Florian, Frank and Thomas bought a house with a 7 ha territory a few years ago aiming to start their own organic farm. The work has been hard and required a lot of efforts financially and timewise but here they are – 3000 m2 of vegetable gardens, herbs, 150 fruit trees, berries, vineyards, dozens of chickens, three sheep and far going plans including their own bee farm and B&B cabins for tourists and travelers who want to relax on an authentic farm with a fantastic view on the Pyrenees mountains. When I visited the Ferme du Higas, they were in the middle of a crowdfunding campaign with a goal to build a new plant nursery and a conservation space. As I said, their plans stretch much further than that.

I won’t pretend that in two days I grasped the whole functioning of the farm. Its life is guided by seasons, which determine the work in the gardens as well as the whole daily schedule. I can only say that I was amazed by how smoothly it runs (at least from my inexperienced point of view) – but I can only wonder about the management level it can require.

Daily schedule includes the work in the gardens per se, cleaning, cooking, DIY for million little things to fix and build, but also a part-time job for some of the guys and daily meetings to discuss the current issues and plans.

My favourite moment of the day is lunch time, when several members of the growing farm family gather to cook for everybody in a friendly atmosphere. I watched it all in awe. Wwoofers or friends or accidental visitors like me come and go, so there is always someone to share stories and chat.

There is hardly a thing that didn’t mezmerize this on this farm. Being most of my life a city dweller, all I have are idealized memories of my childhood summers at my grand-parents’ house on the South of Ukraine, and even if these are two completely different worlds, I felt joy each time I recognized one detail or another from my archived memories. Boots in the hall, books on farming, a gentle buzz of the insects, pleasant freshness, small envelopes with seeds and a peaceful calm of the afternoon rest – I felt like a kid again.

I was not the only visitor that day. Ferme du Higas welcome friends, acquaintances and wwoofers – people who come to stay and work on the farm with accommodation and food provided. A great way to rest from the city life and reconnect with the nature. No matter how cliché it might sound, this is exactly how it feels. I also had my small share of the farm work – my grandparents would be astonished to find out that their granddaughter willingly spent an afternoon planting lettuce. What can I say – I’ve changed a lot since I was ten when farming seemed to be the uncoolest thing in the world. It’s not farming that seems to me uncool now.

So who are the buyers of the farm’s vegetables? As all three founders have families and connections in Toulouse, a lot of their produce go directly to the city restaurants. I made a point on going to one of them (Cécile) and thought I would explode from pride for knowing exactly where the veggies on my plate came from. Another part of the produce goes to regular buyers who “subscribe” for a surprise crate with the season vegetables collected the same day. Every week they come to a small cooperative market where one of the guys comes with the crates. I followed the whole preparation process and once again, was ecstatic.