New digital routes to walk, cycle and ride

Hiking shoes (Lowa) Français : Chaussures de randonnée (Lowa) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We used to have maps with the walking routes around the mill. It has never been a big success. The point is; they get lost, dirty and torn.  People are not that neat with your stuff, they simply don’t care and walking –somehow– tear maps apart. I guess we’ve lost three maps over the first 18 months. But thanks to the Digital Revolution, here is the solution: RouteYou.

RouteYou.com offers a selection of routes and a set of tools to explore routes in an interactive way. Anybody can print routes or download routes in a digital (navigation) format.

We’ve recreated all the routes that pass our mill in RouteYou. You only have to print, download or put them in your navigation system. It’s an absolute revolution. Check out our Supergites profile on RouteYou. Happy Walking!

NOTE: If you have a iPhone you should download the GPX Reader and email the GPX file to your phone and open it there. At the moment it does not show your actual position but I can imagine that will follow shortly.

Some stories on shoes:

• Vasque Talus UltraDry Boots (sfgate.com)
• Boot trends: Hiking (moneynews.org)
• New Hiking Shoes… (fitnstitchin.wordpress.com)
• Merrell Hiking Boots and Shoes (onlineshoes.com)

Kids Proof

Kidsproof Zonvakanties

How do you find your ideal vacation destination? Do you read people’s opinions on the web or trust expert reviews in a vacation guide? We do a bit of both. We buy books and we check what people say.

Thats why we’re so happy with this new publication. A publisher added our mill to a Dutch vacation guide for young parents. They state that the mill is great for parents who look for a little bit extra space and luxury. They are honest: Because there’s no playground, the mill is less suitable for the real young ones. At least we’re Kidsproof! 🙂

It’s Bingerden This Year

Bingerden Collection 2011

Gardening is a lust, a pleasure, a disease. Once you received the Green Spirit there is really no turning back. That’s why we’ve put the International Bingerden Nursery Days on the calendar again. Let’s spend some money on special varieties that only a few possess…

The International Bingerden Nursery Days are held from Friday June 15th till Sunday June 17th 2012 and is open from 10am to 6 pm.

Which fairs and garden shows do you go to?

Related articles / links:

• International Bingerden Nursery Days
• #BC Home & Garden Show February 22-26th at BC PLACE…We’ll be there! (daubanddesign.com)
• Flower & Garden Show in Seattle coming up (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Perennials Rule

It’s been four years now that we’ve been working in this garden. The first year it was a war zone destroying the nettles and getting some shape in the garden. The second year we enjoyed the sowing and found out the hard way that the power of weeds are much stronger than that of delicate seeds. In the third year we started to reconsider our approach with planting in open soil. With the amount of unwanted seeds and roots in the soil, we needed to do something dramatic.

Now it’s year four and we start to see some final shapes. Perennials rule. We’ve created 9 unique flower beds with each it’s own theme. From Brunnera to Bingerden, from white to red and from Spring to Autumn. Only 2 to go and we’re ready for the seasons.

The view on the flower garden from the orchard

The yellow bed

Pinterest (Photo credit: stevegarfield)

Supergites’ Garden Inspiration on Pinterest

This month I’ll be planting the white border. I finally discovered a benefit of the new thing on the web; Pinterest.

On Pinterest I’m gathering all sorts of images to describe what the border will look like and mention all flowers that I’ve already been preparing in a seeding tray like garden Cosmos and Leucanthemum.

In one glance you’ll get the picture of how the Supergites garden might look like this Summer. Soon I’ll be searching for the Yellow border, the Hollyhock section and the Vineyard 🙂

Related articles

• The Story of Pinterest At a Glance [Infographic] (bostinno.com)
• Newly redesigned Pinterest profile pages go live (thenextweb.com)
• #Pinterest: YUP You Should Be On There [Infographic] (anisesmithmarketing.com)

Tarte Maroilles / Maroilles Cheese Tart

Image via Wikipedia

This was our last weekend at the mill. The season has officially started with the first renters coming next week. For our friends Lynda, Lukas, and little Olivier I prepared this easy cheese quiche for lunch…

It goes like this:

1. Unpack a ready-made shortcrust pastry you can buy in every hypermarché. In French: pâte brisée.
2. Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Use a 23 cm flan tin and put in the dough and the non-stick paper that comes with the package.
3. Mix some crème fraîche and three eggs and season really well with salt and pepper. Slice over the Maroilles cheese. You need more or less half a block.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm.

I can tell you: it’s magnifique.

Here is a version where you make the dough too: BBC Food.
I also like to thank Marlies who served this fantastic dish to us at Bel Any.

Related articles

• Quiche Lorraine – Cheese and Bacon Custard Tart (frenchtwistedwoman.com)
• Sage, Green Apple, and Aged Cheddar Tart Recipe (thedailymeal.com)
• Quest for Quiche (thepatternedplate.wordpress.com)
• Cheese and onion tart (shewolffe.com)

Are you a French Cheese Fan?

Image via Wikipedia

I guess you recognize this situation: You are looking for a selection of French cheeses and have absolutely no clue which ones to chose. Your friends who are coming over for dinner expect you to offer a wide selection. You vaguely remember a waiter explaining that you have to build up from soft flavors to intens flavors but here at the Carrefour they all look the same. And –oh wait– Mary is pregnant! You’re lost.

Now here’s the solution! It’s called Fromage and it’ll help all of you who are walking around at the Carrefour, Cora or E.LECLERC with an iPhone. No more mumbling at the cheese counter or staring at the endless choice of white molded Camembert-look-a-likes.

Download Fromage and surprise yourself (and your guests).

Water Service

Managing a remote house is not easy. You have bills coming in at your foreign address as well as in your mailbox at home. All of them are in French which makes it even harder to handle. Apart from that, the system is totally different. Tax for this, tax for that, national tax, local tax. And so on and so forth. 

To get an idea… France does have much the same taxes as other countries. However, there are three main differences between France and many other countries:

Chartreuse du Mont-Dieu

Main gate still reflects its lost grandeur.

Driving around we discovered the magnificent monastery of Mont-Dieu. We’ve heard about it but never been there ourselves because it’s not visible from the main road. It’s still feels as remote as it must have been during its period.

Located in the heart of the Ardennes , the monastery of Mont-Dieu was built in an open field in the middle of an immense forest of 1123 hectares, and through which sources, feeding once numerous ponds.

This Carthusian monastery is founded in 1137 by Odo, abbot of Saint-Remi near Reims. Pope Innocent III recognised the new monastery in a bull, that same year on December 9, 1137. The inhabitant monks followed the Rule of Saint Bruno and it was used for live and pray until

“We didn’t start this war.”

It has been tough. We worked so hard to get the weeds under control but we didn’t succeed in most part of the garden. Every weekend that we spend in France we only had to work to get the flower garden ‘clean’. But as soon as we missed a weekend it all came back. Let’s call it green hell. It was very demotivating.

Only 6 weeks ago, when i was in Shanghai for a conference my partner and Hendrik Dekker (our friend & landscape architect) decided to take a dramatic step. They used the foil that was supposed to cover the paths and covered the squares of perennials and immediately topped it with chopped bark. I was in shock. “It’s so ugly.”

But looking at the first bed with groundcover last weekend i noticed one tiny needle trying to peek out. I killed it. “Hey, we didn’t start the war.” I drove by the garden centre in Reims to buy enough for two more squares. I truely want to enjoy the garden.

If you buy an old neglected garden do not hesitate to cover it all in March when everything is still ‘sleeping’. It saves you a lot of work in the years to come.