I think I can say we have never been this relaxed in our lives.
Our days consist of getting up, and doing some work on the farm for a couple of hours. Gardening, raking grass, making pan (bread), and/or lunch, harvesting raspberries. Then, after almuerzo (lunch), we have siesta until about 4 (although with the heat of the last week, we don´t start working again until 5). We can spend our other time reading, writing, doing art, learning spanish. Its been pretty wonderful.
We also have the opportunity to learn about many things here. The way of working with the land is very close, and not a whole lot for profit. Claudio and Rosalind grow enough food to live upon, and buy very little. They sell raspberries, and last year, a crop of rhubarb. The raspberries just came on so we are spending quite a bit of time with them in the last week, eating, freezing, eating... The climate here permits frosts until very late in the year, and so the crops they can grow must be extremely hardy.
It is difficult to relate the sorts of things that we are experiencing here as I sit in a crowded internet cafe, my time displayed in front of me. The rhythm of this travel experience is not one of go-go-go, but one of sinking in, and allowing ourselves much in the sense of introspection and slowly understanding how people are here in this place.
We hiked an amazing mountain, Cerro Piltriquitron, last weekend. We probably walked 40 km in two days, ascending the peak twice as the first time it was shrouded in clouds. The second time we were rewarded with beautiful views, though the cold was biting. I would post a picture but the internet just screwed up my upload.
We plan to walk in to Chile in the next couple of weeks. There is a pedestrian only crossing that can be accessed from a village near here (Lago Puelo), and from there it is 9 km to the border, and another 9 to the next town. Sounds a bit like an adventure, and will put us in a remote part of Chile, where horses are still an acknowledged means of travel.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Life on the Farm
After our first full week at Chacra Temaukel, in the paisaje of Las Golandrinas, a small village outside of El Bolson, we decided today to venture the hour and a half walk into town to access the internet. Fortunately we got a ride along the way with a couple of Argentines in a smoky old Ford.
The farm where we are volunteering is almost entirely self-sufficient. Each day consists of work, taking mate (the national drink of yerba tea drunk through bombilla straws), reading and working on spanish, and eating. All of our meals are made of whole foods produced on the land we are helping to work. The farm is not much of a commercial venture although they sell raspberries, preserves, and other goods. In additionto helping manage the land we'll be helping to preserve things. Their main crop is raspberries, and raspberry season is coming on in the next few days. The peas are also coming on, and every day we have fresh salads of greens and radishes.
Almost no waste exists on the farm. Just about everything is put to use. One of the biggest tasks this week was cutting the pasto (grass). The grass had grown to a foot or two high, and Claudio was cutting it with a weed whacker. (Jameson got to learn about this task and take over). After a couple of days of drying, we rake it up and collect it in a shed. Claudio will take all this grass to a friend's house who has animals and trade for manure to put on the vegetables. Everything is homemade: the delicious fruit desserts, the composting toilet, the living roof of our casita.
Our casita.
Another task we've had is cleaning the seeds. Claudio and Rosalind collect most (all?) of their own seeds for replanting in the next year. We started with celery, carrot, and cabbage. It was a tedious undertaking to collect the seeds out from the dried plants, but it is a part of gardening that I have not partaken before, and we had a good bit of time to reflect on what it means to carry on the genetic material of the plants that have grown upon that very land. The Chacra is at the base of Cerro (mountain) Piltriquitron, and higher up than the farms in the valley. They have 45 days less of a growing season than other farms in the area. When they continue to collect seeds from their land the plants begin to perform better, as they become more accustomed to the climate.
The Rio Azul.
Jameson crossing the most rickety bridge I have ever seen, over the Rio Azul.
The people here are experiencing climate change, and it is talked about in the local lore. For example, this year the summer has been very cold, and there have been many late frosts. This year the farm does not have many of the tree fruits that it normally has (apricots and peaches), and few fruits on others. There has also been less snow: two feet previously accumulated in the winter, whereas in recent years only 6-12 inches is common. At the same time, people are skeptical of climate change and some of the drastic changes being called for: who is paying the scientists for those studies and what are their interests.
