La Petite Ferme sur le plateau dans le Haut-Livradois

We are a couple of guys impassioned and motivated by a calm life far from the urban bustle, close to nature and her balancing rhythm. We want to live and share our deep values: auto sufficiency, a return to manual labor, a return to a simple and positive spirit of country tradition that are dying out, a reconnection of agricultural work with spirituality, the richness and diversity of the nourishing earth.

We are: Benoît, son of the agricultural plains of Versailles, passionate about plants, curious about the secrets of nature and living; and Jef, an American, passionate about books, spirituality, languages, history and open and isolated natural places, simple yet full of sense like the woods, the mountains, rivers…

This path towards a return to our sources, accompanied with an agricultural project, led us in 2015 to the Haut Livradois in the south-east of Auvergne. There we found our little farm on the plateau in Saint-ELoy-la-Glacière (as cold as it sounds), at an altitude of 1 050 meters (about 3 300 feet). Of course, with the beautiful snow of winter, not far from Ambert, famous for it cheese, la Fourme.

Inspired by permaculture, tradition production of the Auvergne mountains (the Massif Central), and strengthened by our experiences in eco-citizenry and agro-ecology, we are gambling on a farm with polyculture, traditional husbandry, a permaculture approach with a project for diversified production:

1. Free range poultry for the eggs and meat,
2. Collecting of wild plants and the cultivation of local medicinal plants,
3. High altitude vegetables and cereals adapted to the cool climate and the granite soil,
4. Orchards of local heirloom and wild fruit to be transformed into fruit confections and alcoholic beverages,
5. Pigs, rabbits and a kitchen garden for our own consumption,
6. Fabrication of pine resin incense and hand-made soap, crochet work,
7. Reasonable rural lodging on the farm via Air’BNB and woofing.

Those products will be sold directly (an important road passes in front of the farm) at a couple of local markets (Ambert, Billom or Cunlhat) and via local organic markets, and via internet.

Our building, in granite and local wood, includes a big stable, a three-storey house heated by wood fire, two large barns each with a surface of about 180 m². There are 2.5 acres around the farm including 1.5 acres that we are working to plant with an orchard, hedges, medicinal plants, berries, vegetables and cereals, a chicken run…

In 2015, our little family grew with a baby carriage, two cats, four bunnies, four doves, a nursery with many kinds of plants, a few hundred meters of kitchen garden, a collection of about 60 medicinal plants, a plant dryer, and weekends of support and hope.

About the poultry, we are targeting a park of about 200 to 300 hens made up of Leghorns, Marans, etc. and maybe some chickens for meat, about 50 maximum. The eggs and chickens will be organic or free-range. A large, grass-covered chicken run will be reserved for them in rotation with other fields so that the grass remains fresh.

We have chosen medicinal plants because Ben knows them well and has treated himself with them for 20 years. The plants gathered by picking them in the wild come from our region, from the fields and forests, from around our farm. It is an old tradition here on the plateau to gather wild gentian, arnica, blueberries, mushrooms…a tradition slowly dying out with the increase of fields for fodder. Some plants in large quantities (raspberry, ash, blueberry leaves, birch…) will be delivered to a plant cooperative, the SICARAPPAM. Crops allow the production of annual medicinal plants, regular perennials (mint, lemon balm, angelica…) as well as the wild plants gathered from nature, whose supply is guaranteed by nature! Ben’s experience in plant cultures will allow us to throw ourselves into that work.

The orchards, consisting of local heirloom and wild fruit, will include apples, pears, plums and cherries alternated with large bands of crops and interspaced with berries and perennial medicinal plants, surrounded by ‘walls’ of climbing plants (Siberian kiwi, grape vines, hop) and fruit hedges. The area favors the production of small fruit, late, but of high quality. At the same time, we are studying the idea of planting a garden-forest on a parcel of land that was once a fur forest. It would be a terraced orchard of fruit trees and bushes and medicinal plants adapted to the acidic soil of an old resinous forest.

