Peach lavender custard… at Gopher Springs Farm

There is something both fascinating and somewhat irritating about seeing things come full circle. I grew up in a village in Normandy, France, where I spent minutes, hours and years devising plans on how to leave the land of cream and apples, go to a bigger city, a bigger country, elsewhere. And I eventually made it to the next big town, then to Paris, then to Los Angeles.

Now, here I am, reading through wonderful food blogs, many of them describing the simple life on a farm, eating what you grow, the return to the soil, and I find myself irresistibly charmed by the whole idea. Did I go around in a circle all these years? I suppose it is what I learned, where I failed, the joys and sorrows and experiences along that circle which make up my path thus far. All to find myself longing to get back to where I started, appreciating now what I took for granted then. Maybe that’s what wisdom is all about. Finding my way back to the apples.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love big cities, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, among many. I love the mix of culture, the open-mindedness and diversity and vibration of a city, each in its idiosyncratic way. But I realize now more than ever, and perhaps because I now have a child, that I need the soil. I want the basics, the elements. Soil, water, fire, air. I want to get back to what’s real, and I want my son to experience those things fully while young. Instead of a disconnected view of a world of instant gratification, I would like to teach him to appreciate the genesis of things. The genesis of a crunchy sweet apple.

This is why I have felt so incredibly fortunate and privileged to meet Eric & Franka who invited us to spend a day with them, their son Dexter and their cat Pépé, harvesting fruit (ok, Pépé didn’t do much harvesting, but Dexter and Pablo did help!) at their wonderful place in Topanga Canyon, the newly formed Gopher Springs Farm. In the middle of Los Angeles in this haven of Topanga, is another little haven: on the grounds of an old school from the 1930s, a pink house with an oddball history, surrounded by old fruit trees and land (a rare commodity in the city), inhabited by a trio with a vision to build a life of farming here. A life I admire and which we were fortunate to share for a day.

That day starts with harvesting apples. Three different kinds on the property. Then onto the peaches and nectarines. The apricots have already been harvested, partly by the local coyote. The plums aren’t ready yet. As Franka points out, their fruit trees (apples, plums, peaches, nectarines, figs, apricots, persimmons) are the old kind, planted in the 30s probably, the fruit tastes wild and natural, for lack of a better description. “Like in Europe.”

They’re building this place from the soil up. Eric speaks of his compost, of the importance of good, rich, healthy, nurturing, giving soil. And he works at it, patiently and lovingly, this compost is going to be a life source. Vegetables and fruits will grow strong and flavorful and juicy in it. The idea just makes me want to plant my hands deep in the rich soil and just feel its potential. This is one potential you can really count on.

They’re also building from the air down. He speaks of bees, he knows so much about them. He’s not a beekeeper, he’s a bee-charmer, devising ways to make the bees want to set up hive and produce honey here, and pollinate the fruit trees. It’s already working, the trees are more bountiful this year than ever before.

Franka and I sit under the nectarine tree, talk about being expats, living improbable lives here in LA, lives we would have never imagined as kids. Meanwhile, 13 and 14 months old Dexter and Pablo help picking the apples, take a single bite out of each one they grab, before handing it to each other. Sharing an apple under the tree. I think this makes us all feel happy and warm inside. We’re all thankful to be spending this vacation day of sorts together.

Voltaire said it. “We must cultivate our garden”. I understand how profound that phrase is so much more fully than ever before. What a breath of hope and joy to see someone truly practice that. That is most definitely what is happening at Gopher Springs Farm, and I look forward, like the patient (or impatient) gardner-in-training that I am, to watching them grow…

Some things we saw: horses, frog, rabbit, mouse, artichokes, woodpecker hole, wild fennel.

Some things we heard: donkey, crickets, bucket of rainwater splashing, toddler babbling, toddler grunting, toddler giggling.

Some things we did: harvesting, eating, talking, wagon riding, laughing, cooking, sweating, laughing, smiling.

Some things we made: friends, and peach lavender custard.

16 thoughts on “Peach lavender custard… at Gopher Springs Farm

  1. Gorgeous photos! really love the black and white ones with Dexter and Pablo, they remind me of those prized vintage prints. the recipe sounds lovely too, esp since I adore coconut milk, and that with peaches sound like pure heaven!

    1. Thanks so much Shu Han, I really appreciate it! I've started to bake with coconut milk (the nectarine shiso ice cream I posted last week was also with coconut milk), and the result is really good and not overly "coconut-y".

  2. I am going to make this for Cooper. I gave him some baked nectarines over homemade rice pudding with nutmeg this week. he loves it, oh and rhubarb, strawberry & raspberry crumble.

    1. Oh yes and wonderful times remembered through beautiful photos. I did mean to say that first, but I got distracted 🙂

    2. Thx so much Jacqueline! Yummy sounding things Cooper is having too 🙂 I was actually planning on doing a rice pudding recipe with the leftover lavender I have, it is the first time I really cook with lavender, it's so wonderful! I've just made a batch of lavender plain yogurt, which is great too. Lavender rice pudding with peaches should be good.

  3. Just read the whole thing: smart, funny, analytical, very well written, sometimes philosophical, other times down-to-earth. You take us back to our childhood, to the earth and the natural pleasures through Pablo's journey and food. Your style is as beautiful as your pictures. Congrats!

  4. Such a heartwarming post! Full of insights and I can feel I am getting to know you a lot better. Your photos are amazing! The peach custard is something I cannot dare miss trying in my kitchen. Sounds like you really had a nice time with nature and all its bounty. Thanks for sharing…
    Anyhoo, we have been keeping an eye out for unique and interesting bloggers with phenomenal photography skills, and yours caught our attention! We have just recently launched a food photo submission gallery http://www.yumgoggle.com/gallery/ that allows you to showcase all your great work and share it with all of our visitors. We’d be proud to have your work as part of our growing collection to continue to have a larger reach and further inspire all fellow food lovers out there!

    1. Hi there, thanks so much for the kind words! Definitely give the custard a try, it's pretty easy and a delicious summer dessert! I will definitely be checking out your photo submission gallery! Thanks for visiting!

  5. I love your photos! Bones, er, Eric, linked me to your blog and I love it! I'll be adding it to my blogroll.

    1. Thanks so much, Rachel! Nice to meet you, hopefully we'll meet in person soon! 🙂

  6. Your photography is amazing! I especially like that black & white photo and I love how the custard looks!

    1. Thanks so much for the kind words! Give that custard a try some time, it's deceptively easy to make, and I've become obsessed with lavender ever since I made it 🙂

  7. I want to make this with my leftover white peaches tomorrow! I was sad that I didn't get to make a lavender peach pie… a custard sounds so lovely!

    1. It really is so easy and delicious. Loving lavender these days. Let me know how you like it! 🙂

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French Foodie Baby