tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22318470952821986472024-02-20T23:52:41.789+01:00A Taste of EarthNURTURING ABUNDANCE & INSPIRATION ON OUR FARM IN THE MIDDLE OF EUROPEOdihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-81699799005856762692014-01-25T11:29:00.001+01:002014-01-25T11:31:31.523+01:00From Vision into Action<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Minus 12 this morning, the
windows frosted with beautiful jewels and the snow vivid and
blinding. Doing the round for the animals felt more like tucking them
up for a cosy hibernation as opposed to the usual squawking,
bleating, begging to be let out at all costs. The old bread that we
get from a local bakery for the ducks was so hard I had to use a
hatchet to break it up and the kitchen waste that we collect from an
organic catering company in Görlitz was frozen solid into a
layer-cake of peelings, pasta and apple cores. </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have a week with the girls
whilst Flo is in England. It feels like a good opportunity to
consolidate loose ends, catch up on emails and focus on our written
work.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the middle of December we
had our first open meeting in Görlitz to introduce our idea of
setting up a Community Supported Agriculture scheme here at the
Heckenhof. Many new projects are brewing in Germany (and further
afield) and it feels like the time is ripe for a radical rethink of
how we do business, how we create livelihood and how we support one
another. </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The nearest initiatives to
the west are in Dresden and to the north around Berlin, so for the
Oberlausitz we are certainly breaking new ground. It is challenging,
but the risk is small as we have little to lose: </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our handful of veg boxes
last year attracted a solid core of supporters and showed us that
even with existing schemes in the area, there is a hunger for more.
We will plan for forty shares (each calculated to cover the needs of
one adult and one child) and however many members we attract, the
rest will be taken to market or sold to caterers with the funds going
back into the project.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A challenge facing many
growers is the raising of seedlings. The quantity is often too high
for most project's greenhouse capacity. One Dresden project has them
delivered from Baden-Württemberg as nothing of scale exists nearby
that commits to organic principles.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Flo had the idea to approach
a local garden centre in Reichenbach (4kms away). They have struck a
deal that he buys the seed and comes over occasionally to help whilst
they oversee the healthy progress of the plants in their greenhouses.
Amazingly, it turns out that, although not certified, they are
committed to organic methods! We have struck gold on this one, and it
has reaffirmed once again how a bit of lateral thinking and a good
dose of gumption, along with a firm belief in the vision, can make
anything possible!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here out in the sticks it is
crucial that we nurture a social and cultural community of
like-minded folk. This project carries the potential to establish
both a cultural and economic livelihood for ourselves. We trust that
over time more skills and ideas will emerge from our member community
to enrich and grow this into something we can all be proud of.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This space is for that outer
layer of community, you folk who have been following our progress
over time and whose input and ideas are just as valuable. Please use
this space freely to bring out your thoughts and share your insights
and experiences. </span>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-35750379195947367242013-12-21T22:07:00.000+01:002013-12-21T22:08:48.289+01:00Solstice Muse<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Looking back over the last year, the biggest impact on progress on all fronts was the unbelievably long winter. It just went on and on, with spring teasing and beckoning but never quite arriving
until well into April. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then suddenly it burst into a high speed
transition into summer. Delicate blossom appeared for the briefest of moments and vegetation shot up on all fronts, making for bumper hay crops and endless weeding. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">June brought action to the farm, as many hands
made light work of our crumbling stable - now the perfect hibernation for our two goats (and of course the chickens).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Throughout the summer, trips
to the lake were plentiful making up for all the sun lost during the
dull winter months. The vegetable harvest was once again abundant,
although fruit certainly suffered from the short spring. </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Autumn has remained mostly
mild and fresh and we look set to have a brown Christmas. </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bracing ourselves for winter
proper at the start of the new year, we look ahead to plans for
beginning a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community-supported_agriculture" target="_blank">CSA</a> here on our farm. We envisage a small group of up to 40 individuals (approximately twenty families) from Görlitz and surrounding villages ready to nurture a culture of seasonal celebration and appreciation of the abundance of nature through their involvement with the farm.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This time is all about drawing down the details of how </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">exactly </span>this thing can take
shape. The level of interest is high enough to give some confidence,
but the challenge is to maintain sufficient momentum to keep
the interest flowing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As we continue to chip away at our kitchen and our future plans whilst stoking the many fires that keep our little flat cosy and warm, we look forward to all the surprises ahead of us and to spontaneous visitors, both regular and new.</span>Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-17313471109604029172013-11-29T09:02:00.002+01:002013-11-29T09:02:44.857+01:00Görlitz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-14621354223556296022013-10-18T13:35:00.000+02:002013-10-18T13:35:30.819+02:00Our Second Season<br />
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<br />Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-58649218304973883322013-10-14T20:35:00.001+02:002013-10-14T20:36:57.666+02:00Making Time<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It has been a ridiculously
long time since I have posted. I am sad not to have found more time
for it, but that is also an indication of how busy the summers have
become. It is now very definitely in the past, with autumn in full
throttle, the trees on fire with colour and the animals on heat.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We now have a beautiful ram
to join our five timid sheep. He has settled in very well, quietly
raising his magnificent horns to observe his domain.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The goats are next in line,
but the compatible billies are all out on loan, so patience is the
order of the day. </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Another quirky addition to
our motley crew are seven Indian Running ducks! We acquired ten back
in August as a swap for vegetables with a local Swabian restaurant.
