Pure Rare Organics

15/12/2020

Half way through my time here in Menton. I'd never heard of the place until I started looking into organic growing in France and saw that bananas and avocados and all sorts can be grown in this place called Menton on the Cote d'Azur. At one time this area was the lemon producing capital of Europe and the citron du Menton now has IGP status (like parmesan cheese etc).

It's got one of the best possible natural microclimates you can think of. Surrounded on three sides (north, west and east) by rocky outcrops and sloping down towards the Mediterranean sea on the south.

The cliffs provide all sorts of benefits..shelter from the mistral winds, retaining heat in winter and has a huge source of water within it (somehow, somewhere 🤷 je ne sais pas).

It gets really hot in summer but the sea has a cooling effect. And the sea also stops frost's from settling in winter, when they rarely come.

Hence , why this place has been the spot for hundreds of years for the bourgeoisie to came here to 'winter'. Definitely not why I thought to come here in December 👀, I swear.

30/11/2020

1000 year old olive trees.

I began travelling just before this pandemic started. My plan was, and still is, to travel via help X and workaway living with families on farms and seeing how food there is produced.

Several times I've wondered whether it is safe or wise to continue. But I've got a car, I'm taking all the usual precautions, isolating on arrival each time which actually isn't too difficult on farms.

Food still needs to be produced and harvested. Many farms rely on volunteers and seasonal workers like me. And at farms like you come across things that make you realise why food is actually all that matters.

These trees and their rootstocks are somewhere between 1000 to 1500 years old. For a thousand years they been continually producing olives, relying on minimal water from this Mediterranean climate, their roots system brilliantly adapted to gather nutrition from the soil's layers. Is that not pure magic like??

So aaaanyway.. if people are interested, the plan is to keep going and if you want to see what's happening on farms and gardens in different parts of the world (mainly France at the minute) keep an eye out here.

Next stop is Menton, lemon capital of France and the last town on the Riviera before Italy with a really unique microclimate. Let's see what the craic is there!..as they say in France.

🇫🇷

25/11/2020

The finished product.

Organic, extra-virgin olive oil.

It's been a bit of an honour to be involved in one of agricultures oldest processes. Some would say civilisation has been built on it.

Walking into the mill on press days, you would get that lovely, fruity smell. The colour is almost fluorescent green. And the taste. It's like nothing else. All sorts of flavours I never knew good olive oil had; green apple, vanilla, banana and that nice bitter kick at the end.

I'm a little bit obsessed. Bit of oil on a plate, sprinkle of sea salt and bread for dipping (Jesus the French do good bread) is really hard to beat.

Gerry and Mark here at sell direct through the website so if you're interested, check it out on their page. They ship worldwide too. It's not cheap but top-quality food grown and produced like this shouldn't be. Nice way to support independent producers in the current climate.

15/11/2020

15/11/2020

03/10/2020

Caught the end of the grape harvest in Provence. Olives starting soon.

31/08/2020

Five weeks in Allihies.

Work was fencing, seaweed collecting, digging spuds, making beds, hay making, sowing, planting, lots of tomato/cucumber work and polytunnel building.

Off time was Tra na phearla swims, Cleathnach mackerel fishing, Sports fields Skelligs sunsets, the Arches, Garinish loop and beach walks, Copper mine trails, Gour mountain treks, Lauragh chanterelles, O'Neills for chips and stout, lots of stout.

A huge thank you to Sam and his amazing family. It's been incredible.

@ Allihies

20/07/2020

I've learned so much from Mags here in the past two weeks . I wanted to learn what to grow when for year round nectar and pollen from for bees and hopefully I remember it all.

Pollinators and birds are the most important part of her farm and flowers that happen to look nice and make up stunning bouquets is a bonus. Her knowledge and passion for all things flowers is unreal.

She is hosting an open day on the 16th August and there's still some spaces available. I'd highly recommend coming here if you can.

For all the great chats and huge amount of knowledge, thank you Mags. @ Drimoleague, Cork, Ireland