Discovering einkorn

Address : Véronique et Thierry Baurain
Address : Les Truques
Town/Suburb/City : 04300 Forcalquier
State/County/Province : Alpes de Haute Provence
Country : France
Phone : 04 92 74 30 01
Phone : 06 33 49 27 24
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Web Site :  www.saveursdestruques.com

It is in the land of Giono, the heart of Provence, that Veronique and Thierry Baurain welcome you in a traditional farm of the countryside of Forcalquier :“Les Truques”, the fruit of a familial project and work.

The itinerary takes you to the fields, among a Provençal scrub pastured by flocks. As you reach the hilltop above the farm, and discover the diversity of its production, the view opens on a vast horizon that extends from the Montagne de Lure to the Massif du Verdon.

You stroll by the brook or rest under the shadow of a century-old oak while listening to your host, who shows you round these emblematic cultures of the Provencal trilogy: cereals, olive trees and vine.

From the seed to the packing, the working methods are traditional and environment friendly. Discover small spelt, or einkorn, its transformation and its many uses, and taste some of the farm products.

Veronique and Thierry are organic producers, members of the union of einkorn producers of Haute Provence (European label IGP), a slow food sentinel product.

 

Véronique et Thierry offer direct sale of :

•  flour
• pasta,
• grain,
• semolina,
• biscuits...

You can meet them on the local fairs
 

 

          

As the bee flies

Address : Christian Hogedez
Town/Suburb/City : 04870 St-Michel-l'Observatoire
State/County/Province : Alpes de Haute Provence
Country : France
Phone : 04 92 76 65 22
Fax : 04 92 76 65 22

Christian Hogedez is a beekeeper. He invites you to follow his bees' flight, from the village of Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire to their honey farm. On your way, Christian comments the remains of ancient farming activities around the village: a ruin, a mulberry tree...
From the hilltop, a panoramic view opens under you eyes, with bench terracing, the mountain range of Lure, and the Préalpes of Digne in the background.

Christian explains the importance of the cultivations and of water for the life of the beehive. Then, if the weather permits, you'll be able to get near the busy hives.
Once back, enter the farm where the honey house now stands, with a show about the life of the bees and a display of apiary equipment, such as the honey extractor. And that sweetly leads you to a tasting of the products of the farm.

 

 

Christian offers direct sale of :
• lavender honey, scrub honey, honey from Provence
• various beehive products
• gingerbread
• nougat

 

You can also meet him :
• on the market of Reillanne on Sunday mornings
• on the local fairs
• on the « marchés aux saveurs » in Forcalquier and Gréoux-les-Bains during summer

 

          

Ways of colours and scents

Address : Françoise et Laurent Milesi
Address : Campagne Bayard
Town/Suburb/City : 04230 Cruis
State/County/Province : Alpes de Haute Provence
Country : France
Phone : 04 92 77 05 63
Fax : 04 92 77 05 72
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Françoise and Laurent Milesi welcome you to their colourful and fragrant lands around their farm, Le Coulet, located between St Etienne les Orgues and Cruis.
They're the heirs of a family craftsmanship – as well as of these outstanding lavandin rows, planted some fourteen years ago, which make the foothills of Lure so attractive.
All along the path, Laurent warmly explains the work on their farm, their research on the various colour shades of the lavandin, as well as of its aromatherapic properties.

The pool, at a bend of the road, is the result of a patient work of search and rehabilitation of lost springs that used to be caught long ago. Their exceptional abundance enables Françoise and Laurent to irrigate the tarragon fields and the vegetable garden.
You can also discover the production chain of the trimmed flower, from its culture to its passage in the grading-machine, and the use of its stem in the making of compost. The visit ends with a distillation demonstration in a small copper still. Then, filled with images and perfumes, you'll sit and taste the local products, among which the tarragon-flavoured home-made digestive.

 

 

Direct sale of :
• Essential oils, bouquets and various lavandin-based products
• personal embroidery

You can also meet them at :

• the local fairs

          

From farm to fork

Address : Joyce Borgmann
Address : Oustaou d'Oulivié
Town/Suburb/City : 04700 Oraison
State/County/Province : Alpes de Haute Provence
Country : France
Phone : 06 73 32 64 29
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Web Site :  www.oulivie.fr/wp/

In the vallée de la Durance, between Les Mées and Oraison, l’Oustau d’Oulivié, a former farming school, is nowadays a farm inn with an organic farming label.

 

Situated in a historical olive-growing area, produces extra virgin olive oil, as well as unusual and ancient fruit and vegetables, and cereals, chick peas, sunflower and aromatic plants, among which lavandin.
 

 

 

 

 

Our products are used mainly for the meals served in our inn, a typical Mediterranean cooking : authentic, real food with a rich taste of herbs.

Our fresh or elaborated products are also for sale on local markets and in direct sales outlets : Oraison Nature, Couleurs Paysannes, et our own shop in l’Oustau d’Oulivié.

In order to get the best of products, we are daily busy on our land, to care for it (weeding, planting, organic treating) and pick our fruits and vegetables, so that our customer will get them prime fresh everyday. You are welcome to discover and share our love for this blessed land that gives us so beautiful and good products.

 

 

 

 Joyce offers direct sale of :
• organic vegetables
• organic labelled extra virgin olive oil
• herbs
• chick peas

 

You can find her prodcuts on the markets in :

Accomodations :

• 2 gîtes de France
• Ferme auberge et table d'hôte
 

          

Of olives and hills

Address : Géraldine et Robert Le Bozec
Address : Bastide de l'Adrech
Town/Suburb/City : 04100 Manosque
State/County/Province : Alpes de Haute Provence
Country : France
Phone : 04 92 71 14 18
Web Site :  www.bastide-adrech.com

Between Manosque and Pierrevert, at the bend of a tiny road, discover an unexpected house built on the hillside. This bastide, forlorn and forgotten for eighty years, has come back to life with the help of Geraldine and Robert Le Bozec. This history-filled place used to be split between a middle-class society occupying the best aisle during the summer, and a local peasant family, living in the farm and working on the fields all year round. These two worlds are now united and offer a fine and hearty welcome.

