January
This is a cold cold month in Provence. The Mistral blows, the earth is hard and our outdoor markets have a great variety of cabbage, squash, turnips, cardoon, leeks, onions and apples. When we go for walks we find almonds, dried ripened olives yet on the trees. A cold snap after a rainy day could make a mushroom hunt fruitful. We may still enjoy a bit of New Year's foie gras simply done en Pappillote. And those oysters and mussels are at their best. The truffles are at their most aromatic, and we've a class at the end of the month to share them with you.

February
The cold continues, but the almond trees are in bloom, spring will come again. On a still clear day you can see all the way to the Sea from the hills around Les Baux de Provence. This is a hard month for local farmers, end of the winter vegetables, and not yet any springtime ones. But the cheese producers of all sorts offer rich and creamy rounds and slices. We might also enjoy some of the season's last cepes, girolles and other wild wood mushrooms brought down from the Cevennes hills. And in Carry le Rouet there's a festval of Sea urchins. Yum yum!!

March
A month of contrasts. On a still day, it could be beautiful and mild. On a windy Mistral day, cold and daunting to the would-be hiker. There are more fruit trees in bloom, the plum trees have succeeded the almonds, pink and red where before the blossoms in sight were white. By the end of the month the apricot trees will join them. Look carefully along the side of the road, the Iris bloom in rich violets and blues. The bees are lured out of their hives by the sunshine and flowers. It's a good time to taste wine, maybe even some early spring lamb. The baby goats have been weaned from their mothers, and this year's goat cheese production is under way. We'll be starting our season with a Mini-Gourmand class with a special emphasis on the new spring vegetables and fruits, visits to the farms to see the newborn lambs, goats, foals and calves, and wine-tasting from the barrel before it's bottled.

April
Ahh, now spring is upon us. The first strawberries from Spain are available on the market. Delicate fresh sweet peas and hearty white and green asparagus. In the hills the thyme is potent and flaunting its delicate pink flowers; while walking we might find some delicate stalks of wild asparagus to make a crunchy salad. The bees are busy. The apple trees, peach trees, and cherry trees shall all bloom and cover the fields and hills in color. By the end of the month local strawberry growers will offer us the flavorful garriguettes. Over Easter the city cafes will be offering up Paella and sangria to mark the Feria. Classes this month will be able to revel in the fields of poppies, the new and abundant cheeses, and mounds of asparagus.

May
Delicious strawberries, oval shaped garriguettes, tiny fraises des bois, large and vibrant red fraises de Carpentras. White fava beans in their pods, the last asparagus, a few varieties of artichoke (little violets, crisp green open petal). Perhaps some delicate green beans. And at the end of the month, the first cherries. Walks in the hills bring a bounty of herbs to our basket, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, and fennel. For the brave, a dip in the Sea is a possibility (though the locals won't follow you!). The first honey is ready, a bit of thyme honey, and toutes fleurs. The grape vines start to sprout some leaves, filling in after their dormant winter. The past year's rosé wines begin to grace our table, and the pungent flavor of new garlic spices up our salads and sauces. A popular time to visit Provence, not too hot (especially early in the month), and all the cafes have put their tables out under the trees on the square. This is a month we like to go hiking along the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean.

June
Red cherries, pink cherries, white and deep purple, soon to be joined by apricots, tiny and yellow, big and orange-red, then the yellow plums called reines claudes (time for making lots of jam). Zucchini squash (courgettes) in its myriad forms, yellow and green, long, pale and fury. The local hot houses offer up their best efforts at early tomatoes and eggplant. Basil plants are sold for a piddling, encouraging lovely pestos/pistous. We can swim in the Gardon river, we can take our last walks in the hills of the Alpilles before we're shut out during brush fire season. The sheep are beginning to produce less milk. Soon they'll head for the hills, to their summer grazing (the Transhumance can be witnessed in St. Remy de Provence). Our sheep cheese makers welcome us for the last time until September. And here and there, figs and plums to be picked for our tarts. With the warmer weather, a visit to the beach might be in order.

