Stéphane’s landrace garden in Brionnais, France

[stephane_rave]

in the collective garden the wet weather has made a forgotten insect of the gardens reappear: Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa

this insect comes in handy because it eats slugs, white worms… but harmful because this year he decides to attack all the potatoes on this sandy ground.

Painted Moutain flour corn begins to bloom in 40 days ! This stuff is amazing even in bad weather with a lot of rain and little heat… thanks Dave Christensen for this amazing plant breeding work !

The pumpkins for naked seeds have already formed fruits while moschata landrace suffers from lack of heat (yellow leaf).

in my garden the first fruits of sweet peppers and eggplants are picked today.
Obviously these types of tiny fruit are advantaged… but it isn’t these formats “vegetables children toys” that will allow us a big meal

[stephane_rave]

first ripe tomatoes with 1 month delay! the earliest are this year left Negro de San Marcos (Malaga Spain), and right El Amar (Palestine). The latter seems off type can be a hybridization to harvest seeds.

basil with a foot has gigantic leaves that comes out of the landrace Lofthouse

d’autres type isolés pour croiser les couleurs pourpre et vert

As every year about 30% of the plants grow, the rest are stuck. I select the largest and those that produce fruit but I do not know on what criteria. Soil deficiency, cold clay soil…? Have you ever encountered this on the eggplant and found the problem?

beautiful flowering sweet potato

this year vertical garden with beans over 3m, we harvest on ladder.in the afternoon the clear shade is good for the rest of the garden and for the gardener who can harvest without sunstroke !

different sweet pepper genetics are beginning to express themselves. Already some observations, the more varieties are small fruits the more they carry (already up to 9 on certain feet), the types with thin fruits like hot peppers seem to be a dominant genetic, yellow or orange wall fruits appear earlier…

Chinese cabbage seedlings have been successful with rain and tropical weather

Chinese radish seedling… the yuzu and homemade miso are in cultivation everything should happen together in the right timing!

This year thousands of flowers on the pickles, bees in abundance… but can fruit which is strange in view of the vigor of growth. What’s going on here?

tomatoes are out of the box this year despite pruning operations to keep access for harvest

on the podium in third place, Big Hill for the bronze medal!

the squash Gete Okosomin that really has a lot of flowers grouped compared to the others

Jospeh lofthouse’s cucumbers landrace

a very nice Lollo Rossa salad that I would like to cross with other types

another new hybrid found in the Radichetta salad, the middle plant seems crossed with a clear green head salad. Radichetta is amazing because it crosses with all salads, not a seedling without finding a new type. Its cut leaves make it easy to find hybrids if you do not introduce other types of cut leaves. I feel like the oak leaf salad has Radichetta as its parent when I see this new hybrid.

Unleash diversity at the summer garden!

[stephane_rave]

Finally came, the end of collective harvest associative!

Abandoned land given to the association by owners, sowing wheat population, common harvest, milling in our mill, some members bakers… all these nice moments for about 50 excellent organic breads per week for members.

You will notice the high-tech debauchery ,
all without budget…ingenuity, recovery and DIY are the pillars of the local ecological transition of communities!

[Hugo (Hugo Morvan)]

How much fun! I did some wheat by hand. Not recommendable!

[isabelle (Harlé)]

@stephane_rave : stephane I love your machine , I would love to have such a small-scale harvester for my own cereals, then I would be able to sow more than 1000 square meters…

@Hugo ; hand-harvest of wheat cultivated on small pieces of land is to my opinion extremely fullfilling. (as long as you assemble enough arms to do the job, according to the quantity to be harvested.)

[stephane_rave]

if you harvest by hand it is necessary to do only on small area < 1000 m2 otherwise it is very long.

we do it on areas too much grass like this year, or on areas with a little too much slope because this machine does not support it at all

and again we go quite fast in this case because we lay on a flat ground and pass on the cereals with the harvester to take out the grain.

