Ho già raccontato di Peppino in un post precedente.
Qualche giorno fa viene a trovarmi e mi dice che un suo amico ha una costa piena di spini da ripulire. Gli ha chiesto di portare le sue pecore per svolgere il lavoro. Il buon Peppino suggerisce invece all'amico Geppe di impiegare le mie capre, perchè il "broc" ovvero la crescita del giovane bosco che sta crescendo là è roba per capre e non pecore, ed io sono a due passi, mentre le sue pecore sono in fondo alla via Canale, a 4km di distanza.
Guardo Peppino un po' interdetto: "Cosa mi frega di portarle a ripulire la boscaglia del Geppe, qui ci sono ettari di bosco in tutte le direzioni, non mi serve". Peppino mi dice di seguirlo e non preoccuparmi, che visto il posto capirò.
"Tu digli sempre di sì e stai zitto, lascia parlare me che quello è originale", mi ordina. Va bene, mi dico, non posso contraddirlo, andiamo a vedere.
Sono due o trecento metri di distanza da me, due passi. Passiamo per il bosco, una radura, poi un prato si apre davanti. Recintato, sarà un ettaro e mezzo. E in fondo c'è una bella baracchina in cui ripararsi quando piove. Ci sono due vasche da bagno, per l'acqua.
Il recinto necessita di qualche riparazione, ma tutto sommato è ancora passabile. Geppe ci teneva 50 pecore. "Stai zitto che te lo faccio prendere", mi dice Peppino.
In effetti il Geppe è ragionevole e amichevole, e in cinque minuti ci si accorda sull'uso che potrò fare del suo recinto, in pratica e' come fosse mio eccetto in settembre quando lui e il fratello sparano dal capanno, allora sara' meglio non tenerci le mie bestiole. Poi dovrò anche sfalciare il pezzo di prato e la piana. Caspita, penso, questo ha un sacco di posto a due passi da me e non se ne fa nulla, ed è disposto ad affidarmelo.
Dopo quelli che mi hanno appena affibbiato alle Piazze, eccone un altro.
Da qui è partita una riflessione su quello che (mi) sta succedendo in Canale: indipendentemente dalla proprietà dei terreni, essi vengono coltivati da chi può farlo, chi ne ha voglia, con o senza attrezzature. Quelle le mette chi le ha, io taglio, lui imballa, l'altro volta, il proprietario... boh. Tutto è a prestito. Nulla e' registrato, e' tutto sulla parola. E i lavori vengono assegnati su basi fiduciarie.
Fermi tutti.
La terra, qui, va a chi la lavora. Orpo! Roba zapatista, mi ricorda quando da bambino guardavo i film spaghetti western e in uno sulla rivoluzione messicana, sentii quello slogan, "la terra è di chi la lavora", una frase, un concetto rivoluzionario e socialista che m'è rimasto in testa fino ad oggi e che sicuramente mi ha influenzato!
E ce n'è ancora! Ci sono l'autorganizzazione del lavoro e la redistribuzione dei terreni, assegnati ancora sulla fiducia, da ciascuno secondo le proprie disponibilità, a ciascuno secondo le proprie necessità. Altro slogan, e anche questo è socialismo, anarcosocialismo. E non solo i terreni, adesso m'e' arrivato un fienile e una stalla, grossi, saranno 3-400mq di roba che posso usare cosi', se mi serve, finche' mi serve. Incredibile!
C'è, in Canal, addirittura l'isolamento sociale dei soggetti indesiderati (ladri). La comunità stessa che supera la necessità delle pene e della coercizione punitiva. Orpo. Ancora anarchia, ancora socialismo. Difatti, a Provaglio non ci sono forze dell'ordine.
Incredibile.
Socialismo reale a Provaglio Valsabbia. Anarchia.
Tutto vero e funzionante, davanti ai miei occhi, sotto al mio naso. In pieno occidente capitalista, Italia, 2012.
E per poco, quasi quasi, se non stavo attento, non me ne accorgevo.
C'è speranza per il mondo.
