Spring Vegetables in the Touraine

We are very lucky to have a wonderful organic market garden on the outskirts of town, where I pick up our weekly veg every Monday evening. Here is a selection from recent visits to their farm shop and to the market in La Roche Posay, where I buy the best asparagus, freshly picked the morning of the market.

Turnips, cabbage, celery and cauliflower.

Celery, broccoli and cauliflower.

Cave grown button mushrooms and spinach.

Organic spring carrots.

Organic lettuce.

Organic radishes.

Organic pumpkins, stored from when they were harvested in autumn.

The best freshly harvested green asparagus, grown in Saint Pierre de Maillé and sold in the market at La Roche Posay.

White asparagus from the same producer.

The organic market garden is at La Petite Rabaudière, on the outskirts of Preuilly sur Claise. Their farm shop is open Monday evenings from 4 pm to 7 pm, and they come to the market in Preuilly on Thursdays.

Eighth of May

The Eighth of May is Peace in Europe day - known in the UK and Australia as VE DAY (Victory in Europe). That difference in itself is interesting, and a subject worthy of some thought.

This will be the first time in 3 years that the commemoration service will be "normal". We will be there, because especially this year, it is important. It will be interesting to hear what the President of the Republic has to say in his address to the nation, which is read at ceremonies across France.

Eighth of May 2008 was the first such ceremony Susan and I went to, with her parents who were here at the time.

Planning for July

This week we have been really quite busy, what with an almost full week of work, walking clubs, social activities, and car stuff.

In between times I have been planning for July, looking at walks we might want to do whilst in the Pyrenees. One of those walks starts at a restaurant we ate at last year and walking up the Gaves des Oulettes de Gaube. That means walking around the lake, past the waterfall, and almost to the base of the Glacier. Google maps is wrong, it's probably 2 1/2 hours each way. It's not as steep (or as far) as you might guess, being 6.1km at a steady 10%. I think we will wait for a sunny (but not too sunny day) as the latter part of the walk is unshaded.

I am getting excited about being in the mountains again - but although I love mountains, I wouldn't want to live there.

Cow

I don't know why, but I really like this photo of a cow Susan took yesterday on our walk. It's a fine looking beast, and so shiny.

According to my watch we walked exactly 10km. It was a lovely day: warm but not hot, with the occasional bit of cloud cover and a breeze. If it stayed like that for the rest of the year I would be happy.

It's Wisteria Time

This year many people have had a poor display of Wisteria due to some ill-timed frost. Apparently this Japanese Wisteria in Chedigny didn't get the email, because it is magnificent - as is Claudette.

Back to Work

This year has been an odd one. Of course, it hasn't been odd on the scale of the previous two years, but it has been odd. Work has been coming in, and we have done some tours at unusual times (for instance two days work in Janurary, the first time since we started in 2009), but April wasn't as busy as we would have expected.

May is looking busy, and sees us returning to places we haven't been for over two years. This is Claudette at the chateau hotel la Tortiniere. It feels like a lifetime since we were last there, and we were pleased by the reception - they were as happy to see us as we were to see them. We took this photo yesterday afternoon before we visited the chateau of Azay le Rideau.

Rupture de Stock

Empty shelves in the supermarket again. This time, not due to the pandemic induced transport logistical problems but, if the social media gossip was to be believed, the war in Ukraine.

The empty shelves are where the sunflower oil should be and Ukraine is the biggest producer of sunflower oil. Something is clearly amiss with the supply of sunflower oil, so presumably it is indeed the war. Increasingly the gaps on the supermarket shelves are where the biscuits and crisps should be. The shortages started soon after the war got underway. France also produces sunflower oil, but only 500 000 tonnes per annum, and French consumption is 800 000 tonnes per annum. 80% of world supplies come from Ukraine and Russia, with 50% coming from Ukraine alone. 

At my local supermarket on 12 April.