This kind of machine from the 60s is mythical:
-small size that allows us to put it on a trailer behind a car to move it
-volkswagen coccinelle engine that allows us to find engine parts because they are still made for car collectors

then you have to manage this collectively because there is mechanics to do on, be 2 on the machine during the harvest, vanner the wheat after…

cereals are crops very adapted to the functioning of communities (budget for equipment, working time, use of harvest…)

Alone it would be far too long!

[Hugo (Hugo Morvan)]

We got this one!

[stephane_rave]

very luxurious machine! you have the premium model (what series? we do not see number as our 630 S), but there is still a little work to put it back on the road

[stephane_rave]

today end of collective work of the wheat after harvest. all bags have been passed through machines called ‘Tarare’ to sort the seeds of weeds, pieces of straw, dead grasshoppers… To have pure wheat flour!

of course the hi-tech is always present to ensure a quality and fast work! on the first picture the model was customized with an old engine (which runs thanks to 100% photovoltaic electricity produced on the roof of the hangar live, and that’s just great!).

Others are manual with a crank and require more people and time to operate.

the first tarare NAVIGATOR STV-714 ensures users a 3d localization in space, for don’t lost the way by turning the manual crank. The course is maintained, and no one takes a wrong direction to deliver wheat to the right place !

the second model PREDATOR GSO -USB has digital setting option with control pad and recharge by electric generator of smartphone and other computer via usb port.

and finally the last most practical and amazing , MINUTOR XS-300 the electric generator version with integrated programmer that allows to use the energy production in offset to operate any type of modern equipment. With this model any option, programming your coffee for your breakfast becomes very easy!

more work, more fun with communities !
1 750 kg (3860 pound )of wheat ready to make good bread all year round

[Kimzy (Kim)]

“Wild Mountain Seeds” Im checking out what they have to offer. Thank you for mentioning the company.

[stephane_rave]

We’ve been waiting for it, it’s finally the season of plenty… beautiful old varieties of tomatoes to delight us
but also to take notes on exserted blooming types, tastes… for future local landrace tomato projects

some nice plates in preparation…
the grex basil of Joseph only leaves types lettuce leaves here but a foot has giant leaves all over 16 cm!

for the moment in the selection of future breeders for the landrace tomato project, 2 types cherry are incredible in terms of taste:
Ambrosia Gold (fruity, creamy like butter)

Tim’s taste of paradise (acidulous, fruity tropical flavor)

Joseph’s landrace cucumber…
I can’t judge the taste because intolerant to this vegetable that my body can’t digest…but Madam said me: “hey what is ccucumber, this year they are good and have a crunchy texture like watermelon! It’s strange though they don’t all taste the same”

Joseph’s landrace moschata…
some are beautiful at this green stage with white dots…for 2 years we have been eating in winter these perfect fruits in size and varied enough to not get tired of the poverty of the crops of the low season

Sweet pepper Charolais Brionnais landrace…
this year a lot of type to small fruits, by cons the preselection of breeders for powerful tastes bears its fruits because many are loaded in sugars, fruity taste, and creamy.
I look forward to next year for more diversity and start selection.
what this grex do in your gardens @marcela_v , @Hugo, @ThomasPicard ?

not a superb year to eggplant with the summer that took some time to settle but some one begin to bear fruit so will be good breeders for the following

basil Mrihani x purple opal, some feet are beautiful with a green border on the slices of leaves…the fragrance and a perfect balanced mix between Italian basil type with a slight hint of tropical (anise, cinnamon). try to cross it with the giant Jospeh leaf basil planted next door.

Origanum dictamnus from crete, the most beautiful of my collection. Enchanting perfume, grey fluffy leaves, delicate pink flowers with prominent pistil… it is the only one I must grow in pot because it fears winter rains so I put it under shelter of a roof…plus it hates the humidity of the air so it can not be put in cold greenhouse full wind on the terrace.
I would love to cross it with all the other origano in the collection to find different types, then the pot culture and just perfect as sratégie. I move the pot as soon as it flowers in the middle of the other types. There he makes a flower bath of Origanum vulgare ssp. hirtum from Turkey to hope to saturate it with different pollens. Tomorrow small tour to another massifs…etc

the fruits of yuzu that grow, may be somme crossing, I pollinated by hand this spring