Three then made their way to our persistent mentor Merziowsky in
exchange for two fat 'wart ducks'! They are a curious pair but
apparently ideal for a Christmas roast!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our hens have stopped laying
for now but our colourful harvest makes up for rationing eggs. We
have been inundated with huge courgettes and I have discovered that
they make just as good Bread & Butter Pickles as the cucumbers
did last year. Harissa has been another abundant preserve and both
have sold well. We have to rely on selling preserves to get our
cashflow higher over the coming months. Throughout the summer and
early autumn a handful of veg boxes have kept some Görlitz families
very satisfied and our coffers lined, if only a little.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The new kitchen is now
tangibly close, with the double glass doors fitted at last, just in
time for the onset of cold. The floor tiles are set to arrive this
week, ordered from Poland and an attractive compromise for not being
able to afford the ancient-looking hand-crafted terracotta slabs so
beloved by restorers and people of the South.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Electricity and water cables
have also been laid between the two dwellings, the mammoth digger job
courtesy of a visiting friend. Electric cables now run throughout the
little house – a job carried out willingly by the boyfriend of one
of my English students in lieu of future private lessons. So all that
remains is a willing workforce to plaster the place and fit it with
the necessities of life to enable guests to stay in style. Any
experienced and hard-working volunteers... you know where to come!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All eyes on impending
winter, and the sincere hope that it won't be quite as long as last
year... </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let the dreaming continue
(whilst we 'dig' for all we're worth)!</span>Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-3709938675838783752013-07-16T08:50:00.000+02:002013-07-16T08:52:04.554+02:00A New Friend<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our
broody hen has now been sitting for just over two weeks. We have had
to separate her
from the others to give her some peace. They would try at every
opportunity to add eggs to her nest and (perhaps out of jealousy) to
nudge her off. She is now in the neighbouring stable room in the
rabbit's old hutch and sits - calm and unperturbed - for days on end. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We
have been told to lift her off every few days (if she doesn't try to
do so herself) so she can stretch and offload. It feels
counter-intuitive to interfere at all, but she seemed grateful for
it.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Advice
comes in abundance these days from a new acquaintance, an old man who
lives at the far end of the village. He knows everything about
everyone in the village, and if some new folk turn up, he makes it
his business to know about them too.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">He
lives in a ramshackle old place with no obvious entrance. The first
thing you see from the road is a creatively stacked wall of old
bricks, tiles, rusted metal and wood, useful for something, some
day...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then
a tidy path flanked by freshly cut hay, strawberry beds and lettuces
- all neatly maintained – and a beautifully oiled, sturdy frame for peas. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Through
a little gate, the chaos begins: stacks of potentially useful objects
litter the space filling every available corner with something to
attract your attention and make your head spin! A few hanging baskets
with flowers decorate the junk and lead you deeper into the labyrinth
of narrow, makeshift gates and skinny pathways snaking off into what
feels like a neverending back yard. All kinds of ducks and chickens
reside in unexpected enclosures as we pass, making agitated noises
and busying themselves about, making the best of their quirky little
homes.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We
came to look at Laufenten (Indian 'running ducks') - reputedly the
best slug-eaters around. We had heard of Mersiowsky through the vague
description of a neighbour, but couldn't work out exactly where he
lived. Then an ad for ducks in the local paper gave the address but
no contact number.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our
presence on the old Halle Hof had somehow escaped Mersiowsky's
attention, but now he is making up for lost time. </span>
</div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-34935516850132068582013-06-30T21:16:00.001+02:002013-06-30T21:16:27.253+02:00May / June<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-51532987994583087192013-06-17T07:34:00.000+02:002013-06-17T20:54:00.942+02:00Action on the Farm<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
last few weeks of preparation finally resulted in an intense five
days of early starts, endless work and long, jolly evenings: a group
of nine students and their two tutors from Belgium arrived on Sunday
evening, ready to crack on with transforming our stable.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They
needed a project to consolidate the skills they have been gathering
during their years at <a href="http://www.steinerschoollier.be/index.php/afdelingen/bso/" target="_blank">Duurzaam Wonen</a>...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and
we have projects galore. There are so many things that need our
attention, but our stable was the most urgent - with no proper roof
to protect the existing walls, the building has been rapidly deteriorating as the seasons have passed.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We
spent the week before their arrival – as soon as the rains abated –
salvaging bricks from a heap down the road and building two walls on
the rooftop to create a solid base for the new roof.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With
most of the materials on site and our carpenter friend on hand to
explain his designs, Sunday evening was a lively affair - eating and
drinking around the fire whilst shaping up plans for the week ahead.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bogumila and I spent most of the week in the kitchen (sadly still our
tiny temporary hovel) cooking up mostly vegetarian food from scratch
with as much as possible from our store and garden. Needless to say,
the food was eaten with relish with rarely anything left over.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
lads worked tirelessly constructing a timber frame roof to match the
angle and style of the roofs on the other buildings; cleaning and
plastering the outside walls of the stable; and hauling in old roof
tiles from a building site near Görlitz. The tiles have been
traditionally hand crafted and double fired with a black protective
layer of fired clay. They have weathered well but required a good
deal of chipping free of old plaster. Due to their irregular shape,
they had to be individually plastered onto the roof.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The yard took on the air of a Moroccan souk - the sounds of chipping stone, clanging metal, sawing wood, shouts and laughter echoing between the buildings...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It
was a mammoth task. At one point it looked as if not enough tiles had
survived the transportation and clean-up, but in the end, the roof is
complete with just thirty tiles to spare! </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
building looks fantastic. It feels as though it has always been that
way, the old roof tiles lending an air of age-old tradition and
stability.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It
has taken a while to recover from the constant action
and we are slowly regaining more sleep. It was very sad to see them
all go and the place is now once again very quiet. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, there is no real rest in sight: the weather has been almost
constantly sunny and relatively dry for over a week now with the
temperatures set to rise into the thirties. So the scythes are
out and hay making begins in earnest. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It
has been hard to anticipate anything stable in the weather after
weeks of flood warnings and horror stories of burst damns across the
country. Yet thankfully, our little corner of the Oberlausitz has
remained safe. Our landscaping efforts following last years floods
have proved very successful and we have continued as normal, almost
oblivious to the havoc being wrought elsewhere.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On the other hand, the land work has been severely held back due to the long winter and
the rains. There is now a real urgency to get as much ground prepared
for planting as we can. The big field has been sown with green manure
(at a precarious time I might add, as the rains came just after. It
is hard to estimate how well the seed has survived) and we have reserved a long strip
along the fence for planting up our field crops.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Other
news: our family has now expanded to include two little goats barely
three months old! They are so friendly and desperately keen on human
attention - such a pleasant change from our wild and fearful sheep.
