2018 January THE BEST IS YET TO COME

 

The lovely green carpet under the olives. Can anybody tell me what this pretty flower is? It belongs to the clover-like leaves, but is not a clover.

Our olive harvest is now finished, the pressure is off. It is hard to believe that we only started at the end of September for the first time ever to get close up and personal with this ancient, celebrated fruit. For over 4,000 years olives have been cultivated and used for nearly every aspect of life: as medicine, cosmetic ingredient, lamp oil, preservative, massage oil, lubricant for tools, furniture polish, leather treatment, paint remover, culinary additive and many more uses.

And we have had a steep learning curve in the past 3 months and developed a very intimate relationship with ‘our’ olive trees. Because they have been neglected for a number of years they have grown suckers and innumerable side shoots to the detriment of producing fruit.

Collecting the olives has been hard, but rewarding work and we hope it will be that much easier in the coming season. Payment however will only come when the olive oil has been sold through the Co-op, so we have to wait.

‘Blanca Paloma’ is the unfiltered virgin olive oil produced in our Co-op in Almonte. But they also produce wines from the local grapes. Reds, whites and sherry. So no need to ever run out of a good drop….

We now have to go back to every single tree and do some more pruning and ‘cleaning’, so that the trees will maximise fruit production and we get a better return on our work. We will also have time to learn and figure what is the best way to water the trees, when and how much.

We also took time to design and lay out the back garden. It is now populated with some flowering plants and some vegetables and herbs, the start of a wonderful friendship. I am so happy to invite these lovely beings into my life again. I did miss having a garden for the past year. Here, with the daily sunshine, it is even possible to sit and enjoy it in January.

Forgive me if I sound dramatic, but in my mind I have the past few years as dreary and rainy in memory. No sooner did I venture out in my cottage in Ireland I had to abandon my gardening ambitions and retreat inside again for the rain. The summers did seem to get ever wetter and duller and the winters marginally drier but still cold and dark, as winters are due to shorter daylight hours. Here in Andalucia we have sunshine every day and it does not feel like winter at all but rather like springtime, as the ground under the olives is a green carpet with dainty yellow flowers. The birds are chirping and everything is ready to spring to life again.

At Schipol Airport, Amsterdam, where we had a stop-over for 4 1/2 hours. We discovered the delight of the ‘Park’, complete with bird song and plants.

After a few days in Berlin to see my mum we are back in the finca.

Our neighbour expressed his horror about what we have been doing to the olive trees by making a cut-throat gesture with his hand. Even though looking around the other olive groves our trees look similar bereft of foliage. This discouraged Nigel to continue the work with the chain saw. But scrub at the base of the olive trees has to be cut. We will take a break until we get the promised expert to show us exactly how to prune overgrown trees and which of the branches to cut out.

We have now the start of a citrus fruit grove, with one mandarin tree and three orange trees fruiting at different times, together with the already in place lemon tree.

Our next project is a bamboo fence. Because it cost us nothing as the stuff (not sure what it is but it looks like bamboo) grows along the drain at the entrance. And also building a stone wall was not feasible as no natural stone can be sourced around here. We would have to haul stones from some distant quarry in the mountains. And so daily we gather, cut and stick bamboo sticks into the bricks that Nigel laid out. These will then be tied together with fine wire, my job.

We also did some experimenting with our olives. The first batch has now been in brine for 2 months and is ready for consumption. A jar full is now marinating in a Mediterranean Olive Oil Marinade for a different flavour and a second batch is now steeping in the brine. These olives are more of the riper stage, more black than green, as they were left-overs from our harvest. First tasting proves them to be rather of a strong flavour. Suited to inclusion in stews I think. We should try this again when they are still green when they are harvested for eating.

Nigel took a small quantity of black olives from the last tree and proceeded to squash them in a container and pound them to re-enact the very first humans making olive oil. I laughed seeing his efforts, but no more. To my utter astonishment these approximately 5 kgs of olives have already yielded a 450 ml jar of pure oil!

And that without any sophisticated equipment. The average yield is supposed to be 5 kgs of olives to one litre of olive oil [see http://alloliveoil.com/production.html ], which can vary due to variety, season, time of harvesting and numerous other influencing factors. We already brought home 20 l of unfiltered virgin olive oil from our co-op. And it looks more or less like the stuff Nigel patiently drained from his container. This makes us hopeful, although our area is dedicated to eating olives, which need more management but will give a better financial return. But when we watch our neighbouring olive farmers rattle their tractors through their olive groves to spray, plough, harrow and fertilise, we wonder about the actual return or profit of the crop. Cris’s father admitted that his 10 hectares of olives only give him ca. €5,000 after he has paid staff, machinery and input costs, which makes me question if it’s worth the effort. But at least he provides employment and can be proud of his excellent olives.

Storks nesting in Almonte.

