Changeable

The weather has been, to say the least, changeable.  We had a series of hot sunny days for the last half of March and now it´s raining again.

While it was warm and dry, Manolo the tractor guy came by and did a final discing of the new areas.  V and I rented a post hole digger and managed to get the posts up before the rain started again.  Now we need to brace the corners and put on the metal mesh fencing.  I still have to figure out gates.  All that has to be in place before I can start creating raised beds because the dogs will destroy all the work in record time.

We also had a visit from the well-digger.  As was to be expected, he immediately dismissed the exiting bore hole (with visible, standing water) as too small and essentially useless.  He actually got out a water wand and walked around for a while.  Now, knowing that basically anywhere you pick up a rock around here has a spring underneath, especially at this time of year, I think this was mostly theatre.  And, for the princely sum of 1500 - 2000 €, they could dig us a new well, which would then need electrical service for the pump and a structure.  Keep in mind our city water bill is about 25€ every three months.  The numbers don´t really pencil out.  So if anyone has suggestions as to what we can rig together to make the existing pipe work, while we wait to have roofs and storage tanks appear, let me know.

As far as flowers, the anemones are just beautiful and seem quite happy.  I´m definitely planting more next year.  On the other hand, the ranunculus started flowering with the heat wave after suffering from some freeze burn and botrytis.  So they´re a little skimpy on foliage, quite short, and now unhappy to be in the pouring, cold rain.  Next year low tunnels are going to be on the to-do list.

2017 in Review

One of the few sunrises lately.  Since it mostly hasn´t stopped raining since the beginning of December, time to review how 2017 actually went (goals here).

1. Barn renovation - Nope.  Frankly, we didn´t have the money so it´s back on the list for 2018.

2. Garden - Expanded!  Tractor guy will be coming back when the water isn´t ankle deep out there.  Needless to say, it´s growing grass again.

3. Interior projects - Nope.  To be fair, we tried.  We´re still waiting for a quote for the hood installation from early December.  When prompted, the appliance guy said he ¨forgot¨ and then didn´t get back to us, again.  And when V tried to get additional trim pieces from the tile store in Madrid for the backsplash, turned out that no, contrary to what they told him over the phone, they didn´t have it in stock. This sort of thing happens a lot.

4. Experimenting - I did have a go at the dyeing, results were OK.  But no progress at all on the cheesemaking.  I should probably throw out all those enzymes and cultures in the freezer.  We did finally get a batch of beer brewed, and I made soap for Christmas gifts.

5. Water - Renovating the well is moving up to the top of the list.  Need to locate it again since it´s all overgrown and currently underwater.

6. Chickens - Nope, still no chooks.

7. Community - This is a good news / bad news one.  Good news - my former student actually got a job!  Thrilled for her.  She dropped by to catch up over the holidays and is doing really well.  Bad news, she moved to another town and we haven´t made any additional contacts.

Breo´s 2 surgeries put a real dent in the budget this year.  It´s great to see him getting back some of his old mobility now, but it kind of threw a wrench into the discretionary fund budget.  Also, it seemed like we were driving to the vet in Lugo every other day. That, and other circumstances impacted how much we could spend on infrastructure this year.  Fingers crossed that gets straightened out early in 2018 so we can make some progress.

What we did get done:

Planted some trees.  2 oaks, 1 lemon, 1 lime, 2 hazels, 1 cherry, 1 almond have survived.
Side Patio - turned the weedy, wet side area into a pretty space.  Need to re-arrange some plantings so they´re happier.
Veg - lots grew.  Battled new pests.  Improved yields.
Hosted the Inlaws for another successful stay in August.
Ate/preserved the veg.  Had one jar of tomato sauce that didn´t seal, but the rest has been good.  All the squashes have been delicious and are keeping surprisingly well.  Onions and garlic that were stored also kept well through December.  Made pickles, sauerkraut, ketchup and salsa.
Got Breo through his health issues.  He´s happy and energetic and always on the look out for those nefarious felines.


Coming up - plans for 2018!

Preserving 2017

Once the veg/fruit starts coming, you can´t really keep up with it.  The question is how you preserve it for later.  A dehydrator and fruit press are on the list of capital investments still to be made.

The cucumbers were numerous.  I gave several to the neighbors/family and used them in gazpacho and salads.  Mostly, I made pickles.  I tried bread and butter pickles, refridgerator dills and lacto-fermented dills.  Unfortunately, the cukes went from white to yellow in the blink of an eye, and yellow cukes tend to be bitter.  So even pickled, I can taste that bitterness.  Still, I´m amazed that the salt brine will make pickles in a week or less.  I´ve got a big jar in the fridge, and wonder how long until they go soft.