We tether them for a few hours each day in the long grass before
returning them to their makeshift pen on the north-west corner of the
building (an existing ramshackle sheep shed that will eventually be
pulled down to create a terrace).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We
look forward to introducing them to their new home (when time allows for the finishing touches) beside the chickens in the Belgian
House.</span></div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-82183373801720780072013-05-11T22:01:00.000+02:002013-05-11T22:01:04.149+02:00May Queen, The Big Break & Spring's First Gifts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-87314556397854596552013-05-11T21:36:00.001+02:002013-05-11T22:03:08.053+02:00Waschbär<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Droid Sans, sans-serif;">This
morning I found a raccoon, huddled in the corner of the compost loo. </span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Droid Sans, sans-serif;">It
was 5am and the birds were at their best, the air was fresh and warm
and everything felt more alive than ever. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Droid Sans, sans-serif;">I
thought it was a badger. I have never seen either in the flesh and
have not considered that anything badger-like other than a badger
lives this side of the Atlantic. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Droid Sans, sans-serif;">It
sat there, peacefully, unperturbed by my presence. Slowly, it moved
its' thin, pointed nose towards the ground, as if to indicate that it
couldn't care less if I sat down beside it.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Droid Sans, sans-serif;">I
hesitated, wondering if perhaps it had rabies, knowing that it obliterates shyness and
draws the animal out of its' comfort zone to seek contact. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Droid Sans, sans-serif;">But
it didn't move. It just fixed its small dark eyes on mine, and
waited. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Droid Sans, sans-serif;">Molly
the cat came to find me, and sensed the presence of something
unfamiliar. Her body tensed and she made as if to protect herself. She too then sensed its' docility, and backed off. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Droid Sans, sans-serif;">I
went and fetched my camera, and still it was there, in exactly the
same position. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Droid Sans, sans-serif;">Later
(after some sleep) I thought I may have dreamed it. I went to check,
and it was gone. </span>
</div>
<br />Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-52726574321603000612013-04-15T21:18:00.001+02:002013-04-15T21:18:06.548+02:00Better Late than Never
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ahhhh.
That's more like it! At last I can announce that SPRING HAS ARRIVED!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
last pile of snow in the yard, blackened with dirt, finally melted at
the weekend. We are now blessed with blue skies and full sun (20°
out of the shade), a brisk breeze and the rich smell of bare earth.
The birds are unstoppable - and so too are we now, having waited so
long to be released outdoors.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Landscaping
and clearing beds are the order of the day, although weeding is still
off limits with the heavy winter moisture clinging to the earth. But
we can sit out here in the fresh evening air (albeit with woolly
jumpers!) and dream up all the things that now so urgently need our
attention.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Doors
are almost done on the polytunnel (after careful measuring of the
remaining strips of tough plastic) bringing peace of mind when
inevitable winds pick up. It feels as though the wind has been
waiting for warm, sunny weather to regularly shake up the false sense
of peace that glorious sunshine brings. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our
careful re-glazing of the greenhouse requires us to be constantly on the
ball, allowing no loose objects within sight of the large panels -
such easy victims of a sudden gust. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Many
tomato plants (now crowding out our window sills) have made their way
into the warm, sheltered space of the glass house, and the excitable
roots of broad beans have finally found a home in the cleared earth.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
chickens are much happier to roam in their wild woodland pen, but
with no bounds to their curiosity the extended fenced area must be
completed before more young plants make their way out. Battling with
jagged, reclaimed fencing we begin the painstaking process of
installing the last necessary boundary (protecting the polytunnel and
vegetable patch) in whatever time we can snatch together.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our
time is made possible by the fact that Maia now has some firm play
dates with our neighbour's girl, as well as the luxury of a Polish
lady dedicating her time to support us in whichever way is called for.