We are passionate about the variety of fruit available to us and transforming them into fruit confections. We especially like wild and heirloom fruit, fruit that has an original flavor: cranberry, bilberry, blueberry, currant, medlar, rose hip, wild apple and pear, as well as the ‘traditional’ fruit: blackcurrant, raspberry, strawberry… These orchards will be of great importance to us, but they need time to mature, except the strawberries and raspberries.

High-altitude cereal and vegetable crops will be important because the soil is good and deep: rye, buckwheat, peas, lentils, spelt, oats, flax, cabbages, carrots, turnips, beets, leeks, potatoes. Those will be sold mostly in the fall, after a short period of storage in our barn (we don’t need any refrigeration!).

Clearly we have an ambitious project that will require us to recruit some help to develop our agricultural, natural, culinary, cultural and botanical competencies. It is imperative for us to generate some revenue this year from those activities. We have to prioritize our activities and focus on those that will bring us a rapid return:

1. Laying hens
2. Vegetables and cereals
3. Some medicinal plants and berries
4. Picking of wild medicinal plants
5. Hosting guest on our farm

Investment is therefore indispensible for starting up in the springtime the above activities.

Here is a break-down of our expenses:

1. 5 000 Euros to start the egg operation: transforming a part of the two barns into a chicken coop, three electrified chicken runs (have to be careful of the quick brown fox!), a storage area, and an area to sort and pack the eggs. We will also need to buy about 200 chicks and the feed for about the first three months,
2. 2 500 Euros to prepare and plant the soil: some orchards of fruit trees and bushes (we have to plant soon to gather fruit in three years from the bushes, in five years from the trees), high-altitude cereals and vegetables, strawberries, medicinal plants,
3. 1 000 Euros to arrange a room for drying plants and for stocking them,
4. 7 500 Euros to buy equipment: a small tractor, a motocultivator, tools) until we are able to work the soil with animal traction, we hope in about three years, a trailer and a van for delivery.

That makes a total of 16 000 Euros, but we are seeking about 10 000 Euros to help us get started.

With your help, we can realize this project. Whether you can contribute or not, you are all welcome to spend a weekend, or a week, here on the farm.

Rewards:

> For 10 euros or more

Thank you ! A great thank on our facebook page + on the contributor wall.

Available: April 2016

> For 30 euros or more

Thank you! Previous reward+ for 2 people a visit on our farm, followed by a friendly cocktail.

Available: March 2016

> For 50 euros or more

A big thank you! Previous reward+ 2 bags of herbal tea of your choice + 1 dozen eggs.

Available: May 2016

> For 75 euros or more

A big thank you! Previous reward +1 package of incense and 2 bars of home-made soap.

Available: May 2016

> For 110 euros or more

A very big thank you! Previous reward + one week-end for 2 people (1 night) on our farm, during which we’ll attempt to transmit our passion and knowledge.

Available: May 2016

> For 200 euros or more

A very big thank you! Previous reward + one week-end for 2 people (discovery of farming work, guided walk in the woods of the Haut Livradois) on our farm + 1 dozen eggs+ a farmer’s basket with 3 bags of herbal tea of your choice, 2 bars of home-made soap, I package of natural incense and 1 package of fruits sweets.

Available: May 2016

> For 300 euros or more

A really really really big thank you! Previous reward for 110 euros but for 4 people!! +2 dozen eggs+ a farmer’s basket with 4 bags of herbal tea of your choice, 4 bars of home-made soap, 2 packages of natural incense and 2 packages of fruits sweets.

Available: May 2016

> For 450 euros or more

A huge thank you! Previous reward for 200 euros+ but for 4 people!! +1 dozen eggs+ a farmer’s basket with 5 bags of herbal tea of your choice, 6 bars of home-made soap, 3 packages of natural incense and 3 packages of fruits sweets.

Available: May 2016