Septembre

This morning I put on a sweater. Summer is leaving and Fall arriving. I feel it in the air. I see it in the garden as the courgette look more tired. The tomatoes too, look a little tired. 

Fall is in the air; the courgette grow fiercely in compost. 

Soon ready to harvest gigantic courgette in the upper garden. 

Tomatoes in the greenhouse, tired but still producing. 

Things seem to be slowing down, which is nice since it’s been a busy summer. The village is getting quieter as the last of the tourists bid their farewells. For a moment I felt some emotional resistance to the change in season. A goodbye to summer means no more swimming in the sea, less people around, no more garden, less travels, less sunshine.

But then, I like the idea of slowing down and looking in. I begin to look forward to Fall and Winter more and more as I live this agrarian lifestyle. Fall and Winter means a little break, physically and mentally. It’s a shift to new activities, a time for reflection and introspection. Mother Nature gets quiet too. She slows down, goes dormant, the bees semi-hibernate, flowers die. But life continues, just at a different rhythm. 

Potimarron colorfully decorate our shelf. 

Fall is here & I can taste the Butternut Squash Soup already! 

Busy preserving loads of tomatoes this week as a tomato sauce.

In the kitchen, the food changes too. Fall and Winter means squash soups, pumpkin pies, baked goodies. Hopefully, we find some mushrooms. I’m rather looking forward to a new palette to play with and new flavors to explore. I’ve also been doing some preserving, making tomato sauce from our loads of tomatoes and pesto with our basil. 

While I’ve always loved snow and enjoyed visiting the Sierra Nevada mountains in California with my family as a kid, I never really liked the cold. To visit is one thing, and to live in quite another. So, like a songbird, I retreat to warmer places when the cold comes. Furthermore, being a Southern Californian, my body is not built for anything below 70 degrees fahrenheit. Or so I always thought. But I’ve been delving deeper here, reading about the mind and body more, and actually, mind over matter is a real thing!

So, I believe one can adapt to a new environment like the cold, with the proper mindset and gear. Sweaters, woolen socks, gloves, mittens, wool scarves, coats, stockings, a fireplace or wood stove, lots of movies and books. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t pack any warm clothes, but fortunately, Jorris’ mom gave me so many of her woolen clothes which her mom made. Despite my plea not to bother her, Jorris just asked if she had a coat I could have and she came out of her room with arm loads of sweaters, coats, scarfs, for the both of us. It was so sweet and kind. 

Jorris' family's garden in Bontebok, Netherlands. 

Beautiful Nasturtiums in Jorris' family garden. 

Jorris' mom, Edith, magical gardener. 

Edith is a magical gardener and understands plants so well. She saves seeds from all her flowers and always offers me some. She offered me some mash, stokroos and judas penning. If our chests were transparent and we could see eachothers hearts, hers would look like her garden, blossoming with flowers and singing birds, full of life and love. She has magical green hands and can grow anything. She took me on a garden tour of some beautiful inspirational gardens around her neighborhood. She made us fresh apple juice from homegrown apples and warm apple pie for breakfast and a magnificent risotto for dinner. As with all gardeners I’ve met, she has a most generous heart and gives and gives without asking for anything in return. 

Our trip to Bontebok was short, but so worth it for the occasion of honoring Opa. Opa passed away earlier this year. He was 98. Jorris and his Opa Jules Van Bergen had such a special and deep relationship. They traveled a lot together throughout Europe and philosophized. I love it when we reach a place and Jorris gets excited to tell me a memory of he and his Grandpa there. 

I’ve had the honor of meeting Opa once. His wisdom and light resonated so powerfully. His home was filled with books on spiritual growth, philosophy, theosophy. It was decorated with souvenirs from far away places, colorful rugs and carpets, images of Eastern deities. 

Wonderful ceremony of honoring Opa.  Photo: Jorris

His ashes were scattered around his favorite Linden tree. 

Friends and family placed flowers on his ashes. 

We scattered his ashes around his favorite laurel tree in the backyard woods of Jorris’ family and Opa’s home (the houses are on the same property). Together, friends and family of Opa sang songs, shared some words and left flowers by the tree. 

It was such a beautiful ceremony, so authentic and thoughtful, full of peace and love. I couldn’t imagine a better place to be in the end than right in your own backyard under your favorite tree surrounded by the people who love you. 