I used the many, many zucchini/courgettes in tortillas, pisto, zucchini bread, lasagna, veggie puree for Breo and froze some shredded.  I have my doubts.

This year tried roasting the tomatoes instead of boiling for hours in on the stove.  I did put a glug of olive oil in the first coupe of batches, which means they´ll be kept in the fridge, as I´ve read water bath canning isn´t recommended with things containing oil.  A canner is on the list, too.

And I made ketchup, which is A.MAZ.ING.  Light years away from what you buy in the store.  In fact, it may be a little heavy on the cloves, as I was guestimating the weight of the tomatoes and using the recipe here.  I´ve got 3 more little pots in the freezer.  When those run out, I´ll make more using canned store tomatoes and see if there´s much of a difference.

No jams this year, since I still have several jars from last year.  Wondering just what to do with the apples, since the neighbor kindly gifted me with another few pounds.  Maybe pie filling. Got the bag of hedge mix in the freezer waiting for inspiration.

What to do

When you can´t get anything done outside?

Start getting the bottles and pans together for a brewing session!

2017 Projects

Lots of Projects for 2017 big and small, which will be expounded upon in further posts:

1.  Barn renovation

So we have this 1917 barn, or what´s left of it.  The roof had a gaping hole when we bought the place, and based on the builder´s recommendation, had the roof taken off and the rotten elements removed.  In retrospect, it might have been wiser to patch the roof, though the builder insists that the weight wasn´t good for the structure.  In any event, as a first phase we´d like to get it covered, install a floor, and fill in the openings so we´d have a dry place for storage.  Eventually, I want a studio workshop and a dry, secure place for storing feed/bedding/firewood/tools.  V wants a mancave.

2.  Garden

The veg area will be expanded, but is limited by tree roots and the zone around the barn which will be churned up by workers and vehicles.  Closer to the house, I´ll creating an area for flowers, culinary and medicinal herbs and dye plants. 

3. Assorted Interior projects:  backsplash, range hood, laundry sink

While livable, there are a few elements still missing from the house.  This year we´d like to get those finished, along with buying the last furniture items.  We´re still sitting on patio chairs at the kitchen table.  The laundry room needs a complete makeover, but depends on what kind of laundry sink we get.  A bigger, longer term project still pending is solar thermal hot water.  I wasn´t really convinced that Galicia had a climate for solar anything, but with summers getting hotter and drier, it´s probably time to investigate this more thoroughly.  We simply can´t afford a solar electricity set up, and the government is now taxing those who do, even if they´re off grid.

4.  Experimenting with natural dyes/cheesemaking/brewing

 India Flint

I miss doing creative stuff, even though I don´t seem to have time to do what I should on any given day.  Lately, I´ve been really intrigued by eco-printing and botanical dying, which uses plant material and found objects to print patterns and colors on fabric.  I got a copy of India Flint´s Eco Colour, who´s an Australian fibre artist and does very interesting work, and have a couple of books on dye plants and dyeing to put to use.  I got some cheesemaking supplies while I was in the States and will have to look into finding a supply of raw milk and maybe a local mentor to show me the ropes on producing cheese.  Another goal is to renew our brewing hobby, now that our bottle collection is out of basement storage in Madrid and here in Galicia.  Another reason to organize the laundry room space - storage for bulky brewing stuff. 

5.  Water

This winter is shaping up to be very dry.  I´ve been busily building raised beds since historically Galicia is quite wet.  But this winter the weather is wierdly dry, warm and sunny and we´ll be needing to take advantage of all new roof surfaces to store water, especially at higher elevations.  I´d also like to refurbish the defunct well by the barn for watering the garden, and there needs to be some form of irrigation put into place.  We´ll see.

6.  Chickens

Still need to decide on a place to put a coop.  Disruption from work on the barn could be an issue here, also.  I´d just like to get started with a half dozen hens and start producing some fertilizer for the gardens.  Always good to have the ingredients for a tortilla española around the place.

7.  Integrate into the community

We´re really, really bad at socializing.  V has the excuse that he´s gone a lot, but I´m just anti-social.  We know our immediate neighbors and have met a few locals, but haven´t done a lot to participate in local functions or anything.  However, just before Christmas, we started hosting a lovely young woman for an English conversation practice once a week, and are planning to meet her family soon.  Turns out, she plays the gaita/pipes and is a member of the local folk band, so we hope to be more informed as to local festivities this year.

