Below is a new post from Kate Hill, the founder and overseer at the Kitchen at Camont. It's a nice read and entices one to try and experience this life. But the post romanticizes, as I've also been guilty of in the past (Ah, yes, free range this, local that! Bring it all to me here in the east village), life on a small-scale farm.
It's kind of hard work. The sun is relentless, the lambs poop everywhere, the ant hills and bee nests are everywhere else, the mosquitos get you while you're busy dodging lamb droppings and brushing ants and spiders off your legs, until, finally, you're clear for a few minutes to begin that five hours of digging alongside a smelly, though free-range (!), chicken that you don't shoo away since it's eating the ants and spiders.
www.kitchen-at-camont.com/2010/06/03/life-and-death-in-gascony-an-artisan-life/
All that said, it's still beautiful here. And rewarding. Mostly around eatin' time (fresh, fresh eggs are ridiculous, as are fava beans picked at 6pm and pureed and dipped in by 6:10) and when, beer in hand, we look out and see, smell and touch the day's work. It's still too early to compare this to the feeling at 4pm when the market closes, so I'll take the advice of a viticulturalist who, as we drank reds from Saint Mont and Cahors and Buzet, explained how most wines in this region are not necessarily better or worse, just different.
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An honest commentary of a good day's work in the farm. Andrew, you have a way with words! And great photos of Camont!
ReplyDeleteI have fallen in love with Camont after seeing those photos. Larissa, I tried your bread recipe and it worked. Next, it is on to the tomato tart! I planted a dozen tomato plants this year, so I appreciate any ideas related to that fruit (Patrice reminds me that it isn't a veggie). Andrew, I have a new respect for all free-range fare after reading your account, thanks for setting us straight on what is involved.
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