Les Racines d'Or, East Countryside

Barely 24 hours after landing in France, we began our very first WWOOF experience. WWOOF stands for “World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms”. This association allows curious souls like us to share daily life on an organic farm, learn about sustainable lifestyles and experience new cultures. In exchange for our time and effort, we receive new skills and knowledge, delicious food and a bed when we stay overnight. For this first experience, we only came during the day, spending our evenings at Mylene’s childhood home, just ten minutes away by car.

The morning rain (something we had rarely experienced during our last months in Australia!) did not discourage us.

Les Racines d’Or is a three-hectare organic market garden, organised around permanent beds and 25-metre-long tunnels, with fruit trees, orchards, strawberry tunnels and a small corn field woven throughout the landscape. The farm is still very young, created in 2022 by Jean-Sébastien on the land where he grew up, after a first career as a filmmaker and photographer.

We chose this farm not only because of its proximity to Mylene’s childhood home, but also to discover how small-scale market gardening methods inspired by Canadian farmer Jean-Martin Fortier, combined with living soil practices, are implemented in real life.

A Taste of the Farm in June

Crisp salads, different varieties of cabbage (cauliflower, broccoli, pointed cabbage and kohlrabi), the last radishes and peas of the season, delicious strawberries, zucchini, juicy carrots, beetroot, onions and cucumbers.

Jean-Sébastien also grows CBD plants and flowers, which he transforms into herbal infusions (a real treat and apparently a recipe for better sleep!).

The produce is sold directly from the farm stand on Wednesday and Friday evenings, supplied to local restaurants that value fresh seasonal food, and available through local pick-up points on order.

So What Did We Do During Those Two Days?

Our first morning was spent in the tomato tunnel, where the young plants had unfortunately already been affected by mildew.

We removed suckers (the small shoots growing between the main stem and the leaves), cut away infected leaves showing the characteristic dark spots, and removed weeds growing around the plants despite the protective plastic tarpaulins covering the beds.

It was a task requiring precision and concentration (cutting the wrong stem could damage the plant) as well as quite a lot of bending… hello squats!

We then trellised the tomato plants to improve airflow, make future maintenance easier and reduce the risk of disease spreading. A reminder that in farming, an entire crop can sometimes be lost within only a few days.

On our second day, we prepared seedlings using 54 and 104-cell trays. In total, we sowed 2,250 seeds of turnips, fennel, lettuce, cabbage and beetroot, which we hope will become nourishing food for many people in the months ahead.

We also planted marigolds every eight tomato plants to help deter certain pests, including aphids, which are often protected and farmed by ants.

Finally, we helped set up the farm stand and witnessed one of the most rewarding moments of the week: seeing customers arrive, fill their baskets with freshly harvested produce and leave with smiles on their faces.

What We Learnt

This stay was short, but already full of lessons.

First, it gave us confidence in our ability to contribute during our upcoming WWOOF experiences. We often learn theories through books and conversations, but nothing replaces practice to truly understand how things are done, and how our bodies and minds respond to daily farm work.

As expected, farming requires patience, but also a deep sense of trust. Trust in the soil, the weather, the plants and our own ability to adapt to diseases and unpredictable conditions.

This trust comes with experience, but we also realised how heavy the mental load can be for farmers, especially when a lost harvest often means a direct financial loss.

These two days also highlighted the importance of thoughtful farm design. A well-placed sink, nearby toilets, a comfortable working table for seedlings, or simply storing tools properly at the end of the season can protect the farmer’s body while making work smoother and more efficient.

What We Loved Most

The seedling day was probably our favourite. There was something deeply satisfying about seeing the tangible result of a full day of work.

We loved the diversity of tasks and, above all, spending the day outdoors rather than sitting behind a screen.

We also confirmed some of our natural tendencies: Guillaume enjoys precision and carefully placing each tiny seed, while Mylene loves organising spaces and taking on physical tasks.

Seeing the farm stand filled with beautiful produce also allowed us to dream about what our own future farm stand might one day look like.

The Mana of This Place

• A beautiful farm stand overflowing with vegetables from the farm and organic products from neighbouring producers (local wheat pasta, lentils, oils, syrups, herbal teas, eggs, cheese and bread).
• The almost constant sound of birds.
• The sweetest strawberries we have ever tasted.
• The generous salads shared after a day of work.
• And the conversations with Jean-Sébastien about the limits of conventional agriculture and the promise of local, diverse, small-scale farming systems.