Week 3, Gallac Wine Production

On Tuesday June 7^th we visited a Gallac wine production. The visit was made by one of the two farm owners. He was in charge of growing the vines and producing the grapes but we also had a tour of where the grape is converted to wine. The owner was very thorough explaining all the pesticides, fertilizers, crops planted between the rows, pheromones that were needed to add. What most got my attention was that he explained how they could adapt the vines to any location by grafting the type of root and the type of grape wanted to be produced.

This will definitely help back home, since my father and I have always wanted to have about one acre of vines to produce our own wine, and since we had very calcareous soils and hot temperature we thought that the vines wouldn’t be able to adapt, but after what the farmer from the visit told us, I am confident that in the future we will be able to do this project.

Week two, Trip to Sevens Mountains

On Thursday June 2^nd we started our visit to the Sevens Mountains, to visit local productions of cheese, sheep meat, and cow meat. As we met with this producers of what is in France a “large scale production” of sheep meat. This people wouldn't allow visitors to their farm, since they are considered cruel because they have “so many animals” (400 sheep) and the space they are in winter is not big enough. We also visited a cow meat producer who had also about 400 cows and considered a very large production. And they had the same problem with letting people in, even though that family has done that since several generations.

Both of this types of farms are currently are having restrictions because of new legislation, caused by increasing environmentalist strikes on “large production farms” where animals are feed in a cage. Environmentalists argue that they are altering the normal way an animal grows and that the ecosystem is modified when the feed lots are made. This results in the amounts of cows grown being limited, even though they have more than enough space for more cows.

The current “solution” France farmers are finding to the cows not allowed in feed lots is to feed the cows in pastures making them as fat as they can, and then selling them to feed lots in Italy. Italy will increase their weight in feed lots and sell the meat back to France keeping most of the revenue.

I find this wrong because the government knows this is a problem; that Italy is making all the money in the process and that they can’t do anything about it because they are too afraid of a small minority doing strikes. As the governing unit they should allow feed lots and other agricultural expansions to occur, having in mind the whole country's economy and small farmers business, not only for the few environmentalists that oppose all changes that want to be made.

Week 3 France

This week we visited multiple different places but three stood out the most to me.  The trip to the Gaillac Winery, the Armagnac, and the Horticulture Boffo freres. These three places all had one thing in common that I saw and that was everything they worked on was given extreme attention. Like at the Gaillac where they tended to the soil and pest control with precision. While we were there I saw each barrel being cleaned and prepared for the upcoming harvest of wine.  At the winery they not only filled, corked and sealed the bottles, but also labeled them as well. To me it was impressive to see all the work that was being done with only a few people, and they were not just simple tasks. All the while at the Armagnac facility we saw where they kept the armagnac in barrels and vats until it was perfect right down to the color and then taken to another room and like Gaillac were hand sealed and labeled right there at the facility. At boffo fereres everything was done by hand from the planting, maintaining, to the picking of the flowers by only a handful of workers. It was neat to see how so much work, planning, and patience went in to producing their products. I definitely think this is a lesson we can all learn from in that quality does not come from quantity.   To produce good quality it takes time and hard work. One example that came to mind is peaches. When growing you have to pick a few off the branches so you get nice size peaches and the branch doesn't break with all the weight. When they final start to turn color from ripening you have to worry about bugs and birds coming and eating holes in them while you wait for them to ripen on the vine. All this may not sound all that bad, but it takes a lot of time and patience. That is why most peaches people get in the market have been picked early and put in cold storage and ripened using ethylene gas.  So obviously the two are not the same quality which is something I have noticed in France, that they will take quality over quantity any day. 

You don't come to France with out visiting Paris. We spent our fourth and final week touring the city's many historical landmarks, castles, and museums. I have never before been exposed to so much art, history, and culture. The Louvre was amazing, if not over crowded. I honeslty never expected to come face to face with such world renowned original masterpieces like the Mona Lisa.

Mona Lisa

After the Louvre we visited Notre Dame, last I checked Notre Dame was a University in the U.S.. I had no idea it was an incredibly impressive gothic cathedral that took close to 200 years to build.

We also spent a substantial amount of time at the Musee D' Orsay. I don't know much about art and paintings but I do know that I enjoy impressionism above all else. Yet again we enjoyed the opportunity to view original masterpieces by world renowned imprssionists like Vincent Vangogh and Claude Monet.