22. – 28. April ALQUIFE – GOAT SHED AND MINING TOWN

 

This was another Airbnb find on the cheap, the whole apartment for under €30. In fact we nearly had the whole place for ourselves, as apart from the owner, very few people turned up during our 1-week stay. The dwelling was a converted goat shed, now housing instead of goats a small cinema, 3 ground floor apartments and 5 bedrooms on the first floor amidst almond trees. And with view of the Sierra Nevada’s snow-topped peaks from the northern side this time.

As usual, dogs and cats were about. And three hens that were quickly despatched by the fox, that strikes when the dogs are away from the place. Marion our host takes this philosophical. Even the fox has to live, so let him have them. There’s always more.

Alquife is a former mining town. Mining has been carried out here since roman times. This mine, Spain’s biggest iron mine, produced up to 40% of Spain’s iron, closed in 1996. But the spoil from the underground and then open mining operation were visible as huge man-made mountains. Research on the internet reveals that it is hoped to restart mining, with access to 1000 ha of land for possible exploitation. In the meantime a solar business put up ca. 10 ha of solar-panels to generate electricity [https://www.exclusivegranada.com/menu-english/the-old-mines-of-granada/the-iron-mines-of-alquife-guadix/].

In Alquife the old town that hugged the rock has been deserted. A landslide destroyed several houses which are now kept pretty by lime-wash. We clambered around this part and imagined the life of the miners back then. Now the two bars in the town barely scratch a living and are glad when pilgrims take this route on their way to the Camino Mozarabe de Santiago. They can stay at La Balsa for €5/night. This is supporting tourism in this area.

As quaint and away-from-it-all La Balsa is situated, I didn’t get much peace to write my blog. The day I was sitting in the hammock phoning my mum a car arrived. The two Spaniards wanted to sell some wine to Marion, who was not at home. Then two pilgrims arrived and we tried to figure out what to do until Marion would return. But all was well as she did know about their arrival. These are situations where my bit of Spanish does help, but it does nothing for a prolonged conversation. But we always experience the Spanish to be helpful, polite, patient and friendly and not one bit put out by our feeble efforts at their language.

We took to cycling up the road towards the mountains and also visited Granada twice during our week in Alquife.

Our first evening visit to Granada was a bit prosaic – Nigel wanted to see the FA cup semi-final game between Manchester City and Arsenal in an Irish Pub, Hanigans & Sons to be precise. For any football fanatic this would be a valid reason but for me this is a sacrilege. I mean this is Granada – one of the most beautiful towns in Spain or the world, you don’t spend your time in front of a tv screen. So I disappeared into the small streets of the Albaycin, the Arab quarter to suss out a place for dinner and acquire a lovely light Pakistani style loose pair of trousers.

Our chosen Moroccan restaurant, El Divan, can be forgotten about. I have never had such tasteless and flavourless food in my life. Where were the famous Moroccan spices? We had the cous-cous, the humus, and chicken with vegetables, but no taste. Even the milk shake was watered down. A typical tourist-trap menu.

But on our next visit we did go and visit the Alhambra, one of the world’s most visited and cherished buildings, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This amazing palace and fortress complex with lovely gardens, enclosures, fountains and water features was built in the middle ages by the Moorish rulers of Al-Andalus, as it was then known. The Islamic colours, patterns and craftsmanship is unforgettable and cannot be taken in on one visit.

We only walked the inner free areas because even a week in advance all tickets for the palaces were sold out for the next 4 weeks! So be warned, a visit to this treasure requires at least 4 weeks forward planning. This applies also for the gardens, the Generalife and the fortress complex. [https://www.alhambradegranada.org/en/]

But we had a place booked in the Arab baths, the hammam, which included for me a 15 min massage. A Hammam is a most wondrous place, a place to let your senses drift away and relax. The Hammam in Granada is lit by candles placed in niches, there is sweetened peppermint tea available and four pools and a steam room await your weary bones. The atmosphere is calm, nobody is allowed to talk loud and soft Arabic music plays in the background.

The pools have water trickling into them in different temperatures and are surrounded by beautiful detailed Arabic tiles and ornaments and intrinsic carvings. One of the pools is ice-cold to finish the cleansing process by closing your heated pores from the steam room. We braved this one twice as the reward was the hot marble stone!

You can choose your massage oil from Pomegranate, Rose, Lavender and Red Amber oils. A massage in such surroundings will enhance your experience of total bliss. Before and after you can lie on the hot marble stone. [http://granada.hammamalandalus.com/en/]

It doesn’t get any better. This is pampering in a sublime fashion. It is difficult to describe the whole experience in words, maybe poetry would do it justice. You just have to go and see for yourself. I surely will return to Granada, the Alhambra and the Hammam many more times.

On our last day, Peter from Holland arrived to take care of La Balsa until Marion’s return from Italy. We invited him for dinner and had a very good night. Full of introspection, psychology, philosophy and got to see his invention: reading glasses as fashion items. He wanted to design reading glasses that can be worn unobtrusively, as a piece of jewellery or fashion item. They needed to be small and easy to wear. His design is patented and hopefully will make him a rich man some day.