I was really humbled and honored to have been invited to such an intimate family occasion. I always feel welcomed and “at home” with Jorris’ family. They are such open-hearted and kind people. We have good laughs together and play music some times. Jorris’ brother Valentijn started a fire for us all to just sit around after dinner at the restaurant. It was lovely and simple. No t.v., just hanging out together, with some humorous animal clips on youtube of course. 

Sweet little backyard sitting area where Valentijn made a fire. 

Endless green pastures with roaming sheep around Jorris' neighborhood.

A beautiful canal runs through Bontebok. 

It’s such a different way of spending time together than I am used to with my family and friends. I like it so much, getting together by a fire or going on a garden tour of the neighborhood. Valentijn drove us to his mushroom spots to see if we could find any. That was exciting too. I feel much more connected to spending time together this way. There is a time and place for everything of course and I still would enjoy the thrift shopping with my brother, of course and the crazy shenanigans of my cousins back in California when we get together, but this kind of coziness and these activities are just hygge (Danish word for cozy). 

Bus rides through Europe can be long but also very beautiful. 

At the train station in Holland, the start of our 30 hr trip!
photo: Emille

It was a short but sweet time we spent in Holland, just the weekend. 30 hours straight of train and bus rides later and we found ourselves safely back to our yurt in the Southern French Alps. The way up to Holland was exciting and a little less tiring since we made some stops. 

Meeting up with past wwoofers Ysé and Arnaud in Paris on our way up. 

One night stop in magnific Lyon. 

Date night in Lyon, first course: poached eggs with onion in red wine sauce. 

We had hitchhiked (6 different rides) to Lyon and spent one night there where we stayed at an awesome Air b n b and had a date night. We stayed a few hours in Paris before our bus to Holland and had the chance to meet up with our past wwoofers Arnaud and Ysé from last year. It was so wonderful to have a drink with them and catch up. I just thought on our drive to Paris, who do we know there, and I texted Ysé and it just worked out perfectly. Jorris was hesitant at first when I had asked if we should reach out to them, but then after our meeting up, he said how he really enjoyed it. We even had some time for a Thai date night before catching our bus.

Anyway, one week being away from the garden and home was nice. It’s good to have little breaks like that I think. Just to break from routine with new sights and stimuli for the mind and senses.  

We have a few markets to prepare for this month, so I’ll be back in the kitchen making more products, new soap recipes, more lip balms. We’ll be moving our hives to the coast soon as it gets colder. Other than that, I’m curious to see how this Fall season unfolds.





*photos by Tiffanie Ma, unless otherwise noted. 

Sprouts, the Magic of Gardening

Sometimes, a garden needs a little magic. Last week in Mom's garden I played witch and sprinkled coffee grounds and smoked paprika along the garden borders to keep the cats away. And, either it worked, or the cats had found another garden to call their toilet anyway. Either way, the cats have stayed away!

I think every gardener believes in magic. Whether consciously or subconsciously. You really can't help but be mystified still when you see sprouts and wonder how life begins from the tiniest of seeds.  Even with the scientific understanding of it all, there is something so magical and exciting. I, now 27 years old, still jump with excitement when I see sprouts!!! I did so on this past Tuesday October 18th, when I saw lettuce and radish sprouts, which I had seeded on Thursday October 13th. It took 6 days!

Seeds are magical!! Lettuce sprouts under burlap sack cover.

Only a week ago there was dried dirt and poop here, now heirloom lettuces!

Will thin these. These micro-greens will be great on a sandwich! 

That's incredible! I've known lettuce and radish seeds to germinate quickly, but I suppose maybe I never carefully counted the days, since there was always lots of other seeds and tasks to keep track of in the garden. Seed sprouts never cease to inspire me. I'm rather enjoying this piece-by-piece gardening, starting small, whether it's just a small plot or a few different seeds, or both. It's a great way to learn and observe. I've learned that the burlap sack worked very well as a cover to keep seeds moist for germination. Not only can you test out different gardening practices such as I did with burlap here, but I find that you have high chances of success too if you have say one bed of veggies to care for, rather than a lot of different ones.

