Despite its popularity, non-coastal Provence has remined quite rural and agricultural.
Most of the farming appears to be individual farmers, not corporate mega-farms. It was cool to see a single car parked at the edge of a field, with one or two people slowly working their way through the crops. It's really old-style farming.
The soil is very dry and rocky, which lends itself well to sustaining orchards and vineyards. And we saw lots of them.
Most of the orchards were cherry and olive. But, the vineyards were everywhere. Here's a pic of a small vineyard on a tiny, terraced plot in the heart of ultra-urban Avignon!
The old stone farmhouses and outbuildings create such a unique landscape. There are also these cool, old garden sheds for farmers to get relief from the sun as well as these round buildings used to store farm implements. They are called a borie and they are made without any mortar! Apparently, the design itself holds the stones together.
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