Peggy R: Bio farming in Sauve

Photo Credits:  Peggy F, Peggy R,  and Maggie

On October 23, An intreprid group of AWG garden enthusiasts set out in the face of menacing clouds to visit Fabien, a young bio farmer near the medieval town of Sauve.
Following directions as in a treasure hunt, we actually pulled up in front of his property in good time -- and simultaneously with the apparition of spots of blue sky.
Time to don wellies, and off we tramped to visit his extensive garden – much bigger than it looked from the road.

Fabien shows us Jerusalem artichokes nestled .....

.....in the roots of the huge plant

We discovered that there are winter leeks and summer leeks, and that cabbages are the most thankless crop the bio gardener can grow, since they are prized by everything that crawls, flies or burrows (A word to the wise....according to Fabien, non-bio cabbage is probably one of the vegetables most heavily laden with pesticides. And to think that we thought it was good for us!)

Gorgeous black radishes

Slugs and ....

... snails.  Not the biofarmer's best friends!

Inside his greenhouse, we saw the painstaking multiplication of future plants and some exotic flowers. Since we were now out of sight, the frogs and toads struck up a chorus with many refrains.....Fabien could identify the species by the sound of its voice!
They sounded numerous to us, but according to him, he would need a hundred times as many to keep the slugs and snails at bay.

One species that does dote on mollusques, and has a healthy appetite for them is the chicken. And Fabien has a collection of magnificent ones! We wondered why he doesn't just let them run loose among the cabbages.....but apparently they like greenery with their protein, so....it might not be a winning proposition.
The bee-hives were not humming on the damp, grey day we had chosen, so we did not approach them to peek inside, not wanting to disturb the inhabitants – for more reasons than one!
However, we spent a long time admiring and photographing the gorgeous chickens. Fabien and his partner raise old French breeds, some of which are quite rare.

Pretty, "old-fashioned" chicken

Someone called this guy “the Archbishop” because of his silky purple cape.

One group which particularly caught my eye were a glistening black (with green high-lights in the sun), and magnificent red combs.
 
These all-black chickens, interestingly enough, lay pure white eggs. (Whereas the white chickens lay standard brown ones.)

Fabien the Farmer with Gerhilde (lives next to Leslie L)

At the end of our visit, Fabien sold us some of his bio veggies.

Peggy R's favourite - squash

(clockwise from L: Gerhilde, Peggy, Maggie, Pam, Louise, Peggy, Robyn)

After the farm, we repaired to the nearby Domaine de Florian, where we tasted (and bought!) some local wines, and then off to the domaine's restaurant for more of same, accompanying a three-course meal.
Luckily we were able to walk this off before setting out for Montpellier again, thanks to Louise D., who had introduced us to Fabien, and who now guided us through the medieval streets of her beloved adopted town of Sauve.

Sauve looking quite romantic in the distance

We saw ancient houses, met local artisans, and viewed the awe-inspiring source of the Vidourle river. As many of us know, the Vidourle is locally famous (infamous) for its wild flooding during certain seasons.
Seeing where these waters rise – and Louise explaining to us that Sauve is seated atop the largest underground lake in Europe, which sometimes overflows.... gave us a good idea of where this seemingly calm river (in the summer!) gets its strength.