Autumn letter from Loizé,

We try to go directly to the producer when we have to shop for vegetables this means the man on the other side of the village. He is completely organic and uses a donkey to plough his fields, his mother said that he uses a small tractor when he and the donkey get tired.

The advantage of the donkey is that when we have a solar storm, as in 1859, at least he will be able to work on the garden as normal, the solar storm of 1859 destroyed the beginnings of electrical equipment that we now completely rely on.

We have electrical storms in the countryside, first there is lightning, then a bang, then silence. In a solar storm, there will be no bang just a discharge in the atmosphere, then silence for hours, days, weeks, months? the only thing working will be our organic grower’s donkey.

We have had food scares in France, but we are happy that his food is safe, and is as good as we get from our own

We also go foraging, for Sloes and blackberries, walnuts, chestnuts but not snails or mushrooms. 

More importantly our organic supplier fills the gaps that we can’t cover, from our own garden.