 

16.04 – 21.04.2017 Woofing in Cortijo Tesoro, Buquistar, Alpujarras

It was time to embark on our second woofing job with Jose in the Alpujarras. His Cortijo Tesoro lies not far from the highest (claimed by the inhabitants) village in Spain, Travelez. In fact, the Camino de Trevelez runs practically past his holding.

Jose and his partner Andrea have spent the past 15 years doing up the various original stone buildings on the farm with the help of woofers. By the time we arrived most of the work was done. We had to drench the new natural tile floor with a linseed oil concoction and then paint the ceiling with lime whitewash. Under no circumstances were we to touch the oiled chestnut beams. In fact, we had to clean up some of the paint that went astray before we got there. This vexed Nigel. So he was taken away to help fix the water supply.

The cortijo is typical for the traditional Islamic architecture the Moors brought to the country of Spain from the Atlas Mountains in Algier, Morocco and Tunisia. It was the Berbers who brought their knowledge and traditions to Andalucia. This intrinsic knowledge to work with the natural materials that surrounded them in the mountains was very useful in the region of the Sierra Nevada and the Alpujarras. The cortijos are made of stone, oak or chestnut beams, launa (water-impermeable breathing clay-layer), pebbles and lots of lime wash.

Typical ceiling made from chestnut beams, stones, launa and gravel:

Jose’s cooking was absolutely delicious, vegetarian meals cooked in a jiffy and tasty. He would put many a restaurant to shame with his culinary virtuosity.

He is also a very accomplished guitar player and singer. We witnessed this on our third night there when we had bought a bottle of vino tinto, a bottle of lambrusco, a lump of cheese and a big bag of crisps. Jose was delighted about the naughty supplementation of his larder. The next day he accused us of having given him a sore head. I beg you – only after 2 glasses of vino! The man needs to get out more. But we had a lovely evening under the stars of the Alpujarra.

The Berbers or Moors as they were called then also brought with them the science of preserving and making use of water, which is scarce and a luxury in those regions. So every drop needs preserving and put to its full use. To that purpose they have constructed Acequias = irrigation canals, channels, that runs alongside the mountains and to anywhere where water is needed, for example the agricultural used areas with orange, olive and almond trees, gardens and dwellings.

These acequias are now looked after by the population and maintained, because life depends on it. Sometimes you can see the original dug out channels, sometimes they are strengthened with concrete along motorways or bounded by stones. Sometimes they look like natural streams, distributing and sharing out their life-maintaining moisture along the way, so that trees, scrub and wildlife can live.

On our last night we went to Atalbeitar with Jose and his guitar and Jim, the new woofer kid on the farm. Well, ok, he is 34, and is travelling the world for the past 3 and a half years.

This night turned out to be a jam session with the resident Hungarian jazz artist, Jose with his guitar and a local on percussion. You wouldn’t really expect that kind of music in a little mountain village high in the Alpujarras in Spain, but music is a universal art and can be transposed anywhere in any form or style. And so we listened to a Spanish jazz session in a typical cortijo. This is run as an unofficial restaurant run by the Hungarian piano player and his Canadian wife.

 

Going for sugar along the Camino de Trevelez

 

During our 6-day day with Jose I was assailed with homesickness!

Well, it is not so easy to mould yourself to another person’s life-style and be confined and defined by their times of eating (too late!), habits and living arrangements (creaky single beds and door to his bedroom). So there comes a time when you want to just do as you please, flop back into your own way of life and spread yourself out again.

Unfortunately the weather had become cold and as we departed it deteriorated further. So just as well we left the high southern mountains and drove instead to the northern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, to Alquife.

16-17 March 2017 – on the road south

Medieval  Montblanc

In San Sebastian I bought an Orange sim card for my windows phone. But the internet would not work – never did, so that was no good. So on the way south, through Pamplona and taking the scenic road A2 to avoid tolls, we stopped in Zaragoza to buy a Spanish phone. Finally we were in contact with the world again and not dependent on wifi spots and our B&B having wifi. This was soothing for my nerves, because as the navigator and general travel manager I needed to get us to the way-out places that Airbnb throws up.

But that is exactly what we want – authentic Spain, rural towns or villages, with very little touristic influence. And that’s what we got in our next stop with Merche in Salas Altas. As the sat nav does not give away local info (it seems all the streets that I need are not loaded, but come up when we are just around the corner), we needed to ask in the local bar to locate Merche. Unfortunately they were not aware she was renting out rooms, so it took a while until somebody made sense of our or rather my rantings. Finally she came to collect us.

It was a lovely rural setting, with orange and wine groves, that we investigated curiously. How are they planted, pruned, trained along those wires and posts. Intriguing for an agricultural consultant with only mid-European training and lately plenty of bogland  experience and a Leitrim farmer, that knows more about rushes than raisins.