Newsletter from authentic France!

At last the sun has come out here in the far north of France, and while it’s not exactly bustin’ out all over, after a very damp and rather chilly spring, it’s very welcome, and the 200 or so tomato plants I’ve grown are joyful about a bit of warmth! 200?! I know what you’re thinking, why has she grown so many?! Well I didn’t actually mean to grow quite this many – I sowed a lot of old seeds to see what would happen and it was more successful than I thought it would be! Once the baby seedlings start to grow, I can’t bear to lose them, so I’ve nurtured them all and I hope to have a bumper crop. And that means I can share them with my neighbours. Bartering and swapping are a ‘thing’ here in rural France.

Coming from London as I do, where this is definitely not a ‘thing’, I’ve learned to embrace the concept of sharing, swapping and bartering as taught to me by my mentor and neighbour Jean-Claude. He is a man who loves the finer things in life, and this is reflected in his cake, cheese and wine-loving frame. He often says that although he is not rich, some things – by which he means of an edible nature – are worth spending good money or time on. He only buys from artisans and local producers, and barters eggs, fruit and vegetable from his garden as much as possible. I told him that Oscar Wilde once said that some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing – he now claims these as his own wise words. If anyone dares to say that he could have got something cheaper in the supermarket, he furrows his bushy eyebrows and quotes Wilde in his best French, which takes a bit of doing as he has a very strong local accent.

I sometimes swap eggs for beer at the local bar. Madame Jupiler, the best jam maker in the village often drops off a jar or two of her famous raspberry and vanilla jam in return for eggs (I’ve got a lot of chickens). I once helped pick potatoes and was given a sack load as a thanks which lasted me almost a whole winter. So a ton of tomatoes which can be sundried, marinated in oil, bottled and bartered is something I’m looking forward to – and if you were here, I’d share them with you too!

Read the whole newsletter and see this week’s top features and recipe picks

Best wishes and bisous from France,
Janine
Editor

Janine Marsh is Author of My Good Life in France: In Pursuit of the Rural Dream, My Four Seasons in France: A Year of the Good Life and Toujours la France: Living the Dream in Rural France all available as ebook, print & audio, on Amazon everywhere & all good bookshops online. Her new book How to be French – a celebration of the French lifestyle and art de vivre, is out now – a look at the French way of life.

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