She has emerged serendipitously from my English class in town, so
taken with our endeavour that she is relocating to our village and
committed to coming regularly with any skill that is needed. Her
knowledge and experience are vast and her humble good will truly
abundant.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dear
friends and family are beginning to emerge with planned visits as
life streams back into our farm in the middle of Europe. We feel
blessed already and welcome every breath of fresh air heading our way,
as 2013 finally finds its feet in the Oberlausitz.</span></div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-26855622335457606932013-03-21T21:19:00.002+01:002013-03-21T21:44:25.029+01:00Spring Or Not To Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-51122194193034199312013-03-13T15:26:00.000+01:002013-03-13T15:26:31.145+01:00Hello Sun!!
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Briefly,
oh so briefly, we saw your face and how we enjoyed your warmth and
light! </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sadly, the moment has passed. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This has apparently been the
dullest winter on record for over 60 years. They say this is not
normal. We live in hope. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Or at least we did... </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last
week once again gave us a tantalising taste of spring – mild fresh
air, bare ground with just a few traces of snow skulking in the
shadows and that smell of earth, growth, the promise of life...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now,
everything is once again white, nearly a foot deep in parts. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On
the plus side, the chickens are at least laying in one place. But
that is the only plus I can come up with right now!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Downstairs,
the tiling is now finished above our stove and another glass jar
window seals the granite frame between office and kitchen-to-be. This
time it is much bigger – nearly fifty jars (we have had so many
traditional preserving jars donated that finding enough of the right
size was easily done and it feels only right that the kitchen should
make double use of them). To vary the theme, some have been painted
with red glass paint. There is something of a stained glass effect
that is particularly good in the evening with light shining through
from the office. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It
is empowering to create an entire window from recycled jars,
particularly when examining the cost of windows built to measure. We
wait with baited breath for the two that we have ordered for the
kitchen - a job that we are simply not skilled enough to carry out
ourselves. One will fit in the existing window frame on the north
side, just slightly narrower to accommodate the height of work
surface and sink. Opposite, on the south side, will be double balcony
doors. As soon as they are ready, we will need to break through the
wall into the yard, to then forever have direct access from the
kitchen to the outdoors.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Upstairs,
Saskia's room is now considerably warmer with the floor sealed and
insulated: an old foam mattress, discarded rockwool insulation and
some hemp found in the attic snugly fill the cavity, and rolls of
off-cut carpet left on the roadside make for an almost new floor
cover (the joins subtly covered by rugs).</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Outside,
we made use of the brief show of sun last week to measure out the big
field, now looking a lot more inhabited than the strips either
side that have once again had their weeds killed off. Using a 15
metre-long rope with a stick at either end, we leisurely covered the
ground with Maia proudly carrying one stick to the other whilst
repeating the number of turns we had made. With these figures we can
begin to shape a clearer picture of how much fencing and hedgerow
plants we will need to prepare. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Whilst
doing the round we looked up once to see two small animals just below
the tree line that were certainly too stumpy and not nearly elegant
enough to be the customary deer that cavort in the fields above us.
After a while, we recognised them to be wild bore. We have often
heard of them being in the area, but it was the first time we had
actually spotted them.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
chickens have been escaping over to a neighbour's compost heap, so
our latest project is to make their enclosure bigger, more inviting
and also more secure. Extending it down to the stream to include the
wooded area will give them far more variety and make use of what is
otherwise very underused territory. We hope that this will satisfy
their need for adventure and thus also secure the future of the
fledgling plants that will hopefully, soon be planted out.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-86218517304617503312013-02-19T10:24:00.002+01:002013-02-19T10:24:52.396+01:00Broken Promises<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Almost
one month on, and we still have snow!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
early burst of snow in October now leaves us in retrospect with the
enduring impression that our winter is close to being six months
long!! This is of course not strictly true. The snow has melted in
between times for a few days here and there and once (about ten days
ago) you could smell spring tangibly in the air.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These
last few days have brought more fresh snowfall – a steady white
drizzle restoring immaculate order and dashing fledgling promises of
life and abundance.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
birds are going crazy, not knowing whether to come or go, clustering
in conference on the larch tree then wildly cackling off to alight
elsewhere for a moment, filling snow-filled crevices with echoing
song pleading for life, for green, for something to change...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
chickens have also been getting rather confused, taking it upon
themselves to lay in any comfortable corner they come across on the
days that they have ventured out. It took a while for me to realise
(thinking the changeable weather had reduced their urge to lay) until
I came across twelve eggs in the corner of the sheep shed, three in a
plant pot and a handful in a pile of sand.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Inside,
with all our beds crowded into the big room for warmth, I have now
been able to strip Saskia's room, seal off the hatch and the channels
we had chiselled out to accommodate the new electrical system,