Allegria!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Make hay while the sun shines
What our animals eat is at the very foundation of our project -- it needs to be healthy, clean, sustainable, organic. And when they eat well, well then so do we! The quality of the goats' hay has a huge impact on both the quality and quantity of their milk production. So, of course, we can't just go to the farm shop and buy their hay-- round here the good hay is kept for the hay-makers animals, and only the crappy hay makes it to market. So its another thing that we have to learn how to make ourselves, and one that I had completely overlooked in our planning stages.
Making hay looks so easy, but there is a whole science around what types of plants to cultivate in the hay fields, when to cut them, and so on. And making hay in mountain fields is a far cry from the nice flat john deered hay fields you see lining the edges of the motorways. In the sloping and irregular mountain fields, the hay can only be cut and worked with small machines and hand tools. Only a push mower can get into the cracks and go up the slopes. The steeper slopes have to be hand cut with a scythe and hand turned with a rake.
To make hay you must 1) cut the right grass at the right time 2) turn it as it dries in the sun, so it dries nicely without losing its nutrients and 3) bale it up into manageable sized bales. 4)Gather and store it appropriately so it lasts through the winter. It really does sound easy...
The baling is entirely reliant on technology -- if the baler works then its OK, if it fails then woe woe woe! Yes, our baler has been a bit uppity, but that is completely another story -- that will be the next post i think! The last time around, it took Gab 4 or was it 5 days to bale all the hay, because of baler failure. Under normal circumstances, it would take about 1-2 days.
And last but not least, heave ho over 100 x 40kg baby bales into the pick up which fits about 12 at a time, truck them up to the hay barn (which we don't have yet, so they are in a gazebo for the moment!), unload them and go back for more. Repeat until the circa 125 bales are loaded and put away. A job that gets done one trip a day over the course of 10 days or more.
So how much frickin' work is that??? Holy smokes! 2 days plus 2 days plus 2-4 days plus 1-2 days...7-10 days work. OK, we can handle that (well, Gab can...I'm right glad that's his job and he's happy with it!!), and just one cutting is enough for our animals, and the other cuttings throughout the year we can sell at a pretty good price.
EXCEPT that if it rains during the process, just once is enough, then ALL the hay is ruined. It can only be used for animal bedding or compost. And the rotten thing is, even though you know the hay is worthless on the ground, you still have to turn it, bale it, pick it up, otherwise the field beneath will be ruined and you can't make more hay next time. That's what happened this June -- 11 days of work for crappy worthless mouldy hay because it rained at just the wrong time, contrary to all the weather predictions. Aaaaaaaaaaargh! That is such a classic farmer's frustration. Days and days and days of work, all up the spout because of a glitch in the weather. And you don't want to know what 11 days of neglect does to a big veggie garden...
So, my dears, it really is as they say...MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES! Or Else!
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| The mountain tractor, finished cutting |
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| Field of hay waiting to be baled |
Our hayfields are all in the mountains around us, so have to be cut with Gab's hand pushed tractor. It takes gab about 2 days just to cut the hay in the fields that have been entrusted to him (we cut our neighbours hay, they don't need it but it needs to be done so it works out for everyone). For the turning, there is a turning attachment on the same hand pushed tractor. It takes another full day to turn and dry if there is full hot sun. If its cloudy or dewy from too cool evenings, it can take two turnings and thus two days.
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| ahhh, lovely finished bales waiting pick up |
And last but not least, heave ho over 100 x 40kg baby bales into the pick up which fits about 12 at a time, truck them up to the hay barn (which we don't have yet, so they are in a gazebo for the moment!), unload them and go back for more. Repeat until the circa 125 bales are loaded and put away. A job that gets done one trip a day over the course of 10 days or more.
So how much frickin' work is that??? Holy smokes! 2 days plus 2 days plus 2-4 days plus 1-2 days...7-10 days work. OK, we can handle that (well, Gab can...I'm right glad that's his job and he's happy with it!!), and just one cutting is enough for our animals, and the other cuttings throughout the year we can sell at a pretty good price.