The lack of sunflower oil has caused a knock on effect to other neutral oils, such as canola, which is also starting to dwindle because people are turning to them as an alternative. According to supermarket managers speaking to the press, customers are also buying more oil than they need, in case they can't get it in the future. And apparently Ramadan caused an upsurge in demand.

The latest development is that French food manufacturers have been given permission to use canola or palm oil as a substitute for sunflower oil in their products, without having to change the labelling on the packaging. They have six months to change the ingredients list on their packaging and two months to change the wording on the packaging if they have switch from an organic sunflower oil to a non-organic alternative, or if their packaging claims to be palm oil free but they are now using it.

This is the year to visit in July to see sunflowers!

Sunflower oil is the oil of choice for many industrially produced foods such as pastry, sauces, crisps, mayonnaise, margarine and biscuits. Two thirds of sunflower oil in France is imported from Ukraine. The real problem now is the cessation of maritime transport moving the exported oil. From being one of the cheapest culinary oils, the talk now is of the price of sunflower oil doubling due to its inceasing rarity. Manufacturers who choose to substitute other oils or alternative ingredients for the sunflower oil in their product in order not to increase their prices or continue to manufacture at all are nonetheless stuck with another problem -- getting the ingredient lists on their packaging up to date.

I notice the price of olive oil has gone up a euro or two a litre -- opportunism, coincidence, or market forces?

Right now it is sunflower sowing season in France. Farmers I've seen interviewed are saying they will be increasing the hectares they sow to sunflowers, and the prediction is that an extra 100 000 hectares will be under sunflowers in France this year, despite the fact that the price of seed has doubled to €800 a tonne. It is expected that the number of hectares sown to canola in the autumn for next years harvest  will also increase.

Ferns in a Vineyard

Old vineyards that haven't had a century or so of having arsenic, copper and sulphur poured onto them multiple times a year can have some surprises. One abandoned vineyard at Séligny that I have visited a couple of times now has some nice ferns species, for example.

Male Fern Dryopteris filix-mas (Fr. Fougere male), abundant in the Touraine Val de Loire.

Intermediate Polypod Polypodium interjectum (Fr. Polypode intermédiaire), widespread in Western Europe.

Black Spleenwort Asplenium adiantum-nigrum (Fr. Doradille noire) is rare in the Touraine Val de Loire, but widespread, being native to Europe, Africa and Australia, and introduced to America. It likes hot dry habitat with lots of flint.

Emergency Nest Boxes

You can see the swift nest boxes casting long shadows high up on the scaffold sheeting.

The beautiful Chapelle de Saint Hubert in the grounds of  the Chateau Royal d'Amboise is undergoing a major restoration. Unfortunately neither the architect nor the chateau management took into account that the swifts will be arriving back any day now from their African wintering territories. They will head straight for their old nest places, and find them blocked. This happens a lot, and heritage architects really need educating on this subject. Luckily, our friends at SOS Martinets [link], the Amboise based swift conservation association, noticed and reminded the chateau that they must make provision for the swifts, which are a protected and declining species. They have provided wooden nest boxes which sit precariously on the exterior of the scaffolding. The next generation of young swifts will be long gone before the scaffolding comes down and the nest boxes have to be moved. You can see them up high on the side of the scaffolding in two columns at the top of the sheeting facing the camera as I took the photo. Let's hope the swifts take to them and their breeding cycle is not disrupted.

Spring at the Kaolin Pits

 I visited one of my favourite nature sites the other day, mainly to make contact with the next door neighbour. I wanted to ask them if we could park right outside their gate if I organised an outing in the early summer. They turned out to be very friendly and agreeable, so not only have I got a generous parking area, but they will come on the outing as well. They are clearly quite interested in the site, particularly the bird life. So that's good.

I made a quick site visit and here is a selection of photos: 

A hypochromatic (under pigmented) Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio (Fr. Orchis buffon).

Orchid habitat.