repaint and soon to take up the floor boards and insulate against the
cold air from the cellar steps directly below.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In
the coldest months this room suffered the most from damp, having no
wood burner within reach of it. It is clear that by next winter we
must have some kind of integrated heating system to include this room
and the bathroom that will replace our temporary kitchen.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A
distraction came my way last week in the form of a day as an Extra
for a film being shot in Görlitz. Thirteen hours I spent there,
eleven of which just sitting around in costume in cold, draughty
rooms drinking coffee and eating white rolls with sliced ham and
cheese. Crew received crusty brown bread with salmon and salad and
rumour has it the stars were fully catered for with fresh, organic
food in their heated dressing rooms!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It
was certainly an experience to get a sense of what it is like behind
the scenes of a film and to watch with awe the skill of the
costume-makers and make-up artists: they are truly the backbone of
any film production, dressing up their models to then perform as
puppets at the beck and call of the Director... 15 times we had to
simulate a busy kitchen, me slicing bread over and over with a blunt
knife the first shoot and washing up in a dry sink for the other! It
was impossible to really get into character and stay in it with the
continuous stopping and starting.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I
came away feeling very grateful that my life is my own.</span></div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-79239450665563075122013-01-26T21:47:00.000+01:002013-01-26T21:47:05.547+01:00Incubating
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At
last I am beginning to feel the urge once again to write. Our
Siberian winter has eradicated the notion of linear time and feels
just like an endless experience that has neither beginning nor end,
no particular direction nor impulse to change.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We
are well and truly decked from all sides by glistening white snow,
frozen beyond all hope of making snowballs, the roads compacted by
intrepid cars undeterred by English winter angst and hardly
distinguishable from the endless frozen landscape that holds us in
her timeless grip.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Life
goes on here, regardless. Schools and shops stoically remain open and
the short days hold few goals beyond keeping home warm and bellies
full.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once
our big girl is packed off to school by moonlight, the next two hours
are taken up with stoking fires, forcing open the door to the chicken
shed to defrost their water and vainly hunt for one or two eggs,
throwing a heap of hay out for the sheep, checking the rabbit is
still alive and feeding the cats to keep them from scouting anywhere
for leftovers and scuffling through our precious trays of fragile
seedlings.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
rabbit is now well and truly a house pet with her hutch permanently
open and her favourite hideout under the guest bed in the office. She
startled the chimney sweep on his last visit, sitting bright eyed
under the car and prompting a slightly bemused enquiry as to whether
she really belonged...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chillies,
peppers and onions are coming up nicely on our window sills, much
faster than they did last year in our town flat. They are the only
reminder of life outdoors that will someday return. The compost heap
is frozen solid and our outdoor loo (we still bravely visit it
shivering under -15° before rushing back into the warmth upstairs)
can no longer withstand any liquid...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our
tiled oven upstairs is our saving grace, running continuously on coal
for this year, enabling us to shut it down over night and keep the
living space above zero. With the woodburner fired up in the main
room (where we now all sleep) we can certainly keep life indoors
pretty cosy.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sledging,
skiing, ice skating and brisk walking keep our spirits up. When the
sun is out - it finally returned after two weeks of continuous grey –
the snowscape is truly stunning.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Needless
to say, progress on anything is painfully slow. A set of shelves and
curved cupboard doors for the small arches are the latest
development. They set off the paintwork beautifully and hint at how
gorgeous the final combination of wooden floorboards and worktops
with the Moroccan-style walls, ceramic sink and double doors into the
yard, will eventually be... </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We
are still awaiting action on replacing the two windows after
dithering about costs and materials and gathering quotes to help us
clarify the course of action. PVC is by far the cheapest option for
made-to-measure windows. Yet we cannot bring ourselves to stoop so
low. Quotes for any wood other than pine are at least three times the
price... yet we are still holding out for our local carpenter to give
us a sympathetic quote. Although a man of few words he has shown a
willingness to negotiate and seems open to consider how much we can
do ourselves to keep the finances within our reach. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It
feels like this is the time when everything is paired down to its'
absolute essentials. Rarely a visitor, no unnecessary driving, lots
of eating, resting and simply surviving. Next week the winter
holidays begin. Two weeks in the middle of February - the natural
reaction would be to run off somewhere hot! But for us (with animals
to tend and no cash to spare) it is simply a case of sitting it out,
making the most of winter sports and nestling down to long evenings
by the fire with a good movie.</span></div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-64030933114209514892013-01-15T10:55:00.000+01:002013-02-25T20:38:06.117+01:00Ice Sculptures & Signs of Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-41082529645598635722012-12-11T09:38:00.001+01:002013-01-21T16:25:45.420+01:00Snow Dunes & Silence<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">October’s
snow lasted just a short while and was followed by a good run of crisp autumnal
days and chilly nights. But now, the snow has arrived for good. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Time has
taken on that same endless, uniform blankness. Everything just is, warmth and
food are the main priorities, and days emerge only briefly, just to tease us
with a glimmer of life before plunging back into deep, icy cold darkness.