Another thing of interest is the small-town reaction to the economic crisis. Where Buenos Aires was somewhat incapacitated with runaway inflation in the year 2000, these small towns developed a local economy, created fake bills (but that actually had value) and developed a barter system which enabled people to weather the storm in a much more capable manner than in the throes of the big city. I think that the 'fake' money also occurred all over the country, but the difference is that almost everyone in an area like this is producing, whereas people in BA, like in other big cities, may be working in offices or such and not have a direct produce to offer.
The whole area here consists of funky housing and old cars. Since wood is a big commodity here, there are many log planks, but when they mill them down they just cut in one direction, retaining the bark and the curvy, organic shape of the wood. It lends a soft edge and pleasant ambiance to the buildings.
The view of Refugio Cerro Lopez, and Lago Nauhel Huapi, in Bariloche.
We will be here for the next 3 weeks, and it may be hard to write in the blog during this time. Our bus ride from BA to Bariloche was mediocre: next time we may opt for the slightly cheaper bus as dinner and wine were not so splendid, but the seats were big. Bariloche was beautiful but too touristy and expensive for our tastes.
The farm where we are volunteering is almost entirely self-sufficient. Each day consists of work, taking mate (the national drink of yerba tea drunk through bombilla straws), reading and working on spanish, and eating. All of our meals are made of whole foods produced on the land we are helping to work. The farm is not much of a commercial venture although they sell raspberries, preserves, and other goods. In additionto helping manage the land we'll be helping to preserve things. Their main crop is raspberries, and raspberry season is coming on in the next few days. The peas are also coming on, and every day we have fresh salads of greens and radishes.
Almost no waste exists on the farm. Just about everything is put to use. One of the biggest tasks this week was cutting the pasto (grass). The grass had grown to a foot or two high, and Claudio was cutting it with a weed whacker. (Jameson got to learn about this task and take over). After a couple of days of drying, we rake it up and collect it in a shed. Claudio will take all this grass to a friend's house who has animals and trade for manure to put on the vegetables. Everything is homemade: the delicious fruit desserts, the composting toilet, the living roof of our casita.
Our casita.Another task we've had is cleaning the seeds. Claudio and Rosalind collect most (all?) of their own seeds for replanting in the next year. We started with celery, carrot, and cabbage. It was a tedious undertaking to collect the seeds out from the dried plants, but it is a part of gardening that I have not partaken before, and we had a good bit of time to reflect on what it means to carry on the genetic material of the plants that have grown upon that very land. The Chacra is at the base of Cerro (mountain) Piltriquitron, and higher up than the farms in the valley. They have 45 days less of a growing season than other farms in the area. When they continue to collect seeds from their land the plants begin to perform better, as they become more accustomed to the climate.
The Rio Azul.
Jameson crossing the most rickety bridge I have ever seen, over the Rio Azul.The people here are experiencing climate change, and it is talked about in the local lore. For example, this year the summer has been very cold, and there have been many late frosts. This year the farm does not have many of the tree fruits that it normally has (apricots and peaches), and few fruits on others. There has also been less snow: two feet previously accumulated in the winter, whereas in recent years only 6-12 inches is common. At the same time, people are skeptical of climate change and some of the drastic changes being called for: who is paying the scientists for those studies and what are their interests.
Another thing of interest is the small-town reaction to the economic crisis. Where Buenos Aires was somewhat incapacitated with runaway inflation in the year 2000, these small towns developed a local economy, created fake bills (but that actually had value) and developed a barter system which enabled people to weather the storm in a much more capable manner than in the throes of the big city. I think that the 'fake' money also occurred all over the country, but the difference is that almost everyone in an area like this is producing, whereas people in BA, like in other big cities, may be working in offices or such and not have a direct produce to offer.
The whole area here consists of funky housing and old cars. Since wood is a big commodity here, there are many log planks, but when they mill them down they just cut in one direction, retaining the bark and the curvy, organic shape of the wood. It lends a soft edge and pleasant ambiance to the buildings.
The view of Refugio Cerro Lopez, and Lago Nauhel Huapi, in Bariloche.We will be here for the next 3 weeks, and it may be hard to write in the blog during this time. Our bus ride from BA to Bariloche was mediocre: next time we may opt for the slightly cheaper bus as dinner and wine were not so splendid, but the seats were big. Bariloche was beautiful but too touristy and expensive for our tastes.
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