Back to Scotland

We arrived with the rain and we left with the rain.  On the last morning we woke up in Locoe land and although we were planning to water the plants, we soon realised that the sky was covered with clouds and soon after the coffee it started raining quite heavily. We prepared the food for the dogs and waited for my brother to turn up to give us a lift back to town and have lunch together before leaving for the airport.

The experience of three months working the land was as we expected. Busy, unpredictable at times and with many surprises, which includes the amount of rain we had from  the very beginning . Water in Sardinia is like gold, and the blue gold is certainly more precious than the  metal one.  Everyone was happy to see  it raining so often and so much. The water reserves are full and will last hopefully for a long time.

All is growing well

The main visible benefit of this monsoon type of situation is in the green grass around the hills, which is unusual at this time of the year. In fact, the forestry rangers have issued a delay in forbidding the start of fires in the countryside. Normally at the beginning of May no one is allowed to make any fires to burn excesses of garden cuttings. But as it has been raining so much and the grass is still reasonably green in many places, gardeners and people working in the countryside are now allowed to burn stuff till the end of the month.

Another good crop of olives?

                                        Goji berries fruit all ready to be picked

Lot of pears this year...

The other visible benefit is the health of the plants and the abundance of fruit. The vineyard are smiling and this year we should have a very good crop of grapes. We have lots of pears, apples, peaches and figs, plus more other types although not in such abundance. Everything can change as the weather is now really crazy and we are hoping that nothing strange will happen between now and end of September

....and quince

...and figs

...and peaches

We had a few problems with the house roof, and it is not fixed fully yet but next time round we will be making a bigger repair. Most of the vegetables we planted will be harvested in the next two  months, but  in September we will enjoy many of them. Having plentiful of water at our disposal allows you to plant more, but we already discovered that planting too many crops in different areas makes the watering more complicated and it takes a long time. The other thing is that you will get too many types of vegetables at one time and there is no way you can consume them. My brother thinks that is better to plant more rather than less. “ some for the table; some for the freezer and some for the friends and neighbours”. He must be right.

Our vines after grass was cut

grapes developing

Our  neighbours in Locoe  have been very friendly and often on the way back home they stop at our place to have a chat. They come to Locoe on a daily basis,   but go back to their village at lunch time or late in the afternoon. None of them sleeps there.

It is inspiring to see these people, most of them over 80 working hard every day and keeping fit without  going to the gym. But, it was also very inspiring seeing the two young girls looking after the family sheep from early morning to late evenings. Such a commitment is not easy to contemplate. I have to admit that I owe them some respect for what they do and it also makes me be more positive about the future. And thanks for their incredibly tasty fresh ricotta and cheese.

Good producers of cheese and ricotta...

The countryside needs to be repopulated and worked if is to survive the aggression of modern farming. It is especially important for the preservation of the biodiversity and the survival of the local seeds. If we rely on big-scale farming producing food for everyone, then they will feed us with what is more convenient for them to produce and we have no control over they way they produce it.

pomegranate tree

How to get back people to the land is a matter of restructuring society, at least in places where land is still owned by individuals and families. City people I am afraid have to rely on others to be fed. But, they do not have to eat rubbish. Incentives to young people to work the land and produce what the nation needs is the easiest way, but if we change the way we look at people going to retirement and let them go earlier as fifty, these people can then work the land ( if they wish), produce and keep healthy. There is nothing to be afraid of new ideas and if we cannot get away from the status quo then we are trapped by our own mental laziness and lack of initiative.

As for the impact on the planet it is now clear that growing your own food  helps to reduce the “bad“ emissions…especially if food is produced without pesticides and other chemicals. Plus eating local avoids the crazy travel of thousands of miles for food which actually does not belong to the local diet. And the exercise involved in cultivating the land has health benefits for the body and mind.

In September we will be collecting the ripe almonds (good crop this year). Our almond trees do not need to be watered as they do in California for the production of almond milk and drinks which is creating many problems in a place where water is also very scarce. Then we will be harvesting the grapes to make the wine. Later at the beginning of October we will start preparing  the ground for the olive harvest. For the vegetable garden there will be more winter planting and possibly experimenting  with new crops.

see you then...

Until then we will try to make the best of the time here in Scotland which so far has reserved for us the best weather we could  imagine.