Temperatures have danced between -8°and -15°, even reputedly reaching -20° at
night.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Time
schedules and project plans just cannot be adhered to. Even the daily school
run is hardly a certainty, with the open flat plane at the highest point of the
journey often decked with thick fog or simply covered so completely with snow
that the road is hardly discernible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The farm
has lost all its contours and distinguishing features. From the moment you step
out of the door, a sea of white dominates the view with only larger objects
like the greenhouse or the linden trees retaining their shape, standing lost
and forlorn like barren rocks offshore.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Just as
the cold front really began to settle in, two intrepid travellers arrived full
of energy and laughter, seeking adventure and work on our desolate farm.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Needless
to say, outdoor work was hardly on the cards, bar hauling in wood and tending the
animals. So for three whole days they tackled the knackered window frames upstairs
that we had stripped way back in the summer and never quite found the time to
complete. With a protective layer of paint the old wooden frames can be
encouraged to last out just another year (or two if we're lucky).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Having
the extra pairs of eyes to keep Maia out of trouble has also meant progress on
the kitchen. The electrician has connected all the wires that we have laid and
we can still hardly believe the magic of flicking a switch to receive immediate
light. The arched doorway is now almost completely plastered smooth, enabling the
final paintwork to happen later this week. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The best
surprise has been our brand new, wood-fired cooking stove – a belated wedding
gift from my mother-in-law! It fits like a glove in the bricked-in doorway that
we have prepared for it, and we have been able to install it with minimal flue
pipe directly into the chimney in the office. It looks like it was made for the
space! With a glass-fronted fire chamber, generous baking oven, warming oven
and full surface area of hotplate, it is a food enthusiast’s dream come true.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Replacing
the window on the north side and installing a door through to the yard will now
have to wait until the spring (along with the floorboards, being the last in
line to avoid trashing them ahead of time). Yet the thought that our Christmas
roast can be made in our new kitchen - albeit with a concrete floor, no units
and draughty windows - is an absolute triumph!</span></div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-35908709862574648782012-11-15T11:56:00.000+01:002013-02-25T20:38:06.115+01:00Snow, Seeds & Paint<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-10516227038821553422012-11-12T21:42:00.000+01:002012-11-15T11:56:51.726+01:00A View to Play With<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">On the
10<sup>th</sup> of November, two of our chickens finally laid their first eggs!
They are smaller than average, with very hard white shells. Perhaps our birds
need some extra protein, or maybe it is just a matter of time whilst they
practice the art...</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
milder weather has certainly given them some encouragement, along with the rest
of us. No signs of snow now, just glorious autumnal wind.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Suddenly
everything is so much more visible. Without the leaves to hide behind, we now
feel quite exposed to both the elements and our nearest neighbours. So we buy
in a few young conifers to plant at the top of the drive in an attempt to
shield us just a little when everything else is stripped bare. </span><br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Landscaping
has now become so much easier: the dry stone wall encircling the three linden
trees now clearly shapes a terrace for spring time pauses whilst also forming a
sturdy dam to encourage any excess water away from the dwellings and
plantations. Stacked dry branches and old logs demarcate compost piles and leaf
mulch to become nourishing soil for next season’s crops. And the flow from the drive
to the house and on to the gardens is so much easier to tweak.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">We have
spent much of this last week collecting horse and cow manure in a borrowed
trailer from a friend’s small holding and nearby plots of the local farming
cooperative. We have discovered that our car is pitifully weak for such trips
(another argument to save for a small tractor - I am slowly learning to accept
that it will be a very necessary addition to the family!). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Yet we
have succeeded in bringing in enough well-rotted manure to support the restructuring
of the polytunnel as well as a couple of fresh heaps lower down, settling to
decompose. The tunnel is now free of all this season’s plants, even though many
green tomatoes were still hanging, bitten by frost and rendered inedible by
these last few weeks of decidedly un-southern temperatures.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Inside,
our new kitchen is entering into its first lease of life as a space to concoct
experimental recipes whose function is aesthetic as opposed to edible: I am desperately
trying to find the ultimate combination of ingredients to create the right
paint for the kitchen walls.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">One
challenge is to manifest a washable surface of the right colour density for the
space that will house our wood-fired oven. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">My first
experiment initially looked good, but has dried rather patchy and remains moist,
even after two days. It is the basic milk paint recipe with added pigment and
linseed oil. Through trial and error - by adding the oil first and then mixing
in the rest of the liquid - I have rediscovered the importance of the mayonnaise
principle. Needless to say, the oil never properly emulsified and the pigment
came through in lumps. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Oil is
purported to create a waterproof finish, bearing in mind that drying time is
much extended. It is also possible to add a final oil-based finish on top of a
basic emulsion. This is now my preferred route, as the quark and lime mixture that
I made for the main walls has worked beautifully, resulting in a smoky, opaque
finish that is subtly in tune with the organic texture of the walls. Using filler
(in my case a fine plaster, but clay or chalk, or indeed any powdered stone or
mineral will also do) has made a huge difference to the density of colour. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The experiments
continue as our kitchen rapidly transforms into a proper looking room.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The cold
spell proved to be a vital insight into the coming winter and triggered a new
approach to curtains: the latest two for the living room are flat, heavy
screens – made using woollen blankets lined against canvas – attached snugly to
the top of the window space and hanging neatly into the edges, fixed along the
bottom by a bamboo pole tucked beneath two screws. Without the air gap of the
sill and the free hanging that facilitates draught, they have made a very
noticeable difference to the temperature of the room at night.</span></div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-76496628032390867302012-10-29T15:18:00.000+01:002012-10-29T15:18:23.612+01:00Snow in October
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This
week brought a sudden and very surprising change. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We
had all adjusted well to bright blue skies by day followed by fresh
chilly evenings and cold nights. We had also tolerated a few days of
rather English grey. But then, with very little warning (on the eve
of the weekend) it snowed. It continued to snow for the whole day. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bold
autumn colours now lie hidden beneath soft white and every surface of
any height is topped with a thick, white icing. The girls scoop it up
like lollies and just can't seem to get enough of it.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For