A typical Green-winged Orchid.

An unusual mutation of Green-winged Orchid.

Green-winged Orchid.

A swarm of honey bees Apis mellifera (Fr. un essaim d'abeilles) going over my head, the second I'd seen that day.

Violet Fritillary butterfly Clossiana dia (Fr. Petite violette).

Green-winged Orchid.

Green-winged Orchids in their habitat.

Green-winged Orchids on the edge of the former kaolin pit.

The former kaolin pit at the heart of the site, now full of water.

Walking From Maire

The 12 kilometre walk on Thursday 14 April from Mairé nearly killed us. Four slogging hills in the route and temperatures in the mid-twenties. In the end Simon totally conked out with just a couple of kilometres of downhill to go. He could have made it back for himself after a little rest, but Joel and Jean-Jacques made the decision to go fetch a car and pick him up at the nearest road. I had to text Christiane to tell her I would be late for the refugee support meeting.

The view looking back to Mairé from halfway up hill number one.

Spring Cinquefoil Potentilla tabernaemontani (Fr. Potentille de Neumann).

The grand semi-circular entrance to the 19th century Chateau de Rocreuse, hidden away in the forest.

European Beech Fagus sylvatica (Fr. Hêtre) (left) and Sessile Oak Quercus petraea (Fr. Chêne à trochets) (right) growing side by side on a trackside bank.

Beech leaves, demonstrating the mnemonic Dominique P taught me the week before -- le hêtre a des poils, le charme a des dents (beech has hairs, hornbeam has teeth).

Buildings in a hamlet.

The so-called Pierre du sacrifice, a big rock on the steep hillside associated with a fanciful story of Druidic human sacrifice. More likely is that it was being quarried but abandoned mid-task, hence the various cavities and slots in it. Not for draining blood at all...

Early Spider Orchid Ophrys sphegodes (Fr. Ophrys araignée).

This puddle formed by heavy vehicle ruts was full of juvenile Smooth Newts.

Le Gros Chillou (pronounced 'luh groh she-oo', as pointed out by Dominque when I inadvertedly pronounced it as 'luh groh sheel-oo'. I do know better, but sometimes one just forgets.) I've no idea if it's a prehistoric pile of stones or a modern one.

ANZAC Day

 

The moving story of Private John Simpson Kirkpartrick bringing wounded soldiers to safety with his donkey (Simpson and his donkey) at Gallipoli is told to every school child in Australia. He is one of the original Anzacs, a seminal group in terms of how Australians view themselves today. This statue stands in the grounds of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. If you want to read more about him, the AWM has a page on him here.

Who wants to be a Fireman?

I was looking through our photos yesterday and saw this, taken on our 2018 trip to Switzerland. On our way we stopped at Mulhouse, at the amazing Cité de l'Automobile.

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Today is the Fete St Georges, Preuilly's annual fete foraine. It's the first time the fete has been held since 2019. Yet another sign that life is slowly returning to kind of normal.

Herps in the Forest

 Herps, in case you aren't in with the hip naturalists, are reptiles and amphibians. 

Here in the Touraine Val de Loire we get a small but delightful range of reptiles and amphibians that might, if you are lucky, be encountered along one of our many forest walking trails. Here are photos of the species you have the best chance of seeing. I've chosen photos from our archive that, if we have such photos, depict the animals as you most often see them, usually crossing the trail and trying to hide. None of these animals can or will harm you. We do have one venomous snake in the Touraine Val de Loire, but I have never seen one in the forest, only in warmer and more open habitats.

Juvenile newt, possibly Smooth Newt Lissotriton vulgaris (Fr. Triton ponctué) in a puddle formed by heavy machinery wheel ruts.

Fire Salamander Salamandra salamandra (Fr. Salamandre tachetée).

Agile Frog Rana dalmatina (Fr. Grenouille agile).

Spiny Toad Bufo spinosus (Fr. Crapaud épineux).

