Fabienne’s organic plants

 

During our holidays in France, we spent a night at the 18th century farm of Fabienne Lafon in Dordogne. And we loved it – the house is charming, full of character, surrounded by a picturesque landscape.

Fabienne is an organic farmer. She grows and forages aromatic and medicinal plants: peppermint, oregano, melissa, dandelion, mallow, cornflower, juniper… When the season comes, the plants are hand-harvested, carefully dried and stored for them to retain all their health benefits, flavours and colours.

Fabienne proposes several herbal melanges she composes in order to harmonize the specific benefits of each plant and to offer a pleasant gustatory balance. She was lovely and gave me a Sérénité (Serenity) melange, made with heather, lavender and chamomile. I tried it when back home, and it’s a wonderful high-quality tisane.

When we were there, Fabienne prepared for us a tasty and heartwarming vegetarian yellow tofu and carrots curry (which in turn inspired me to make a yellow winter squash and beans curry. I will post the recipe on Monday). Fabienne started eating an organic plant-based diet 8 months ago.

So if you are on holiday in Dordogne (a wonderful region to discover), and would like a friendly, relaxing and comfortable place to stay surrounded by a beautiful landscape, stay at Fabienne’s farm! You can find her through AirBnB. Her home is conveniently located nearby the charming, small Medieval village of Issigeac, and the commune of Monbazillac, and the famous production area of the sweet white wine of the same appellation.

If you would like to find Fabienne’s herbal teas, and thus support small independent organic producers, visit one of the 30 French Biocoop stores where the melanges are sold, or through the website paysans.fr.