us, it has come rather earlier than expected. The vast stillness and
peace is serene and beautiful yet also whispers of the imminent
months ahead where temperatures will continue to drop and nothing
more above ground will grow. Animals will need shelter and daily
feeding as life on the farm contracts into winter hibernation.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On
the first day of snow the chickens don't even venture out of their
den. Wading almost a foot deep across the yard to feed them, along
the way I scoop off the snow from the rabbit's hutch to find her
huddling in the furthest corner, both her bowls hidden in a mass of
white. She is simply cowering and staring wide eyed ahead of her. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
sheep also appear rather shell-shocked, even though they are the best
equipped to deal with the cold. Two days on, there are at least
enough tufts of grass beginning to re-emerge for them to munch on as
no fresh snow fall allows the ground cover to begin to retreat. Yet
to be on the safe side, we begin clearing out the old sheep barn
designing the best combination for comfort and ease of access.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
rabbit will also need to come in, probably to the middle room where
plastering has not yet begun. But we will hold off just a little
while longer, as there is still a fair chance of some milder weather
before winter properly takes hold. We have after all only just
received the stunning palette of autumn colours, which are noticeably
more intense at the mountainous borders of Czech where the season
creeps on just a little ahead of us here in the 'low lands'.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This
week also saw our first foray into the boisterous world of children's
holiday camps! A rather short notice agreement to take three children
(7, 9 and 11 from a family of eight!) for five days and engage them
in farm life, resulted in nearly a week of constant activity. The
boys – the two oldest – would wake on full steam, ready to tackle
whatever came their way before we'd even had time to sip a coffee!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For
all the management that comes with such a big family (so much more
cleaning and tidying, extended meal preparations and regular herding
away for moments of peace) we all thoroughly enjoyed our time
together. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
boys were so keen to learn new skills and show off their strength:
the electric fence was taken up and extended; the limbs of a birch to
be felled in the coming weeks were stripped and dragged into the dry;
stones were shifted for dry-stone landscaping; nettles were scythed
and bonfires made of the debris beside the stream; and a good deal of
plastering (with rather a lot of mess!) has made the vague hope of a
finished kitchen by Christmas just a little bit more realistic...</span></div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-71770862596705311922012-10-22T10:24:00.004+02:002013-02-25T20:38:06.119+01:00Home & Dry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-77839085816279447032012-10-16T20:22:00.000+02:002012-10-29T15:23:47.743+01:00Gradual Hibernation<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Visitors
have kept us going all summer, bringing fresh energy and new
perspectives. There has hardly been a pause between one visit and the
next, yet somehow that never seemed to matter. Now however - with no
more planned visits until Christmas - all of a sudden, tiredness
strikes.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Stepping
back for a moment we remind ourselves that we have asked for neither
pressure nor stress. So we make a decision that to some may have been
blindingly obvious: maintain a small area for our winter nest in
order to eliminate the need to heat the whole house and to relieve
the pressure to finish the new kitchen downstairs in a hurry.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So
(with the help of dear Große Maja) we manage to reshape our little
kitchen upstairs within a day and install a small Küchenhexe – a
cast iron burner with a hotplate on top - found rusted but sound and
surprisingly economical on wood. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In
order to make space for it we had to get rid of the fridge. Very soon
a fridge will hardly be necessary here, with a good few months of
minus temperatures ahead of us. So we build a sturdy set of shelves
in the entrance space opposite the new wall and stack it with the
contents of the fridge, along with fresh produce and open jars. The
entrance now smells like an organic shop and beautifully sets the
scene for the cosy gourmand life to be found on the other side of
the heavy velvet curtain.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All
the preserves have now been moved down into the cellar beneath the
little house – the cellar below here is far too creepy and
crumbling for me to venture far into it and will be much better
placed to house a central wood-fired heating system at some point in
the future. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We
certainly have enough passata and pickles to see us through the
winter (and plenty of apple mousse!) but we will need to ration the
chilli sauces and raspberry jam.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
last of the usable tomatoes came out at the weekend and we are hoping
those left hanging on the vine will ripen enough for seed. Whenever
Flo has put some tomatoes aside to save seed I have stumbled across
them and 'rescued' them! I can't bear waste, but must get used to the
fact that next years' fruits require the decay of just a few of
today's finest specimens.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bringing
the wood in was another timely action spurred by my visiting uncle
for whom wood is never far from the conversation. The seasoned piles
left by the previous owners will certainly help us through a chunk of
the coming winter, but it is clear that this year and the next will
need to be subsidised by bought-in wood that is ready to burn. All
that we have cleared this week and will clear in the coming months
will need at least two years to season well. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With
so much produce now safely indoors, we begin preparing ground to host
winter crops and our prized elephant garlic. As outdoor operations
gradually wind down we look forward to earlier nights and dedicated
time for some sound planning (along with the endless stoking of
fires).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Weekly column 'A Taste of Earth' published @ <a href="http://www.porkandgin.com/" target="_blank">www.porkandgin.com</a></span></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-11047639603432284492012-10-10T08:33:00.002+02:002012-10-16T20:26:43.716+02:00Erntedank<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With
the arrival of two willing workers passing through from Czech on
their way back to England, we decided it was prime time to haul in
the harvest. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Erntedank
– harvest thanks; Thanksgiving; honouring the harvest with
gratitude... every culture finds some way of capturing something of
the harvest spirit in a seasonal celebration, characterised by fresh
colour, diversity and sheer abundance.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here
in Germany, Erntedank occurs in the first week of October and always
on a Sunday. It became a timely reason to invite friends and helpers
to celebrate the gifts of the land and share good food together,
enabling us to acknowledge all the help and support from
the folk around us and from the land itself. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We
cleaned out the hall and arranged packing crates around the central
pillar creating a low table draped in old white sheets. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Something
of everything found a place - a huge pumpkin occupying most of the
surface of one crate, squash and Hokaido, tomatoes, peppers, elephant
garlic, drying sweetcorn, courgette and aubergine, dried beans,
beetroot and potatoes, carrots, parsnips, leeks, apples, pears and
raspberries, spinach, walnuts, kohlrabi, cabbage and lettuce... and
others hung from the pillar - a large string of onions, a branch of
hops, a long red trail of vine berries in a deep autumnal red, a
bright ring of chillies and the delicate orange of Chinese lanterns.
