We made some great breakthroughs this year. Someone lent us a machine for taking the double skin off chestnuts so our production of chestnut jam really took off.
We also worked out how to make hazelnut butter and chestnut flour. The plan is to launch a nut products and jam company in 2025 with a view to selling product in a few years’ time.
And, in case you’re wondering, no, we haven’t finished planting trees yet. This winter we have another 100 chestnuts, walnuts and hazelnuts to plant, and some apple trees to complete our orchard of local non-supermarket varieties. Plus an Asian Nashi pear and an apricot for the forest garden.
Our new best friend is a local landscape gardener who brings lorryloads of green waste every week! It’s a win-win-win: we get organic material which we spread on the land to make more soil; our farm is much closer than the recycling centre; and he no longer has to pay to offload his green waste.
Our last machine using fossil fuels has finally been replaced. We are now proud owners of an electric mower! The electricity to charge it comes from our solar panels.
We’ve replaced all the windows on the first floor with triple glazing and this winter we’ll be redoing the insulation. From 1 March we’ll be renting rooms and trying to inspiring those who bed-and-breakfast with us to live differently!
We’re also planning a pop-up vegan restaurant called “In Our Garden” for next summer. Friday and Saturday nights. The aim will be to produce 80%+ of the food on our land. If you fancy helping out, then choose any weekend from 1 June to 30 September and you can be a waiter or waitress alongside Blanche!
Other things we’re planning for 2025:
– Mon-Fri residential courses on how to live low impact (once a month)
– Permaculture day courses
– A comic book on the ecological transition of a concerned 20-year-old
– A polytunnel for tomatoes, aubergines, peppers and chilli
– Better use of the veg plot to produce more food
– A new pond, dug by hand, in the middle of the field
If you fancy helping out by WWOOFing with us, then please get in touch. We’re on WWOOF France here.
All the best for 2025,
Alexis, Blanche, Louise & Thelma