Vangogh's "Stary Night"

Vangogh's self portrait.

Monet's Garden

Monet's Anne of Green Gabels

Dr. Levy gave us all a free day Wednesday. I spent the day walking around the city, making it a point to see the Eiffel Tower. As I stated previously; you don't come to France without visiting Paris, and you don't go to Paris with out viewing the Eiffle Tower. The intracacy of the design is breath taking. Much like landscapes in the Pyrennes, pictures just don't do it justice. Yet such landscapes and structures are highly photogynic, making it seem like I actually know how to take a proper photo.

All-in-all, this has been a great experience. Thanks Dr. Levy for putting this together for us.

We kicked off week 3 with a trip to a vineyard in a region of France known as Gaillac, home of a winery by the name of Domaine Rotier. There they grow a wide variety of grapes, all of which are used to produce premium organic wines. Although some may have been lost in translation, it was clear that this family owned and operated business took pride in the quality of their sulfite free inventory of wines. Although wine containing sulfites isn't much of a concern to the majority of consumers, I can appreciate a nice bottle of wine with a fresh, robust bouquet, and no preservatives; but once the cork is pulled, it's best to go ahead and finish the bottle. (Insert smiley.) The most common pest the vineyard deals with is a specific kind of moth that ruins ripening grapes. In keeping with organic production and principals of IPM; the vineyard interestingly enough employs female moth pheromones which are dispersed throughout the field in order to jam the pheromone receptors of male moths, subsequently preventing further breeding due to sensory overload. Such practices effectively work as signal jammers, making it near impossible for male moths to physically locate a suitable female partner with which to breed. I personally find this to be fascinating.

Gaillic vineyard.

The tool used to disperse female moth pheromones. 

I unfortunately failed to record the name of an awesome green house we visited on the 9th that produced a wide variety of specialty flowers. I got side tracked once I saw the wide range of orchids they produced. I may be an old man and combat vet, but I will never deny my love for flower production, especially large scale orchid production. I lost count of the many different verities they produced. Absolutely beautiful to say the least!

Beautiful.

Not an insect, but a variety of orchid I never knew existed.

Pointe du Hoc Normandy. An added bonus that speaks for itself.

Monument dedicated to Col. Rudder and his Rangers. 

Blog Number 3

Welcome back! The week was more touring various cities than focusing on agriculture. It was nice to take a break and just observe the beauty of the cities. But getting back on track... Over the past few days, I spent a couple of days with a French friend. Over the course of the day, we explored Rouen which in my opinion was one of the most historical cities I've visited in France. We visited the famous site where Joan D'Arc was burned and we saw this amazing Cathedral. Next, I visited their hometown and gained quite an insight on the views of a local grower with a backyard garden. The garden consisted of tomatoes, lettuce, parsley, groseille which is like a special French grape, and zucchini. The tomatoes and zucchini don't do well in the rainy climate of Dieppe and the others seem to do very well except snails and slugs, diseases and pests are still a problem. the smaller gardens make use of companion planting to prevent and repel the problems listed above. From this, I saw some of the French views against nonorganic produce and of France in general. The French despise Monsanto for ruining farmers who use the seeds. They see the seeds as part of what the farmers buy. The Americans seem to support Monsanto since copyrights and all the trademarking is a huge part of our commerce. The seeds are seen as a trademarked item that is violated if it's "resold" in the form of new produce. The interpretations of the other country's people is quite inaccurate. The reputation of the French being rude and every American being cocky seem to have stuck the majority with the qualities of the few. The French actually are very generous and I don't believe Americans are always full of themselves. Very few of the French I've encountered have been rude. Overall, the trip was good in showing the city and giving me a little insight into smaller gardens that aren't commercial. Speaking of commercial... Until next time, I'll catch you later.

Week 3 in France

Omaha beach is very significant to American and world history. It is one of the D-day beaches where American forces landed to liberate Europe from German control in WWII. This week I was able to visit the cemetery, and the beach landing sites. At the cemetery there were  short films being played along with  displays of military gear, and weapons. Walking through the displays was very eye opening, it gave me an idea of what the soilders endurered during the war. They had to be strong, carry alot of supplies and be strategic in their planning for combat. It was amazing to see, and hear the stories of the young American soilders who were willing to leave their friends, and family behind to fight for their country. They were aware of the possibility that they may not return home but with their drive, courage, and bravery the soldiers enlisted. That same drive is also seen in American soldiers today.