The colours against the serene whitewashed walls and raw granite
stone were spectacular.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our
first guests cheerfully dived into the mountain of windfall apples we
had gathered in the morning and gradually the Waschkessel began to
fill. It was a long and arduous job as this year so much of the fruit
in this area is covered in surface blemishes. The flesh is still
good, but selecting and preparing is an endless task. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Each
new arrival happily joined in as old hands drifted off to clutch cups
of hot tea, stoke the fire or begin chopping pumpkin and tomatoes for
the cast iron potjie pot that would feed us all that night.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As
the night drew in we gathered around our harvest and sang songs we
half remembered, finding the words in our own languages whilst
holding a common tune, harvest tunes that have somehow remained alive
in spite of shifting traditions and the inflections of different
languages.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We
bottled the apple mousse the following day. It was so thick that
heating it fully for preserving was impossible as it simply
spluttered and spat. So, once packed into sterilised jars and sealed,
we loaded them back into the Waschkessel and brought water to a
rolling boil for a good twenty minutes, just to be sure.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A
steam juicer is now the biggest wish on our list of things to
manifest – scarred apples can simply be roughly cored and thrown in
to result in fresh juice ready to bottle without any further ado.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Weekly column 'A Taste of Earth' published @ <a href="http://www.porkandgin.com/" target="_blank">www.porkandgin.com</a></span></span></div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-77585681662099201472012-10-01T21:39:00.000+02:002012-10-16T20:26:19.768+02:00Milk on the Walls<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With
the recent full moon and cloudless skies, temperatures have plummeted
at night. By day, bright sunshine brings gentle warmth to open spaces
but anywhere under shade remains cool.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our
adjustments to the flat have come just in time. Two days ago we lit
the wood burner upstairs for the first time - a small tiled oven
which had been haphazardly placed with a double bend in the chimney
now sits facing the living space following another section of wall
being removed. The room feels much more open yet contains the heat
with the assistance of the new wall enclosing the passage into
Saskia's quarters.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With
the warmth factor now remedied, progress on the new kitchen can
continue, in tandem with the slow, painstaking process of layering
paint on the new wall sections upstairs.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In
commitment to our aim of renovating using found and natural materials
as far as possible, paintwork is now the latest arena of
experimentation. Having read up a little on milk paint, the prospect
of making quark and slaking lime felt rather daunting. Then I
stumbled upon an old formula dating back to 1870 that simply makes
use of skimmed milk and hydrated lime.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hydrated
lime doesn't heat up when brought together with the milk proteins and
is thus quite safe to use. The idea is to slowly mix the white
powdered lime with the milk (just as you would blend a pancake
batter) gradually adding more milk until the desired consistency is
reached. It is then ready to paint with!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I
began with a very runny mixture, still a little thicker than the
stated formula but rather more fluid than batter. It did not appear
to cover much, so I mixed my next batch a lot thicker. This created a
much more opaque finish, but I found that the natural unevenness of
the walls generated patches where the paint collected and then slowly
dripped. Every ten minutes or so I had to follow the drips with my
paintbrush to blend them in and even hours later more drips appeared
than I had anticipated.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Milk
paint takes a good while to dry and adheres well to fresh plaster.
Both then dry together and it can take days for the colour to even
out. Thin layers become more opaque over time and I learned that it
really pays off to work with a more fluid mixture (more layers and a
lot more patience) as the dripping is then no longer a big problem
and the end result is much more uniform.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For
the record, the resulting paintwork is completely odourless and you
would never know that milk had come anywhere near it!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Outside,
the walnuts are ripening well. We were worried at first that ours had
fouled as many on the ground looked black and shrivelled. The hulls
turn completely black as the nut matures. Whilst the hull still
clings to the shell, the nut inside is often blackened but moist and
tasty to eat.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Raspberries
continue to appear even a day after combing the bushes and rose hips
are in their prime. In our cultivated areas, spinach has become a
mainstay, lettuce is flourishing and our chillies are turning a
beautiful, vivid red. Tomatoes continue to proliferate and courgettes
are still hanging on. Our pumpkins grow daily and it is clear that we
will be living off them for quite some time to come.<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Weekly column 'A Taste of Earth' published @ <a href="http://www.porkandgin.com/" target="_blank">www.porkandgin.com</a></span></span><br />
<br />
</div>
Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2231847095282198647.post-2960798319276159382012-10-01T09:03:00.002+02:002013-02-25T20:38:06.113+01:00Moments of Peace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Odihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13044942356440807872noreply@blogger.com0