Grand opening: l’arpent nourricier
March 7th, 2008Now is the time for my farmer self to say good-bye and move to roomier premises. The Mandarine half here will presently revert to literary mutterings, amateur photography, dilettante philosophy and leftist social criticism.
For those interested in my experience (and my errors) as a gardener, you can visit my new website, l’arpent nourricier, which I declare open as of now. If you read French, good for you. If not, you can still look at the pictures 
My primary objective is to write about this wager of mine that I’ll be able to farm a garden big enough to feed a family while still working full-time (80% full-time) as an engineer. My secondary objective is much more pretentious: I want to transfer to the French-speaking internet all the experience and resources I can from the very vast corpus of resources and techniques for new, small-scale, organic farming from the English-speaking internet. My ultimate goal (apart from the obvious selfless contribution to the good of that part of humanity which happens to read French and among whom I happen to live) is that there is a chance that like-minded people might get to know me, and offer me to participate in projects involving local, small-scale, organic farming.
The name “l’arpent nourricier” translates to “the nurturing acre”. It is too bad that the term “nourricier” in French only conveys the “food” idea, and not the “care” idea that “nurturing” implies. It would have been an even better name.
PS: do not worry about the theme, I will be changing it as soon as I can.
I took a look at your new blog and I love the Orpington’s home: you’re right, no monkeys will get them while they’re living there.
Good luck with your quest, and please report back here now and again because your experiment is fascinating.
Too bad I grew up in late twentieth-century America instead of in an age and place in which I would have been taught French regardless of what my native tongue was. I wonder if it’s too late in to learn. Anyway, good luck, and I’ll be visiting for the pictures.
I used to be quite fluent in French (I was quite proud last year when a security guard at the Paris airport mistook me for being able to speak French when I spoke to her, and embarrassingly had to stop her and ask if she spoke English) and have been thinking of returning to classes since someday I’d like to work for the World Health Organization, and I think attempting to read your new site is a great place to start!
Charlotte: I am still worried about weasels or martens, who could dig under the frame. I hope the parade of cats at night will keep those at bay.
Emily: now is the age in which we are being taught English regardless of what our native tongue is. O tempora, o mores.
Courtney: I am gald you want to try. But brace yourself. My writing style in French contains even more pedantic phrases and outmoded vocabulary than in English (but intentionally, I am afraid).
I like the new blog. I was pleased that I could comprehend most of it as I haven’t read French in a few years. I’ll be sure to visit from time to time, but doubt that I’ll comment unless I can do so in English. It’s so much easier to read and understand than to write (or speak) and be understood in a language one has not mastered.
You are absolutely welcome to comment in English. I am already so glad you can actually read me: I will not have to build a readership from complete scratch like I thought.
I think your new blog is a great idea! How big is an “arpent” exactly? Anyway a lot bigger than anything I could try to plant in my window boxes!
Technically, ‘un arpent’ = one acre ~ a half hectare = 5000 sq-m. My garden is much smaller: just 1300 sq-m, but if you add the woods we bought last year, you get a total of ‘un arpent’.
If you divide the total amount of arable land on Earth (2 billion hectares) by the number of people (6 billion), you get a quota of one third hectare per person. I am going to try to fee three (maybe four) people on just an eighth of a hectare, arguing that the soil (and climate) of my garden is probably one of the most fertile in the world.
Have fun with the exciting new lifestyle and the new blog. I’m afraid I’ll have to look at the pictures and fill in the text, or try the atrocious Google Translator :-). Or maybe, I can glean some of what is written if someone comments in English.
Please do not even contemplate trying any automatic translation. I am sure that you can get the gist of it via the pictures. Btw. if you want just the pictures, you can simply browse the associated flickr account (arpent nourricier).
Hello. I’m writing to you this time from my garden site, not my book blog. How wonderful your new venture sounds…and good luck to you! I do read a bit of French and I will look forward to trying to translate some of your writing —aided by the pictures of course.
I too try to grow everything for my family (which, these days is only my husband and me…but neighbors seem to show up when some delectable veggie is ready to harvest, so I can yet be quite exuberant and excessive about it all).
I love the name, l’arpent nouriccier, and will now think about my own garden as such—with the added English valence of course. Thank you!
Looking forward to meeting you over there then.