EXCEPT that if it rains during the process, just once is enough, then ALL the hay is ruined. It can only be used for animal bedding or compost. And the rotten thing is, even though you know the hay is worthless on the ground, you still have to turn it, bale it, pick it up, otherwise the field beneath will be ruined and you can't make more hay next time. That's what happened this June -- 11 days of work for crappy worthless mouldy hay because it rained at just the wrong time, contrary to all the weather predictions. Aaaaaaaaaaargh! That is such a classic farmer's frustration. Days and days and days of work, all up the spout because of a glitch in the weather. And you don't want to know what 11 days of neglect does to a big veggie garden...
So, my dears, it really is as they say...MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES! Or Else!
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| Mia takes a hay bath with zia Sabri |
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Breaking Bee Records
It would be awesome if our bees were breaking honey production records, or quality records, or other such positive and exciting things that the title may have led you to believe...but alas, the bee record that i broke last week was the "most stings recorded in a single attack".
That's the kind of record I'm not so anxious to break again!
It was my first time out to actually actively help with the bees. Both Gab and i were fully suited and booted -- full body suit, mask tucked in, gloves, boots, the works. We were aiming to catch a really big swarm that had got away that morning and was settling into a high branch on a cherry tree.
We didn't want to cut the branch off, because it is a major part of the cherry's production. But it was too high to just grab and pull down. So we improvised...Gab had me hold the hive on top of my head, and he climbed up the tree to shake the swarm off the branch and into the hive...yes, the one on top of my head. Gosh, that really does sound stupid, now that its all written out in black and white, doesn't it? But at the time it made perfect sense. Swarms are docile when they are swarming, and Gab had done may similar such manoeuvers with other swarms.
Only thing is, he wasn't perfectly aligned when he shook the branch...and the swarm MISSED the hive and went THUMP all the way to the ground right beside me. And swarming or not, no bee is docile when its been thumped to the ground like that! Let alone about 10.000 bees thumped to the ground all at once.
I got 23 stings that made it through all the protections, and the suit was full of stingers that didn't make it through, more than a hundred stingers in the suit all over. Actually, i was most surprised at the fact that the stings don't really hurt that much -- maybe because they were through the suit, and therefore not as much venom got through. The worst was the itch two days later!
Anyway, its all good -- bee venom is very good for you...in small doses!! And Gab caught the swarm the next day all by himself, using a ladder to hold the hive instead of his wife's head. Much safer that way!
We're well into summer now, so lots is happening and there's no time to write about it, but in the next few days i'm planning to write a number of smaller posts trying to catch up on everything overall...thanks to Kaitlyn for the nagging, otherwise i'd just get carried away in the day to day and forget completely to blog it!
That's the kind of record I'm not so anxious to break again!
It was my first time out to actually actively help with the bees. Both Gab and i were fully suited and booted -- full body suit, mask tucked in, gloves, boots, the works. We were aiming to catch a really big swarm that had got away that morning and was settling into a high branch on a cherry tree.
We didn't want to cut the branch off, because it is a major part of the cherry's production. But it was too high to just grab and pull down. So we improvised...Gab had me hold the hive on top of my head, and he climbed up the tree to shake the swarm off the branch and into the hive...yes, the one on top of my head. Gosh, that really does sound stupid, now that its all written out in black and white, doesn't it? But at the time it made perfect sense. Swarms are docile when they are swarming, and Gab had done may similar such manoeuvers with other swarms.
Only thing is, he wasn't perfectly aligned when he shook the branch...and the swarm MISSED the hive and went THUMP all the way to the ground right beside me. And swarming or not, no bee is docile when its been thumped to the ground like that! Let alone about 10.000 bees thumped to the ground all at once.
I got 23 stings that made it through all the protections, and the suit was full of stingers that didn't make it through, more than a hundred stingers in the suit all over. Actually, i was most surprised at the fact that the stings don't really hurt that much -- maybe because they were through the suit, and therefore not as much venom got through. The worst was the itch two days later!
Anyway, its all good -- bee venom is very good for you...in small doses!! And Gab caught the swarm the next day all by himself, using a ladder to hold the hive instead of his wife's head. Much safer that way!
We're well into summer now, so lots is happening and there's no time to write about it, but in the next few days i'm planning to write a number of smaller posts trying to catch up on everything overall...thanks to Kaitlyn for the nagging, otherwise i'd just get carried away in the day to day and forget completely to blog it!
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