It's all part of Slow Gardening. Like the Slow Food Movement, which began in Italy by Carlo Petrini in 1986, who promoted slow eating, saving and savoring traditional foods and cuisines through saving heirloom seeds and sustainable cultivating practices. Slow Gardening is about taking pleasure in gardening, savoring the experience, such as watching seeds sprout, smelling the earthy fragrance of compost, feeling the water splash on your toes as it drips out of the watering can; it's a sensual experience.

Happy Lavender producing new flowers!

Gardenia producing new leaves!

The pots of Lavender and Gardenia are doing really well, too! There are new Lavender flowers popping up and the Gardenia looks bushier with new leaves. I did move the Gardenia pot a little since I had noticed some burnt leaves, so it may have been getting a little too much sun. As a gardener, you learn to be a little more observant of the space around you. Next I will be pruning the butterfly and sage bushes, sewing wildflower seeds, and planting tulip bulbs. I'll keep you updated, slowly, Slow Blogging, we'll call it ;)






*photos by Tiffanie Ma

October 15

I felt somewhere between a witch, chef, and gardener today while working in my mom's garden. A sprinkle of coffee grounds with a dash of smoked paprika powder along the border of a newly amended and seeded bed of lettuce greens, should do the trick. From what I've read cats do not like strong smells such as these. It's another game gardening in the city versus in the country. The rules are different and so are the challenges, such as stray cats pooping and peeing in your garden (yuck!)!

Luckily for us, the problem is not so severe, in fact, no poop found yesterday morning on the burlap sack I used to cover the newly sewn lettuce seeds to keep them moist for germination, reported Mom. Though, it may have been just a lucky morning, so since I don't want to take chances, I played with the magic of coffee grounds and smoked paprika today. We'll see what unfolds.

Getting my Garden on with these clogs! Jorris would appreciate.

Playing with magic of chili and coffee to deter cats from garden. 

Strong scents like coffee grounds and smoked paprika are said to deter cats. 

I’ve been home from France for a month and a half now, since September. It’s been a lot of yoga, reading, resting, creating new projects (a blog post to come!), reconnecting with friends and family. It’s also been about reconnecting to old spaces, like mom’s garden, my first solo garden project I began many moons ago. Much has changed in her garden over the years. I’ve been traveling and my mom isn’t a gardener. My Grandma Lee, her mom, is the gardner. She grew all sorts of things with strange methods I would just crinkle my nose at when I saw her as I played outside, but she could grow anything. Perhaps that’s where my passion for gardening comes from. 

The Succulent Egg project I made for mom in Spring of 2015. 

Some of them now, Fall of 2016! Mom has done a great job watering!

But, Mom actually surprised me this time with her gardening commitment. Before I left for France last Spring, I had instructed her to water this basket of succulents, without much hope since she’s failed in the past to keep plants alive, in fact these succulents were part of that failure. They were cuttings from the succulents that lined my sidewalk when I lived in Silverlake and which I had propagated in egg shells, sharing them with my school, students, encouraging people to plant them and watch them grow. Before I had left for France the first time in the Summer of 2015, I had asked her to water them. Upon my return that Winter, they were sad, all alone, out in the back yard, as dry as the Sahara Desert but still alive and waiting for love. So, I tried to save some and transplanted them in this empty planter basket which I had planted herbs in for a lesson during my Master Gardener class the year prior. This time, returning to Mom’s garden, I see the basket brimming with beautiful and happy succulents, sitting like a trophy on the fountain!! She’s been modest about her success, since she never spoke about how well they were doing while I was in France. I suppose taking care of the succulent basket was like taking care of me, even though I was far away. It's fantastic to have a relic of my time living in Silverlake and to know that some of my gardening skills are rubbing off on my mom.

Gardening piece by piece, first repotting, Mom's favorite Gardenia. 

Repotting is so simple and really changes the atmosphere, here Lavender. 

Amending pieces of the garden, here had to scoop out poop first. 

Then, mix in organic compost but no tilling, just add on top of existent soil.

Water, cover, leave a few days and then sew lettuce seeds!

Cover again with burlap or other cover material to keep seeds protected. 