So those are the plans.  We´ll revisit to see how well we´ve done at the end of the year.  And now I must go get in another couple of loads of firewood as they´re predicting a siberian cold wave for the end of this week.

The Tudor Monastery Farm

The latest offering from the intrepid BBC Team of  Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold, and historian Ruth Goodman.

All seven episodes are on Youtube, including the Christmas Feast.

Part I



And Part II



ETA - Oops - the team is now in Secrets Of The Castle on BBC.

Apple Cider

I was pleased to try this organic cider when we were at the house.  In the past, most of the cider apple harvest in Galicia went straight to sidrerías in Asturias or Pais Vasco, but recently, the prices weren´t enough to cover the transportation costs.  So someone had the bright idea of reviving the cider industry in Galicia. We tried the organic, sweet ¨Natural¨, and thought it was delicious.  Light, refreshing, slightly sweet and notably apple-y.  Just the thing for a warm summer evening.

Enter Maeloc.  A subsidiery of the folks that bring us Estrella Galicia beer (Hijos de Rivera), they make both sweet and dry apple ciders, along with perry (!) blackberry and strawberry.  Maeloc is one of the businesses featured in the initiative Mercado de la Cosecha, sponsored by Hijos de Rivera, R and Gadis, dedicated to fostering sustainable rural development projects in Galicia.

ETA - I just found a blog dedicated to Galician cider (in gallego)  Sidra Gallega

via

Can´t wait to try making some on my own.  We´ll need to try to revive the old, very tired and neglected apples on the property and plant some more.  The neighbors also had apples that had seen better days.

I´m intrigued by the whizbang design for a press. No sense not using a garbage disposal and a hydraulic automotive jack when they´re so widely available.

via

Crazy idea #31

An Etsy empire.

 love this soft 100% cotton fabric

The little girl´s dress was such a huge hit with the family, I´ve decided to make a few more and try my hand at a Etsy store. I figure if they don´t sell, then the niece´s wardrobe is set for the next 2 years.

Still in the R&D phase - trying to remember to do A before B before C during construction as well as learning the Spanish vocabulary for bias tape and interfacing, etc. (Fabric shopping in Spain is a subject for another post.) The handmade trend really seems to be catching on, even here, where handmade is traditionally thought of as a sign of poverty. Go hipsters!! I´m all for spending one´s limited resources on local, quality craftsmanship that lasts.

something more urban

There are complaints among sellers that Etsy is succumbing to the wave of mass produced stuff being sold as ¨handcrafted¨, which seems both unfair and not very smart on Etsy´s part.  There are several other platforms for internet craft sales as well. Dawanda, a German platform, is popular. There´s also Artesanum, if you´re looking for Spanish/Latin American crafts. Those in the UK can browse Folksy.

 next . . .

Happy Shopping!

What shall she put in her pocketses. . .

A summer dress for V´s littlest niece.

Still getting to know the machine, moments of tension, going from hesitant to galloping away from me completely . . .

I debated a long time about pockets.

But the seashells, stray blossoms and other treasures of summer beg for a place to be tucked away.

Firsts

Made a notebook cover for my dear friend W, whose b-day was in January.  She was very gracious about the crude rustic nature of the finished product, but it was a great learning exercise for me.  New-to-me sewing machine, first time using leather, and first time embroidery with coton a broder thread.  Baby steps.

The monogram came from Broderie d´Antan.

New to Me

 After months of scanning the internet, I finally found a vintage, portable, electric sewing machine with both a straight and zig zag stitch.

She´s a 1960´s Alfa model 103 and came with the original instruction book and a whole bunch of accessories and gizmos.

I figure she´s been put away somewhere for a while, so I should probably disassemble the relevant parts and make sure she´s clean and oiled, but when I tried her out before taking her home the stitching was solid and quiet.

She will do a whole bunch of embroidery stitches, which seem more applicable to baby clothes than anything to me, BUT you can also drop the feed dogs, the little teethed plates that push the fabric under the pressure foot, so there is an option for free-form sewing used in machine embroidery and quilting that´s all the rage.

V has already started rearranging the second bedroom so I can have a space to work.  So woot for me!!

They´re Back

The team that brought you The Victorian/Edwardian Farm and Tales from the Green Valley on the BBC (which I loved) are doing another called The Tudor Monastery Farm.

Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold turn the clock back over 500 years to run a farm at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum in West Sussex exactly as it would have been in 1500, during the reign of the first Tudor King, Henry VII.