 

The geographic situation is favourable to the trees without which the provençal cooking would lack taste : the olive trees. Geraldine and Robert have made this culture the keystone of their farm.
In these perfume-filled hills, let yourself be guided by Robert's passion for these olive-groves he restores, cares for and enlarges patiently, ever careful of the biological rhythm of the trees.
After this, he takes you to the temple of another savoir-faire : the kitchen. There you'll taste several different oils and learn how to use them properly in your dishes

 

Geraldine and Robert offer direct sale of :

• olive oil
• tapenade
• sweet onion preserves
• hams and season's vegetables

You'll find them on the markets in :

• Forcalquier, on Monday mornings

 

Accueil à la ferme :

• chambres et table d'hôte sous le label Accueil Paysan.
Des séjours à thème et des cours de cuisine vous sont proposés tout au long de l'année

          

In search of the black diamond

Address : Jean-Luc Bénard
Town/Suburb/City : 04150 Redortiers
State/County/Province : Alpes de Haute Provence
Country : France
Phone : 04 92 73 28 96
Fax : 04 92 73 38 92
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A few miles from Banon, in a wooded vale supplied in water by permanent springs, you'll discover the place where Jean-Luc Bénard lives and works. The circuit begins around his house, filled with history, built near a stream that talks of its past function. A tool in his hand and a few biscuits for the dog in his pocket, Jean-Luc takes the way that leads to the mysterious « black diamond ». What are the secrets of its growth in these grounds ? Why has it chosen to associate with these oaks ? So many questions to discover and understand this black fungus that wonderfully flavours the dishes. From the end of the valley, catch a glimpse of the ruined village of Redortiers, and fancy the life of those who used to live there, with more rocks than soil under their feet... .

 

 

 

Then, after following an ancient stream bed, you're back to the greenhouses. It is there that the alchemy of the symbiosis between tree and fungus takes place. Jean-Luc explains the inoculation of the saplings, the diverse tree species he uses, and how man has learned how to bend nature to his purposes. After so many explanations, the visit ends with a tasting... of truffle of course.

 

 

 

Jean-Luc is a member of the association of truffle producers of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. He offers direct sale of :

• mycorrhizae-inoculated saplings

 

You can also meet him at :

• the truffle festival

 

Accommodations :


• Bed and breakfast (room for 2/3 people), table d'hôte. Theme week-ends are offered during the truffle season.

          

Drop by drop... grain after grain

Address : Florian PASCAL
Address : Le Moulin Brun
Town/Suburb/City : 04110 Aubenas-les-Alpes
State/County/Province : Alpes de Haute Provence
Country : France
Phone : 06 89 33 11 74
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Web Site :  www.lureluberon.com

On the river banks in the middle of the plain of Aubenas Les Alpes stands the farm of the Pascal family, a house which name talks of its past function : le Moulin Brun - the Brown Mill.
The presence of water (in sight or underground) brought by the Largue, good soil, flat lands, a sunny exposition : as many reasons to grow vegetables and aromatic herbs. Florian will guide you through his diversely irrigated cultivations.

Then the path leaves the fresh ands shady sides of the river to go through the scrub up the Aubenas hill. On an ancient transhumance path, Florian explains the lands : the surrounding mountains, the flint and its prehistoric use in this valley, the black pine planted to make up for the damages caused par an overextended grazing.
On the way back down, see the park built for an unexpected breeding of ...moufflons, of which there are a few left.
Then the visit joins the Largue waters again, that natural power supply used in the past by the numerous flour mills of the valley.
Today, the water is used by another industry : the distillery, in which are extracted the heady perfumed essential oils.
The visit ends with a tasting rich with season's fruits.

 

 

 

 

 

On reservation only, Florian offers direct sale of his organic products :
• melons and courgettes (platters)
• potatoes (bags)
• other fruits according to the season.

Accommodations :

• 3 bed and breakfast, 3 gîtes under the label Gîte de France and Gîte Panda.
Rental of bikes as member of the “Velo Loisir en Luberon” network.

* Païsalp is an association of farmers of Haute-Provence, careful of the quality of their production : respect of the natural cycle of the animals and the cultures, home-made fabrication or transformation in human-sized workshops.

          

The Grand Jas trail

Address : Guillaume Riera
Address : Lincel
Town/Suburb/City : 04870 Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire
State/County/Province : Alpes de Haute Provence
Country : France
Phone : 06 87 53 10 04
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Guillaume Riera, sheep and goat breeder, welcomes you on his lands beneath the village of Lincel, not far from the antic roman Via Domitia. Your visit begins when you leave the farm with the animals, to lead them to their ranges, and to discover the geologic and botanic diversity of the surrounding hills.

From the top of a little butte a panoramic view extends over the valleys of the Encrème and the Largue, and, in the east, from the Préalpes to the north side of the Luberon.

Here, between oak and cedar woods, Guillaume shows you how the vegetation combines both Mediterranean and alpine influences, explains about land and quality, describes the impact of his activity over the landscape, or the complementarities of his two herds.

 

After having led the animals to their range, the visit of the premises will help you understand the management of a dairy farm.

Guillaume will explain the successive steps of cheese making, and illustrate his explanations with a nice sample of the farm products to end the visit.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Guillaume offers direct sale of
fresh and mature goat cheese, tome, grated cheese, and honey. You can also meet him at the local fairs.