This is what happens when you try to have a nice pizza party in portugal.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
The Winters of Moses, by way of London
Andy "Memphis" Winters and his daughter, Eloise
Ellie. the 12 year old reader and baker
Von, the "big mama" originally from BarbadosNot pictured: 14 year old Josh, he was off being 14. Very hard work!
We are now at our second WWOOF farm. Stones and Roses at Moses. It is an amazing family relocated from London. They bought an old abandoned farm in the mountains of Portugal at the end of a 6 month road trip across Europe. See their blog: Poop in Europe. They spent the last 3 years rebuilding the houses, terraces, gardens, etc. It is beautiful and they one day hope to make a Yoga Retreat, but for now we are staying in a seperate house on the land and helping with the numerous necessary tasks. So far including: watering, grape-picking, wine-making, making wood chips, pruning olive trees, taking down the garden for fall, cooking, baking, and so much more. They are working towards complete self sufficiency and have some wonderful eco-friendly things happening, such as "dry toilets."
They are really wonderful people and very welcoming. We are having a great time out here!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
redheads can´t donate sperm and other theories
So we are at the first farm in Vila De Paços, Portugal. To be more honest, it is a large back yard full of trees, some vegetables, chickens, dogs, and now a goat. There are many fig and olive trees; the former being delicious when eaten right off the tree, the later being gross. We are generally having an excellent time!
Our WWOOF host is Sam, an Australian expat. An artist his whole life, Sam has only recently entered the world of permaculture, but already fancies himself an expert. In truth, Sam fancies himself an expert on many topics, and these are the source of sometimes amusing and sometimes frustrating dinner conversations. He has informed us of many things that we were completely unaware of before. Did you know, for instance, the US government puts flouride in the water to make Americans docile? Or that it is illegal for redheads to donate sperm in the US? Or that we have "black satellites" capable of taking 3D pictures of your life from space? Be warned though, if you investigate these things too much, you may, like poor Sam, get a stern email from the CIA asking you to stop. There are a plethra of others whch Sheeba has graciously recorded in her journal, so if youd like to hear more, I would be happy to educate you on the evil subversive actions being taken by governments around the world (but mostly the United States).
Our work here has mostly included cutting back blackberry vines and moving/throwing sticks from one pile to another. The first time we did this, we succeeded in making a goat pen. This was actually only decided upon after we had done all the work and Sam came down, looked around, and said, "let´s go get a goat." We also have been clearing out the brambles from around the olive trees so the olive harvest can be done more easily. My legs are the proof that this is in fact a painful and sometimes dangerous task, and I look as if Ive been walking through rooms full of feral cats. That being said the work feels neccessary and is rewarding. This is farming. Its all the crap that you dont want to do but need to do anyways. Plus I got to use a pick axe.
Our WWOOF host is Sam, an Australian expat. An artist his whole life, Sam has only recently entered the world of permaculture, but already fancies himself an expert. In truth, Sam fancies himself an expert on many topics, and these are the source of sometimes amusing and sometimes frustrating dinner conversations. He has informed us of many things that we were completely unaware of before. Did you know, for instance, the US government puts flouride in the water to make Americans docile? Or that it is illegal for redheads to donate sperm in the US? Or that we have "black satellites" capable of taking 3D pictures of your life from space? Be warned though, if you investigate these things too much, you may, like poor Sam, get a stern email from the CIA asking you to stop. There are a plethra of others whch Sheeba has graciously recorded in her journal, so if youd like to hear more, I would be happy to educate you on the evil subversive actions being taken by governments around the world (but mostly the United States).
Our work here has mostly included cutting back blackberry vines and moving/throwing sticks from one pile to another. The first time we did this, we succeeded in making a goat pen. This was actually only decided upon after we had done all the work and Sam came down, looked around, and said, "let´s go get a goat." We also have been clearing out the brambles from around the olive trees so the olive harvest can be done more easily. My legs are the proof that this is in fact a painful and sometimes dangerous task, and I look as if Ive been walking through rooms full of feral cats. That being said the work feels neccessary and is rewarding. This is farming. Its all the crap that you dont want to do but need to do anyways. Plus I got to use a pick axe.
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