet flowered. Every tiny green dot is a potential flower. What I didn't know until today was that it has very broad leaves, grows well in cooler temperatures, and the actual yummy broccoli-looking part is kind of hard to find.
We took a tea break, and then headed back. I was a little tired and hungry at this point, it was 2 before we left so I'll have a heartier breakfast tomorrow. But, there was a hot lunch waiting for me when I got back. Lunch started with a greeting from Collette inquiring "Manges-tu les moules aux Etats-Unis?". I responded with a "I don't know what a Moule is". They turned out to be Mussels, accompanied by rice with some kind of vegetarian sauce. I'm not sure if I'm jut being nice but they were probably the best I have ever eaten.
We talked mostly about the global crises, financial and ecological. As farmers, they are relatively sheltered from the financial crisis. However, they are seriously concerned about global warming and the like. They think the root of the problem is that everyone is concerned about money and economic growth, but the economy can't grow forever. It takes a toll on the environment, one that will probably be irreversible and catastrophic. So they endorse a simpler, more sustainable living, which they clearly practice as well as preach.
The conversation evolved into a discussion of who had eaten half the box of chocolates. Neither party willing to give any ground, they dutifully recounted each occasion and the corresponding quantity of chocolate they had eaten. Miraculously, the total number they admitted to eating was about 5, with 9 pieces missing. Apparently we are also in the midst of a chocolate crisis.
We also talked about unity, how I said that in the US there is definitely a sense of a unified country (geographically speaking). Collette responded by talking about how that's what Europe wants, a unified sense of being "European", not French or Italian or German. But she thinks this idea is a little idealistic, people are too different and aren't thinking that way....yet?
Moment of weakness, I took a nap. 10 Hail Mary 50 Our Fathers. Check.
Also, I am still pretending that I can't read the nutrition facts on Brioche. Brioche is French for "Fatty Sugar Bread not a staple". I've been eating a lot of it it's hella good.
Lastly here's a rabbit.
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