Indre-et-Loire department of France, April 2021
During the 2020-2021 planting season (end-October – end-February), 477 trees were planted at Michel and Christophe’s farm as part of the A Tree for You planting programme. The project aims to reintroduce trees to plots with grapevines and where vegetables are grown.
By planting trees, father and son want to protect the developing vineyard from the effects of climate change, like excessive heat, and encourage biodiversity back to the land. To achieve this, the pair have planted 34 different tree and hedge species! These include field maple, wild apple, lime, dogwood, raspberry, gooseberry, and so forth…
Bad weather over the winter of 2019/2020 and the Covid health crisis, caused problems getting the seedlings from the nursery, disrupted the start of planting. Christophe and Michel doubled their efforts and all the trees planned were finally planted. Also, severe drought in the summer of 2020 killed off around 50 trees. Also, wild boars and badgers caused some damage by digging up the seedlings in search of earthworms.
The farmers began replanting (replacing the dead seedlings) in the spring of 2021 and will complete the work this autumn. About 50 trees will be replanted, mainly honey plants and fruit trees.
On the vitiforestry (orchards + vines) plots, the grapevines were planted in April 2020 and their first branches are starting to appear. Vineyard peach trees have been planted in the middle of the vines. This traditional system has gradually disappeared from the French countryside over the past 50 years.
Michel and Christophe are waiting for spring growth to assess the recovery rate (survival rate) of the trees and identify, by their leaves, those that are dead or too far behind in growth. This monitoring of the plantations means corrective measures can then be found (replacing dead seedlings, changing the tree protection, mulching) and introduced in the autumn of 2021.
On 27 March 2021, Michel and Christophe officially unveiled their farm as a venue and biodiversity pilot site. The property, which includes beekeeping, market gardening, a local nursery, and has introduced agroforestry systems, is a demonstration site for farmers and the public interested in such sustainable farming methods.
Since nurseries in the centre of France cannot keep pace with demand, Michel wants (on his level) to help relieve this shortage of plants by setting up a local nursery: the aim being to use plants grown in the départment instead of importing them from Eastern Europe.
Michel and Christophe are re-establishing the bocage system that existed in the region a century ago. On part of the land, alfalfa is sown for two years, followed by a clover cover. Alfalfa and clover will be harvested annually, in June and September, for the goat farms of two local farmers.
Father and son are currently discussing which crops to grow on these newly planted plots. They are also keen to extend the vineyard over more land.