At Amazon.co.uk:  The Victorian Farm, The Edwardian Farm and Tales of the Green Valley .

Edwardian Farm Episode 1



Tales of the Green Valley Episode 1

Creativa Madrid 2013 Oct. 24, 25, 26 & 27

Creativa Madrid 2013 - for all things crafty.

Links to tickets, activities schedule and exhibitors list here.

By Hand Magazine

Check it out

The lovely Juniper Moon Farm has a new issue of By Hand, readable online. Rhubarb compote!

And, as if that wasn´t enough, they have new lamb pics too. This year´s naming convention is Downton Abbey - meet Bates.

Creativa 2012

Creativa, the arts and crafts and hobby fair, is being celebrated the 18 - 21 of October at the Crystal Pavilion at the Casa de Campo. There will be workshops, exhibitors, demonstrations etc.

For more information the Creativa link is here.

The programming pdf is here.

Six degrees of surfing

I love this internet thing.

Today I was reading an article in El Progreso, the Lugo newspaper, about a craft shop opening.

Craft and Tea (Rúa Nova, número 75, Lugo) have a blogspot page.  They sell craft materials and hold workshops on crochet, knitting, and sewing as well as providing tea and cookies/biscuits.  It looks charming. 

Although the size of the header on their webpage forces a lot of scrolling down.  They also have a lengthy bloglist.  Which led me to. . .

Las Teje y Maneje, who also have a blogspot page.  They´ve compiled a wide-ranging and interesting list of hip craft projects in knitting, crocheting, illustration.  And they have a lengthy bloglist.  Which led me to. . .

Blackoveja, who have a blogspot page and a shop in Madrid!

They sell supplies and classes in knitting, crochet, patchwork and embroidery.  And in October they´ll be receiving a shipment of wool from a little corner of Leon that I vaguely remember hearing about where they manufacture wool blankets, rugs and outerwear from their own area sheep (mostly Merino and Churra).  All explained in this fabulous entry.
.

I´ve been wondering about small scale wool processing in Spain for a long time.  And now I know it actually exists.  Unfortunately, like many highly skilled artisan trades, it´s about to disappear due to a combination of the bad economic impact of globalization, unfriendly bureaucracy, and the age of the participants, one started learning the business at six years old.

And further googling I found this blog entry at Blog del Tamboritero Maragato  and a video!

Laurentino de Cabo, the Illustrious Weaver of Val

Val de San Lorenzo is the Leonese Olympus of textile art, but today there remain very few who make a living from it:  this family has managed it.

In 1752 there were 51 weavers in Val de San Lorenzo, a small village located in the middle of the region of Maragatos.  After an inadequate industrial revolution that arrived late, by 1920 that number rose to 112.  In 1968 only 82 dedicated themselves to this occupation.  In 1991 there were 31.  Today, in 2004, there are five.  The merit of these artisans is twofold:  First, they manage to survive, making a living from this ancient art which is increasingly difficult in a globalized economy.  Second, they remain loyal to the traditional techniques and spirit.  And one of these artisans is Laurentino de Cabo Cordero, descendent of a dynasty of Maragato weavers. 

De Cabo describes the process, which goes from the arrival of sacks of wool at his house up to the moment when the thick and warm blanket of pure wool wraps around the purchaser at night:  first, Tino says he always uses ¨local¨ wool, in other words, from the immediate area or Leon region:  Churra sheep, Leonese Merino or entrefina.  Churras from the moors and plains, Merinos from the mountains (excellent examples from the village of Maraña), each wool apt for each piece.  The strong, resiliant churra wool is perfect for rugs, but not blankets since it ¨itches¨; nevertheless, the merina, almost silky, is ideal for the weaving of blankets.  The wool arrives dirty and is washed in a special large tank, then left to dry.  Laurentino de Cabo says he simply ¨imitates nature¨ when making his creations: ¨If you observe a sheep, for example an entrefina - he says -, you will see that it has an interior fleece, springy and soft against the cold, and an outer coat of rough strong wool that protects it from the rain and external elements.¨ These two coats are also present in his creations.  De Cabo, who is a distinguished weaver, knows very well that wool is the best of insulators.  ¨If you observe a strand of wool under a microscope you will see that it is a hollow tube.  The weaving industry - he continues - has spent years looking for a synthetic material to substitute for wool, without finding one.  Wool never overcompensates for changes in temperature, it is fireproof, warms even when wet and protects from cold as well as humidity.  In addition, he says that merino wool from Leon is the second best wool in the world. 