Arctostaphylos manzanita, a very complicated shrub to grow from California, no summer watering but this beautiful shrub is trying to be acclimated here. A plant that loves very hot temperatures and drought

Quercus hypoleucoides, a persistent oak from California, Mexico with very coriaceous and thick leaves, with a magnificent silver tomentum on the back of the leaves. A plant that by far reminds of an olive tree but much bigger. Part of these oak trees for the future in Europe !

and the second most beautiful oak tree in the collection, Quercus alnifolia … a persistant shrub that grows very slowly (9 leaves and 10 cm in 3 years!). On the other hand, the more it suffers from the heat the more it is beautiful, it comes from Cyprus and down there it is threatened by fires, and the destruction of its habitat. It begins to show a golden tomentum that will be really very yellow almost orange when it is dry and will have grown in a few years.

… as far as my mind was taken by the Greek deities Anthousai, Chloris, Dryades, Hamadryades, Hegemone and Physis to blossom all these jewels they have created.

[Hugo (Hugo Morvan)]

What a beauty and bountiful harvest, Stephane!!

The only peppers I grew where Thomas his, yellow hot ones, they did good. I’ll add yours next years. Upstarts indoors worked well for peppers and aubergines and physalis, tomato’s went stringy. My harvest is only starting now. Due to cloudy summer and late start of warmer temperatures.

Inspirational project next door! Happy!

[stephane_rave]

the first crops of the pole bean population. In different colors, than I could see from other growers on the forum.

after 3 years of TPS cultivation, finally the first fruits!
Once the seeds are extracted, some of them will be kept for a new adaptation seedling and exchanged with Europeans ( @Tanjaeskildsen )

seed harvesting continues to prepare for exchanges within the local seed bank and of course with all others.
I think we will be able to cover Europe with celery Tall Utah !

the beginning of the harvest of Charolais Brionnais lettuce grex F2

More and more storage of crops

a new salad seedling (some seeds from radichetta hybrid @mare.silba via @Hugo ) , the one of the previous days had failed…same weather, same seeds…beautiful success! no explanation, maybe the moon as the ancient locals say

little rain this night, with a plan B we managed to recover 300L of water which avoids a trip to the source where we usually draw

a beautiful hatching of Aglais io butterfly, always so beautiful when they are by the dozen in buddleja (non-invasive sterile hybrid buddleja x lochinch). certainly that very good smell of monoï that attracts them as me.

it is the war between ants and wasps on fennel flowers. We pick up some seeds at this green stage to season the courgette and tomato salads…great scent of anise, plus it is very good for digestion

Always the festival of colors in the basket!

after a few minutes of transformation, and the addition of some squid…you can enjoy in peace, enjoy the sun before a little nap…live the eternal summer !

[Tanjaeskildsen (Tanja)]

Love everything about this! Few things are more satisfying than filling boxes of storage crops.
Beautiful dry beans👌🏻

[Kimzy (Kim)]

Nice harvest of seed and vegetables to eat! I like to see your water tank already resting on the truck.

[stephane_rave]

the weather cooled here 5°c (41°f) this morning which is very cold for the season but still some very good sweet pepper harvests

Sart Roloise, a really beautiful tomato !

Q series Lofthouse tomatoes

Wilding panamorous Lofthouse tomatoes

TPS harvest

Painted Mountain, more and more beautiful here for this 2nd year of cultivation.

Always new types appearing. Look at this variegated grain jewel

bright saturated colors

these first already dry feet will be a selection of the earliest genes with a beautiful regularity of grain arrangement.

[jens (Jensigne)]

@stephane_rave

Sart Roloise, a really beautiful tomato !

I love that black blush on top!

