Ce weekend, mon père et moi avons fait de la confiture de fraises. Ce fut une expérience réconfortante, presque thérapeutique, qui m’a en outre permis de gagner du temps au cours d’une journée chargée.
Category Archives: Stories
Helping hands
This weekend, my father and I made strawberry jam. It was a healing experience which enabled me to save precious time.
Le poirier de cent cinquante ans (The 150 year-old pear tree – French version)
Dans la quatrième partie de cette série sur l’espérance de vie des arbres fruitiers, nous retournons à Aurillac pour célébrer la mémoire d’un poirier de douze mètres abattu le 11 mars 2020 dans le centre-ville. Voyons pour commencer les étapes qui ont mené à sa perte.
The 150 year-old pear tree
In the fourth part of this series on the life expectancy of fruit trees, we come back to Aurillac to celebrate the memory of a remarkable twelve-metre tall pear tree felled on 11 March 2020 in the town centre. To start with, let’s look at the steps which led to its downfall.
A fresh breeze of Tuscan biodiversity
We found our trip to Tuscany quite refreshing despite the June heatwave. The history of the Italian province may not have been one of undisturbed peace and harmony, but the hills above Vinci felt like a haven in our times of globally threatened biodiversity.
West Dean Gardens’ timeless orchard
The third part of a series on the life expectancy of fruit trees explores the Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden of the Edward James Foundation at West Dean in West Sussex, United Kingdom.
The Old Man’s Trees
This is the first part of a series on the life expectancy of fruit trees. We start with a story based on a real life incident, an ageing gardener who uproots trees in his orchard.
Europom 2018
The annual meeting of non-profit organisations that promote traditional and local fruit cultivars in Europe took place on 27 and 28 October in Troyes, France. The event coincided with the 40th anniversary of its organiser, Les Croqueurs de pommes®.
The return of the monks’ famous apples and pears
A 2,500 square-meter orchard nested in a corner of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris is what remains of a Carthusian domain which once hosted a big and internationally renowned fruit tree nursery. The monks left long ago, but their delicious varieties are back.
Discovering citrus fruit in Lisbon
Seeing lemons and oranges on trees in Lisbon this Easter sparked my interest in citrus fruit. I carried out library research to learn about this fruit family of Asian origin while looking out for trees in the streets and gardens of the Portuguese capital. Continue reading