But let´s continue with the process:  scouring serves to degrease the wool, although Tino allows a small amount to remain to serve as protection. The semi-degreased wool is ¨typical of Val de San Lorenzo, as it adds longevity and strength.¨  Once washed, the wool passes through a series of machines, the majority astonishingly old, from the beginnings of the last century.  ¨They´re the best ever invented¨, he says regarding this true ¨museum¨ of textile art.  The wool - if colored - is first dyed in a pot, where it simmers for an hour - it will pass through different machines to card and transform it into yarn:  the diablo creates tufts, afterward it passes through the abridores, a series of rollers with hard, thick teeth, progressively finer and closer together; this is the emborradora carder, from which it goes to the repasadora carder,  producing a kind of ¨veil¨ of wool which is rolled on a large cylinder with a scale that measures the size of the required yarn, according to the needs of the weaver.  A finer, denser roving material comes from the continua carder, from which will emerge the actual yarn.  Tino informs us that what makes the yarn consistent and workable is its twist:  wool roving parts easily, but once spun, tearing becomes much more difficult.  The torcedora is the machine which achieves this.  In ten hours it´s possible to create 80 kilos of yarn.

There is still an intermediate process:  creating a warp of yarn for the loom.  For this a urdidor is used, a complex machine from which emerges a ¨band¨ of yarns of any determined size according to the type of piece to be elaborated.  The buérgano folds in a block (also called a plegador) the amount which will be woven, then inserted into various channels with the goal of inserting them in the lanzaderas.  ¨Weaving¨ comments Tino - is the easiest part of the whole process.¨  To weave a standard blanket takes about two and a half hours with veteran looms (one of them dates to 1786 and uses the ancient system of perforated cards) which he maintains in perfect condition; aided by the use of electricity.  The last phase consists of fulling the piece with a batán, that old fashioned type of riverside mill (as can be seen in the Batán Museum del Val), and now modernized.  In the last process, the percha removes the hairs from the piece.

In addition to blankets, Tino makes socks, carpets, and sackcloth fabric for regional costumes.

Emilio Gancedo / Text 12/12/2004

Unfortunately, their webpage www.tejelana.com isn´t working.  I found a detailed pdf here that describes the wool carding/spinning processing in English.

In Spanish, but the images are fascinating and easy to follow.



Just the machinery alone is a treasure.  And it´s not too far off the path to the ruin.  Must stop by.

Juliette de Bairacli Levy

I ran across a recommendation for this woman´s herbal books on a permaculture forum. There is a DVD of her life and work called Juliette of the Herbs. Looks very interesting.

Juliette of the Herbs is a beautifully filmed lyrical portrait of the life and work of Juliette de Bairacli Levy: world renowned herbalist, author, breeder of Afghan hounds, friend of the Gypsies, traveller in search of herbal wisdom and the pioneer of holistic veterinary medicine.

For more than 60 years Juliette has lived with the Gypsies, nomads and peasants of the world, learning the healing arts from these peoples who live close to nature. Juliette's well-loved and now classic herbals for animals and for children have been a vital inspiration for the present day herbal renaissance and holistic animal care community. Now 85 years of age, Juliette's extraordinary life story is as colourful and as exciting as her tremendous wealth of herbal knowledge.

Filmed on location with Juliette and her Afghan hound in Greece, Spain, France, Portugal, Switzerland, England and America, and interwoven with Juliette's vast collection of archival photographs, together with scenes of Gypsies dancing and Bedouins with their herds, Juliette of the Herbs is an inspiring portrait of a remarkable healer.

Two books available from Amazon UK that look especially interesting to me (but there are a number of others too):

More Beer

This will be uncannily like another post I did before - Beer.

Finally got around to making up a basic (mostly add water and stir) beer kit we purchased before Christmas at Cervezas del Mundo. Unfortunately, I have to report that this is the second time we´ve had to wait a while before the requested merchandize was available, and then wait another while for them to actually ship it. And this from a suburb of Madrid - you could drive there in about 20 minutes. I don´t believe they have a retail outlet, or that´s exactly what I´d do

Sterilizing

Heating the malt extract

Stirring

Cooling and more Stirring

Fermenting

Unfortunately, no bubbling yet. I think the bedroom closet may be a little cool - but we will be patient.

AND we´ve got a sack of Bavarian Pilsner for another 23 litres!

More Spanish Beer Making:

Cerberus
Origen - articulo