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Pete Shield
Joined: 04 Nov 2012 Posts: 5 Location: Domaine de Montrouch, Haut Corbieres, France
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 12 9:49 am Post subject: Greetings from the Haut Corbieres |
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Hi,
Just a quick hello. My partner and I are just setting out as organically certified (Ecocert)aromatic herbs and plant growers in the high Corbieres area of the Languedoc Roussillon region of France.
We have 26 hectares on the side of a mountain- the vast majority an unmanaged thicket of forest, green and white oak with a bit of ash. In that there is a south facing field that I am slowly reclaiming, cutting terraces and mounting at the highest point 20 metres of clear (Ish) plastic covered poly tunnel, then an open air terrace and on the third terrace a shaded poly tunnel.
We have some water from a source, and capture rainwater to augment that supply. We are in the process of installing dry loos and a grey water recovery system to minimise the amount of water we use for domestic needs.
We have already installed a large PV system as we are far off the grid, and use wood as our heating fuel. The water is heated by gas as is the cooker as we just didn't have the cash to instal a photothermal solution.
We have just started on the market circuit- doing three markets a week- Perpignan and Narbonne organic markets and the general market in Lezignan Corbieres.
We are new to all of this and are facing a very steep learning curve- we have so much to learn about planting cycles, organic farming in general, low water gardening techniques, poultry raising and sustainable forestry management- and a million and one other things,
To start with I'll probably asking tonnes of question, but hopefully in time I maybe able to pass on what we have learned as we go along.
As a life long coeliac I already know a fair amount about gluten free cooking, so maybe I can contribute on that front.
I also know a bit about worms as I have a basement full of them.
Anyway looking forward to meeting you all.
I run a couple of websites that infrequently get updated.
https://www,naturalchoices.co.uk and https://www.montrouchorganic.com both need a lot of work but this farming business takes up alot of time.
Pete |
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Green Rosie
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Rusticwood
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vegplot
Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 21301 Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
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mousjoos
Joined: 05 Jun 2006 Posts: 1986 Location: VERY Sunny SW France
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Pete Shield
Joined: 04 Nov 2012 Posts: 5 Location: Domaine de Montrouch, Haut Corbieres, France
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mousjoos
Joined: 05 Jun 2006 Posts: 1986 Location: VERY Sunny SW France
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earthyvirgo
Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Posts: 7972 Location: creating prints in the loft, Gerlan
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mochyn
Joined: 21 Dec 2004 Posts: 24585 Location: mid-Wales
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Pete Shield
Joined: 04 Nov 2012 Posts: 5 Location: Domaine de Montrouch, Haut Corbieres, France
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Went
Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 6968
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gardening-girl
Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 6024 Location: Somerset.
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vegplot
Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 21301 Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
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Nicky cigreen
Joined: 25 Jun 2007 Posts: 9881 Location: Devon, uk
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Pete Shield
Joined: 04 Nov 2012 Posts: 5 Location: Domaine de Montrouch, Haut Corbieres, France
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