wwoofers Helen et Jean Olivier

L'arrivé des bobos .... bobo is short for bohemian bourgeois ..... a very welcome arrival ... Helene, a primary school teacher and Jean Oliver, a radiologist ... both successful and happy with their careers  but currently in search of a change of lifestyle ... a way of life that incorporates their growing awareness and concern for the environment and human relationships ... they both brought a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm and threw themselves into ecoconstruction, cooking and gardening.

Some images from their stay here at La Mariais ...

The Multi-faceted JO

JO took charge of the concrete mixer
and perfected the mixes for the  various earth
renders being applied in the house: 'corps
d'enduit', couche de finition et 'thermal
corrector' mix

He also had a lot of fun helping compagnon carpenter
 Jean Christophe with repairing the staircase in the house ...




Taking  sellotape off the cardboardk to
be used as mulch in the garden ...

 



Laying three layers of cardboard in the forest
garden over brushcut vegetation ....




JO found some sheets of plastic
at the tip that he used to repair
the roof of the dry toilet in a
barrel .....
 



Fitting the new roof ....

Constructing a raised bed with
logs from the land and stones
for drainage ....

A more leisurely activity ... collecting seeds from
the garden for sowing next year and for using
as microgreens ...




Grey cat and JO make friends ....



.... and become inseparable ...

 

Helene The Unstoppable
 

 Helene worked her
magic in the garden ... here
mulching the garden beds ...

We went on a trip to a friend's
woodland to harvest bamboo and
then Helen and JO constructed
a tunnel into the round garden ...

Making a willow heart to attach
to the bamboo tunnel ...

Tireless and unstoppable ... Helene
drags wood from the land to border
a raised bed ...

She dug and cleared an area of
the garden ......

designed a path with 'keyholes',

sowed seeds into the beds ...
 

 

... and laid cardboard onto the path
which will be covered in woodchip.
White cat decided to take up residence ...



Filtering rich soil from the land to use for seed
sowing in pots ..................

Sowing seeds into the filtered earth .....

Enjoying a well earned break with grey cat ....

Cooking, dining and singing ...



JO preparing roast vegetables
harvested from the land ....

 

 

One of Helene's many successful vegetarian
dishes using produce from the land here ....

Courgette tart, beetroot hummus and sautéd herb
potatoes .... almost all made from produce from
the land here .......



A shared meal ...........

 

Enjoying singing with Wwoofer
Stephanie ....


 

 Thank you JO and Helene for  all your help, energy,  enthusiasm and shared laughter .....
à la prochaine .....