July
The hot weather is upon us, all of a sudden. Picnics on the beach are appealing, air conditioning a must in the car (and happily in our B&B rooms!). And on the market, the sweetest melons from Cavaillon, and succulent peaches towards the end of the month. Finally, real sun-ripened tomatoes, zucchini and egg plant in extravagent variety. Tomatoes are small and large, oval and round, yellow, orange, purple, green and red. What glorious and simple salads we can make. Eggplant/aubergines are deep purple, pale violet, white, round and long, small and large and every size inbetween. Baked, stuffed, rolled, fried, whipped... The possibilities are endless. At the wineries, it's soon time for the "vendange vert". They'll clip off up to half a young vine's grapes to give more intensity to those that rest. We'll also be eating less shellfish with the hot weather. But the anchovies will be plentiful and cheap, time to cure them in salt for next year. The Lavender fields are in bloom in the Drome, shall we go for a drive to see their purple splendor?

August
This is a great month for those of you who love very hot weather, great tomatoes, peppers, and egg plant, honey, sweet corn and black berries. The peaches are plentiful, sweet and juicy, and the beaches only a half hour away. The lavender fields are in bloom in the Vaucluse. Do enjoy yourselves, we're off to a cooler clime. We'll be doing one and two evening classes in Northern Michigan, so let us know if you're interested.

September
The winemakers are watching their vines. Has the summer been hot? have there been storms? too wet? too dry? From about the 5th they'll be harvesting (the Vendange). A time to leave them in peace and hope that all goes well. But, if you come to visit just that first weekend, we can go see those vines heavy and covered in ripe purple grapes. The market stands are full to bursting with sun-ripened tomatoes, peppers, eggplant/aubergines, zucchini, green and wax beans, salads and the so many fruits including plums and peaches, the first table grapes, apples and pears, yellow melons, plus a wide variety of honey including the new batch of lavender honey from the hills of the Vaucluse and the Drome. Our friends the sheep cheese makers are busy with the rich milk of the newly weaned ewes. We can now enjoy our favorite fresh brousse and young tomes again. And with them, the second fruiting of the fig trees. The perfect time to try our recipe : Muge en papillote de feuilles de figuier.

October
The last of the tomatoes, already they're a paler rose color, not such a vibrant red. Soon we can make green tomato jam. The shell fish are again abundant, we might even catch a sight of the small tuna of the Mediterranean, not to mention spiny, speckled pink and black fish (scorpion fish in English, Rascasse in French). Our favorite supplier of fresh eggs has fewer and fewer. The green beans are larger and tougher, the speckled cranberry beans are still available for our soupe au pistou, as well as the last of the fresh basil. Towards the end of the month we are again welcome at the wineries and might even get to taste the new white wine... The pastry and chocolate makers are gearing up for the holiday season, and one or two lucky students can now enjoy private hands-on chocolate classes. Hearty stews like the Daube Camarguaise, the Carbonade de mouton, Pieds pacquets, favorites all of the Rhone mariners, warm the heart. And, the only time in the year, we can prepare our famous Duck stuffed with green olives and surrounded by fresh figs confites with the first harvest of the olives and the last of the figs. We can also have figs baked in the oven with goat or roquefort cheese... Classes this month include our special Mini-Gourmand focused on wild mushrooms.

November
It's high mushroom season again. Shall we head to the Cevennes and search for Cepes and chestnuts, maybe some black trumpets of death (don't let the name fool you, they're delicius) Do you like crème de marron with crème fraîche or yogurt? A hearty red wine accompanies a simple fricassé of cepes with pureed garlic and parsley. Get out your sweaters and hats, but keep on your sun glasses. In the land of the Mistral, it's blustery, bright and could blow you over. Rich smoked salmon (granted, the salmon comes from Norway and/or Ireland, but Erick cold-smokes it in Arles), foie gras, hot, hearty soups, first cardoon, an abundant choice of squash, including my favorite the poti-marron. The olive harvest is underway and the mills will be hard at work pressing that lovely warm green fluid to enrich our meals throughout the next year. We could even go help Sophie pick olives...