Noix

We are staying in a delightfully farmhouse/barn conversion owned by an english family who moved to france in 2006 and renovated a house for themselves and two holiday cottages. By selling a 3 bedroom Bungalow in Bournmouth they were able to buy the buildings and 6 ha with only a small mortgage and enjoy an enviable quality of live. With 2 young children they integrate with the local communities but admit they find making friends with the locals difficult as most in the rural villages are fairly elderly. But their children are doing well at the local schools and they are happy with the standards of schooling. But even we find it quiet here, i can imagine that someone that never lived in the country before could find it a massive change.
The 6 ha that are owned go right upto the road edge and there is a wide grass verge with well maintained walnut trees. This is another thing that the Perigord region is renowned for. There is 28 walnut trees on the verge (Dora counted them) and these yield around 800 euros of nuts that are all sold to the local co-op. Locally you can find allsorts of products made from walnuts including a wicked walnut wine that seems similar to Sloe gin, made using green walnuts, eau-de-vie, red wine and sugar.
When we found the local farmers market at Riberac there was a stall selling walnuts and walnut products. After Alfred manage to hit the farmer firmly over the knuckles with what i imagine is the local authentic nutcracker and bowl i felt oliged to buy at least something. So we came away with noix confit, nothing to do with ducks but i think like a marron glace or similar. Dad bought some strong smelling nut oil for salads. Again all very traditional and authentic, but also quite expensive, however it was the first organic products we have managed to find.

Canard!

So today we have finally found some ducks and what a revelation the canard industry is. At Val De Chandiere batchs of ducks were bought in at 14 weeks for 12 euros then Gavarage or force fed soaked maize for 15 days and then were worth 50 Euros. Every 3 weeks batchs of 120 were bought in then processed to make everything you could possibly want from a duck, rillette,confit, Foie gras, Grillons,the list was endless! Our host seemed to find it unbelievable that in the UK we did not have a market for necks and gizzards. Here they were even selling the green offals. The processing plant was of reasonable standard but nowhere near the levels of hygiene and maintance that are required in the UK, this was particularly disapointing for Nevil when he struggles at home with constantly changing legislation that is meant to be the same across the EU.
Top price product today went to Foie Entier at 133.33 Euro's per kg, thats the whole lobes of liver in a tin. If you wanted cheaper then you could buy Bloc de foie Gras that is pressed together, much better value at 90 euros per kg. We currently sell organic duck livers that weigh around 50g each at £9 per kg a force fed canard Foie will weigh around 500g.
As usual I came back laden with more tins and jars to try, but for a change tonight we ate Duck sausages with lentiles Vert as even nevil is start to complain about the amount of duck confit he is being made to eat!

The Gavage or force feeder, Ducks are fed boiled maize twice a day.

The Cooker where the fat is rendered and then all the parts of duck are cooked. Looks similar to a ham boiler. (That disgusting thing is a cooked neck being hooked out for making into a rough pate)

Ducks in cages and on slatted floor, something that our customers would find unacceptable. Ducks are Mulards or mules a sterile cross between a barbary male and a female pekin. Finished dead weight will be around 5 to 5.5 kg

The Dordogne France

I thought it was a good plan to take the overnight ferry from plymouth and drive down through France to Gouts Rossignol deep in the french countryside. About 2 oclock in the morning trying to cuddle a seasick seven year old on a very hard floor i had serious doubts that this counted as a Nuffield experience. It is not completely a nuffield trip and we are also on holiday, but for many years we have talked about seeing how the French farm so here we are. Nevil and I, 5 children and 80 year old Dad. So far the weather is better than Devon and there is lots of sunflowers, but we have more in common with french farmers than we would like to admit. Highlights so far include BBQ maigret cannard with potatoes from a night street market, vintage tractor show with line dancers and lots of duck products. So far we have seen plastic ducks at the fair, china ducks and plenty of confit but no real ducks. So there goes the popular myth that canard are wandering free range. As usual i have spent time studying meat in the supermarket and the prices (bearing in mind the exchange rate being rubbish) are about what you would expect to pay in UK. in fact the price is probable more expensive as much for sale seems to be indoors reared and most definately not organic.

Not really Farming

So the last post was a bit of a fib. Not the bit about the farm, but the money actually comes from the farm diversification. Although beef and sheep are very nice there is no way we could live off the farm without an alternative income. As i have never wanted to get a proper job we decided after the foot and mouth diaster of 2001 to diversify and started producing organic poultry. Starting with Christmas geese our business is now based around organic ducks and chickens, all processed and marketed ourselves. I am very proud of what we have achieved, but sometimes look fondly back to the days when our farm work was seasonal. The chicken industry is cut throat and requires us to operate everyday except Christmas day. The last 18 months have been challenging, but we are still here and expanding with lots of exciting plans for the future. Not quite the farming i dreamed off many years ago, but it has certainly been fun and we have met some interesting people!

Nevil weighing & packing chicken plus views of the abbatoir

Higher Fingle

The last few months have been spent trying to catch up with accounts and get all the paperwork up to date before the school holidays begin. So not much time for Nuffield planning, so to fill the gaps here are some photos of Higher Fingle farm a 57 acre county council all grassland farm. It's quite hilly, a bit rundown and only rented on short term FBT but it provides a living for the Amiss family and employs 2 full time workers as well as numerous part timers. The good news is Devon county council have reviewed their farm policies and the future looks much more secure for tenants that are prepared to invest capital and be more innovative. So our next project is to start planning for a longer term future.

Cows and calves in Sale field

Gloucester Heifer 'Zeriba Bramley' with newborn calf

Looking down on the farm and house from the top fields.

View looking the other way towards Drewsteignton, much of the farm is steep.