Your corn harvest is wonderful! I hope we can have a harvest like that some day. Maybe in a couple years…

[stephane_rave]

Part of the harvest from the collective field in Painted Mountain. Next year we will be able to sow more and more so that soon we can reach the full field to start making bread with.

lean harvest of maxima squash this year. hybridization should be interesting if it is produced

not very good either on the side of the landrace Lofthouse moschata with few fruits that will mix with last year’s seeds

the peppers continue to produce and the basil Mrihani x Opal blooms late

Chinese cabbages are already in bloom, you will have to make a landrace to look for plants that last longer between harvest time and flowering

Cyclanthera are very late, not managed to eat this year but the seeds may be able to be ripe on this particular summer wet and quite short.

Parsley and coriander are definitely turning into winter autumn crops. Even this year with a lot of water they did not grow the summer

carrots and salads for this fall/winters

the rocket salad landrace has reached a new stage in 2024, that of self-seeding. A beautiful and dense flower bed where I had harvested my seeds. We love this fragrant salad from now until February.

in the garden beautiful fragrant autumn flowering of Clerodendron trichotomum. The leaves smell of peanuts, and the flowers a peppery jasmine scent bewitching for pollinators who do not have much flower to forage in this season.

autumn with also all the gifts of the forest to feed us (Craterellus tubaeformis) !

[stephane_rave]

after discussion with @Hekseringen et @isabelle on our associative material here are some photos and explanations.

the oven we built with a recovery oven to make our bread.
the small wood-burning heater is used to heat the room and make the bread rise faster before cooking

here our bio-methaniser, which from organic waste allows us 6 months of the year to produce gas that is bottled with a small recovered refrigerator compressor. These bottles are used to make all cooking and preparations in the kitchen with complete energy autonomy.

the flour mill with stone grinding that we bought from a small Breton factory.
it makes any kind of flour T45>T110
The ceiling pipes come from our grain stock in the cold room.

the kitchen laboratory that is loaned to us. A member who has a renewable energy company hosts us the equipment, he took advantage of a free room to make a cooking preparation workshop and developed a second Soy Tofu preparation company. Indeed we had a problem of doing crop rotations with something edible. The entire soybean production had to be sold.

his tofu press

the fermentation chamber for the new collective project of koji. Mushroom that becomes an ingredient to make tofu, soy sauce…
This salvaged piece of furniture has been tinkered with the addition of a temperature probe and a moisture diffuser essential parameter to make the Koji.

in the collective activity we prepared for example Friday evening all our seeds for each field. Sorting with this machine that calibrates the grain, weighed for each field surface, bagged…just put in the tractor seeder as soon as the weather leaves us 3 days without rain.

during this time we also took advantage of the evening to prepare our fruit juices that we serve at our conference evenings and other activities

the branch crusher that does a good job of quickly crushing fruits

the hydraulic press with an incredible yield in juice. Incomparable with an old press screw wooden more beautiful but that produces 50% less juice.

sterilization to be able to keep them all year.

All this is possible by being numerous (more than 200 people adherents) that allow us to have the whole set of skills represented in the civil population.
But especially with a hard core of 20 people who had the trigger for a radical change in life: think collectively and no longer personally
pooling, giving time to the community, meeting to plan projects that fund equipment investments… but above all open our mind and heart to others so that everything becomes possible without limit or mental boundary
All these hours working without economic imperative behind gives a lot of joy. We laugh a lot to do all this and we manage to become practically self-sufficient in food.
The only factor limiting our current ancillary work activities that take too much time… the hardest thing is to get free of this to go even further collectively

In addition, these activities are very complementary to gardening. This year is catastrophic with very heavy rains following several years of drought.

swans are in the fields !

We need to keep our minds and arms occupied while the land is impassable because it’s full of water. This week we have a flood of the century.

There was 1 year of local rain in 48 hours on the regions upstream of the river at 150 km or 740 mm (2.43 feet).

the cows are on isolated islands… if the water continues to rise they will have to learn how to sail

We must adapt to its brutal changes… I had made a false track by betting everything on adaptation to drought… what is vrain one day is the opposite the next with climate change

the region is still so beautiful because with great luck the ancients had the wisdom to build only villages and houses on the hills much higher (+ of 200m).
We can therefore observe the forces of nature with philosophy without fear.

[isabelle (Harlé)]

thanks a lot stephane !