With the temperatures cooling off, since it has been torrid upon my return to LA, I’ve been more motivated to get back into the garden, and frankly, couldn't wait any longer. I’ve been itching to get back into the soil, and I was about to get back in, weather permitting or not. I’m starting piece by piece. Amending soil here and there. Repotting old pots with Gardenia and Lavender, two of Mom’s favorites. Sewing lettuce seeds. Scooping up poop. I have to admit that I can't put all the blame on the wild cats of Azusa for the poopy mess, our precious Malti-Poo (cross between a Maltese and Poodle), Jet, is also to blame. I've seen him in the past jump up into the beds and do his business in the green sorrel, though it's really not his fault either because Mom and I never laid the rules on him and since he was a puppy, he was trained to do his business on green and since the backyard is cemented floor, the garden is the closest thing to what Jet is familiar with. But, I've told him now not to poop there and have been keeping an eye on him. So far, he's been a pretty good listener.

The flower & herb garden of the farm house in Villetale Haute, France. 

You're all probably wondering why and how I could ever leave the beautiful French Alps and this picture above, but sometimes, a girl's just got to seek comfort in the familiar again, to find new perspective in an old place. It was a very successful season in Villetale Haute, and I promise I won't forget to share some photos in a later post. It was just time to say a bientôt to the place, though not adieu. There was mostly just harvesting in the vegetable garden and on the bee-side of business some markets and transhumances left. But I figured Jorris and Philippe could hold down the fort without me, and they are doing just fine. I suppose I'm slowly giving in to the fact that California will always be home and I will always miss it, wherever I go, no matter how old I get, so maybe I should just make it my physical home, too, deepen the roots I already have here. I've had the privilege of traveling afar and living abroad since my college days, and even before as a kid during family vacations. Each time I come home, I realize how much I miss it. And it's not just my family, though, they are the main reason; but it's also just the way the landscape feels, the vastness, the independent freedom, the Pacific Ocean, the Sierra Madre and San Gabriel Mountains, the forests of central and northern California.

Of course, I also have another home, and that's where Jorris is. His mind is as vast and open as the California landscape, and he is willing to seek a new life here with me, for us. While we can plan our future, we can never anticipate everything that will come. Of course we should plan, hope, dream, though I’ve learned that not everything in life will go as planned. We can’t always rely on our hopes and dreams to come true. In fact, in doing so, we limit ourselves, closing the door to the possible magnificence our human minds could never have dreamed or imagined and only something greater, like the Universe, can create. Why not trust that this Universe could have something even greater than what we could ever have imagined, hoped for, or dreamed of? One thing, however, I’ve learned I can always trust is my gut. Our guts know the truth, but it’s whether or not we choose to listen. The mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of our bodies are inter-dependent, inter-twined, and together work in ways to communicate messages to us. Learning how to hear, decipher, and understand these messages can be a life long journey. It's complicated. It can get a little woo woo, as my beloved yoga teacher Alma says. But we can start by following our guts, our heart. 

The herb bed has seen better days.

I will plant wild flowers here! But first, poop scooping, amending & weeding.

Quick! Duck before the neighbor sees! Lining the wall with coffee & pepper.

For instance, I trusted my gut to save the coffee grounds left over from my, may I say, amazing pour-over coffees I make every morning. My Dad will attest to their amazingness, and I’d bet both my gardening thumbs on that! Even without a composting system, yet, it felt wrong to throw out all this great nitrogen. So I saved them, just in case. And then during the week, I made a uniquely delicious mac ’n cheese for my dad and I, which called for smoked paprika. I hesitated to buy the whole glass bottle of organic smoked paprika for just the teaspoon that I needed, but my gut said go for it. It’s good to experiment with new spices. A few days later, Mom informs me of the cat visitor, so I find myself researching ways to keep cats out of the garden and what do you know? You can sprinkle coffee grounds and chili powder along your garden’s edges to keep them out. And I had both those ingredients! Did I know they would go together like that? Never would I have imagined. 

I suppose you may be calling me a fancy/crazy gardener, and I am, so go ahead call me fancy, call me crazy. I am that gardener who sprinkles organic coffee grounds and organic smoked paprika powder along her garden borders and above the walls, ducking a little so the neighbors won’t see. And while I’m at it, I’ll sprinkle some coffee grounds into the soil itself to add some nitrogen; and since I’m also a chef, I can’t help but shake a few dashes of organic paprika powder into the soil too. A little chili powder in the soil doesn't hurt, right? At least that’s what my gut told me. 



*photos by Tiffanie Ma