How to tell the story of an upcycling project in rural France? With puppets of course! Upcycled from the best socks around.

From left: Carotine Salat, Vinaigrette Salat, Le Directeur.

We are Vinaigrette and Carotine. She has always dreamed of being a star, and she has the looks for it. I think she is just the best.

I am so excited that I have been given the opportunity to share with the world this amazing Give-Box project. You can follow me and my co-host all along the way. We will take part in all of the workshops and show you how to upcycle. Turn your trash to treasure!

Our good friends Janosch and Thomas have prepared so many things for us to try:

- Boots for flowers

- Jar lamps

- Paper beads (I will put some in my hair, so keep an eye out for my new look…!)

- Waste paper to treasure-keeping notebooks

- Pimp your dress (this one sounds great to me)

- Sewing kit for the dress-pimpers in your life

and so much more! All kinds of improvised workshops and fun stuff for kids of all ages.

The Director is also having me prepare for the open mic night. I have tried to tell him that I can’t sing. That only Carotine has the vocal cords in the Salat family, but he has his ‘vision’. So let’s see how that goes.

Of course it is not all about me. There will be so many performers along the way. I can’t wait to interview them! We will let you know when the show is ready.

Photos: Nadja Bülow, Matthias Laminski

In our last blog post, we talked about how fresh produce sellers throw away food that is too old to sell. It may not seem ideal to use older produce for cooking, so we thought we would share a little recipe that we created, and which produced delicious strawberry jam.

1.     Separate the god fruit from the spoilt, and throw away. This can be as much as half of what you collect.

2.       Wash the good strawberries thoroughly and slice them in halves or quarters – depending on how big you like the strawberry chunks

3.       Add 3 parts good quality sugar (we used a bio variety) to 7 parts strawberries in a large pot

4.       Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (the citric acid provides the tartness needed to set off the sweetness, as well as the pectin content, which does not occur naturally in strawberries

5.       Let the strawberry-sugar mixture stand overnight

6.       The next day, remove most of liquid (leave enough so that half of the strawberries are covered. Simmer in a large pot, preferably out of doors in the sunshine!

7.       Simmer the strawberry mixture for around 5-7 minutes

8.       Once thickened slightly, place the jam in sterilized jars (you can do this by placing them in a hot oven for 5 minutes)

9.       Serve and enjoy!

Mobile Givebox

Done! Yesterday, we set down our backbacks (and caravans and trucks and trailors and cars) and set up at our third stop of the tour, Lasalle, in a pretty park in the middle of the town. The sun was valiant, the wind not always reasonable, and the humidity factor non-existant. For this pitstop, we were lucky enough to have Severin, from Eco-bazar, accommodate us. It was a hugely busy day with a full program starting from 2pm with a ‘free market’. Our mobile Givebox, symbol of free exchange and giving, sat proudly at the entrance of the event, draped with clothing, its washing machine containers and draws bursting with everything from VHS tapes (yes, they still exist) to phone chargers and jewelery.

“Flowering boots” workshop

The free market installed and attracing a crowd, the rest of the program took place, including a flowering boots workshop, an acrobatic performance with a giant hoop, film screenings and concerts… a fully-packed program, even consisting of surprise acts and people who we’ve met and joined our team along the way. Over the course of the day, around 300 people passed through to join in the merriment.

Tonight and Sunday, we’ll be at Sainte Croix Vallée Française, at Mic Mac (a cool-looking hall at the bord of a river). We’re looking forward to seeing you there – we’ll be there with bells on. And perhaps a costume or two.

Manu and his hoop

Short film screening

Photos: Nadja Buelow