Slow Worm Anguis fragilis (Fr. Orvet fragile), a legless lizard, not a snake.

Western Green Lizard Lacerta bilineata (Fr. Lézard vert occidental).

Adult Western Whip Snake Hierophis viridiflavus (Fr. Couleuvre verte et jaune, also known locally as a cinglard).

Juvenile Western Whip Snake.

Barred Grass Snake Natrix helvetica (Fr. Couleuvre helvétique).

The Colours of Spring

All these photos were taken last week on Susan's phone.

Welcoming Ukrainian Refugees

Every town and village in the Sud Touraine now has at least one Ukrainian family in their midst. They've arrived as refugees, usually with very little. When I say families, I mean women and children and grand parents. There are no single women, and no men between 18 and 60 -- they are still in Ukraine, with the armed forces or civil defence. Families are in fact separated and will experience two different wars, which is a concern in the long term. I fear for those who will end up widowed or so changed that they divorce.

A network of help has very quickly sprung up, driven primarily by two young local women who are Ukrainian by birth, but have lived here in the Touraine for some years. Nina and Valeria are amazing. They have organised vanloads of supplies going to the Ukraine, and those volunteer driven vans evacuate people who are fleeing the conflict. They are very clear about what needs to be done once they are here -- find accommodation, get people the proper residency status, get them into the health system and the kids into school, get them jobs and transport, and most importantly of all, get them into French classes.

A public meeting of AARST, with a newly arrived Ukrainian refugee family on the left, Valeria in black in the middle, Nina to her right in blue, Christiane behind them.

We already had a volunteer organisation to welcome refugees in Preuilly sur Claise, created when there was a real crisis in Syria a few years ago. But Syrian refugees did not want to come to rural France, and indeed the French authorities discouraged them settling outside of the bigger centres as it meant they would be isolated, with no compatriots for support, and potentially no access to transport or jobs. 

The same applies to the Ukrainians, but has worked out differently. Nina and Valeria are aware of the challenges,  but are adept at managing partnerships with everyone from the sports clubs to the prefecture, and Preuilly's volunteer organisation to help refugees has been revived, with a name change to reflect our broader outlook. It has become the Association d'Accueil des Réfugiés en Sud Touraine (AARST).

I'm on the committee, along with various friends. My role is to organise social outings so the refugees can meet people and make friends. Others are doing the more serious and urgent tasks of taking people to the prefecture and CPAM (the healthcare insurer). Organisations like ours are also bridging a gap that has opened up between those who wish to offer accommodation and those who need it. Theoretically the prefecture was managing this, with whizzy new software, but whilst both groups can easily register on the website, there seems to be some impediment to matching people up. Groups of private volunteers like us are simply sidestepping it and relying on personal networks to get everyone in accommodation in a timely manner.

Of course the uncertainty of not knowing if and when they can go back to Ukraine makes everything from getting a job to signing the lease on a house difficult. And it's not just the things they need to sort out immediately that are stressful. Ukrainian drivers licences are not automatically transferable to French ones, so if they are still here in a year they face doing a French driving test. This is one of the reasons Valeria is emphasising the need to learn French. Special classes have been set up within the school system for the kids, and local authorities are organising classes for adults. Several people at the meeting put their hands up to say that they had experience of teaching French as a foreign language.

Apart from Valeria and Nina, the other person who ensured the success of the public meeting is Christiane, the president of the Association. A week before, she called everyone she thought could help, to get a clear idea of what could be done and by whom. That's how I ended up on the committee.

I'm glad to say that my only personal Ukrainian contact of prior to the war, a highly regarded entomologist of much the same age as me, based in Kyiv, has made it to Berlin with his wife, with the support of the Natural History Museum there. I'm sad to say that my local Russian friends are feeling like they need to keep a low profile, despite them being vehemently against the war.

The committee is meeting tonight to further develop our action plan and to establish teams for doing the various tasks needed.