What I Did Last Summer...

What a summer...do you really want to know what happened?  Really???  Really Really????

OK, I'll tell you then.  SUMMER FROM HELL.  No, really!  Really really!!  All possible things that could go wrong went wrong.  We were put through the real-life trials and tests that come with choosing a dream that is not easy in real-life.  We faced a number of realities that we knew were coming, and a few that were surprises, but did we quit?  NO!  We have changed some alignments, re-adjusted some expectations, and all is full steam ahead.  Well, full steam in a holding circle until the damn house gets sold, anyway.

Last I posted I was whining about all the lost hay.  10 days of work for wet rotten hay.  (which is good as litter for the animals, so not wasted, and litter costs more than hay anyway, so there...there's always a bright side!|).  What i didn't mention, was that in those 10 days, the vegetable garden was completely neglected, cause Gab was doing hay and I was stuck in Salò with the kids and school and such.  Just 10 days of glorious weather, then 5 days of rain,  in the beginning of June was enough to completely jungle-ify the early veg -- the peas and beans were completely lost to weeds...no, really, completely.  We had chenopodium (so delicious when small, so completely invasive when allowed to grow) over 4 feet tall, the beds completely infested and we couldn't find the poor beans in the jungle.  So we decided to just plough it over and give up on the beans for this year.

That's not so bad, anyway, because the three sisters (corn, zukes/pumpkins, green beans) were just glorious, absolutely booming and tons of them.  So we were consoled...but not for long.

In early July, we lost a goat.  Ernestina got herself tangled up in the electric fence and couldn't get free.  Wouldn't be a problem if we were around, but it was Raffi's birthday party, so we were gone for the day.  That was a hard hard blow, and it had consequences.

Gab didn't trust the fence anymore, and wouldn't turn it on for fear another goat would be hurt or killed.  It didn't take long for the goats to figure out that the fence was no longer a hindrance to them, and within a day or two they started escaping regularly.  First once, then twice...then three to four times every single day.

what corn looks like after a goat attack

Goats really like corn.  The corn is right on the other side of their fence.  The corn didn't last long, and as soon as it was gone, they started on the zucchinis and beans underneath.  Once again, we were consoled..."at least they don't seem to like Solanaceas, and the they are leaving the (glorious, healthy, strong) tomatoes, peppers, eggplants alone."

Weeeellll...they don't like solanaceas as much as they like corn and zucchini.  But as soon as the corn and zucchini was finished...well, tomatoes will do in a pinch.  Yes, when I saw the destroyed tomatoes, I have to admit, I broke down and cried.  But it wasn't finished yet.

Once a few hundred metres of glorious corn

Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants gone...they moved on to the onions and garlic.  Ever smelled onion-garlic goat farts?  You don't want to go there, believe me!

The simple answer would be to just fix the fencing, but its not so easy. The electric mesh is too big for small newling goats (though OK for adults), but we can't put fixed fencing because we don't have planning permission, and its also the middle of summer and the woods are hard to clear and fence in when all is growing.  And on top of that, fencing is a huge job and Gab is completely demoralised and distracted.  It will take ordering different mesh, for chickens, which has to be ordered and shipped because its so uncommon, taking about a million years to arrive, AND it costs a fortune.  We could have tried to fence off just the garden, leaving them free to roam everywhere else, but then they would escape to the neighbours' gardens, and that would have far worse consequences than just our own losses.  anyway, it wasn't an easy fix!

mmmmm onions and garlic!

So here we are in August, and we haven't managed to harvest a single thing.  Its not just the goats either, the fox got 8 chickens, someone stole the turkey cock, and the crows got almost ALL the baby chicks because we let them out of their safety pen too soon.

What to do?  Keep on trying of course.  I started to plant the winter cabbages, put down a bed of brussels, and they didn't even last out the day.  Holy Moly, do goats LIKE cabbages.

That same day, I met a friend of Gab's who also keeps goats, and told her about the brussels etc, and she told me there is a proverb in italian, much like having your cake and eating it too, that says "si salva capra o cavolo" -- "you can save either the goat or the cabbage, but not both".  ooooo, thems be fightin' words i say.  And so I went straight home and individually fenced off just the cabbage section, and if any stupid greedy goats wants to risk their life to eat my cabbages, well fine!  We'll make goat sausages.  SO THERE. HAH!  (goat sausage is sooooo yum!) And the cabbages are still doing beautifully, we will be able to start picking them soon, hoooooraaaah!!

Yes, we ate all the fruit too...

Add to all this turmoil 6 people living in 600sqf for three months straight of average 35 degrees sweltering hot sun.  Add to that the blocked septic system for about 3 weeks (eeeew).  And you have a recipe for a lot of tension and stress, a lot of doubt and anxiety.  We had to do a lot of work on our relationship, on our plans, on our dreams and our expectations too.

But we've come out on top of things, and ready to do things one step at a time, rolling with the punches as it were.

I just look naughty, don't I?

And is ALWAYS the case, out of difficulties comes growth and new ideas and always something positive.  We are more together, more dedicated, and also more relaxed about the whole enterprise.  Whereas before this summer, we were frustrated, pushing and pushing but not getting anywhere, now we will take it as it comes, and are working from rooted strength rather than just blind enthusiasm.  Until we sell the house, we can't do anything more than that, so one step at a time!

Another super bonus...in the absence of our own harvest, I focussed so much more on what was free, wild, abundant and already there in nature.  We still have a freezer full of food and a pantry full of jams and preserves, just made out of wild food instead of cultivated.  I made elderberry jams and elderflower syrup, have dried elderberries for putting in muffins and breads and such.  I have racks of jam from cherry dogwood fruits, wild plums and damsons, wild strawberries, blackberries.  Wild mint and achillea teas, nettles in freezer, and so on.

And from this comes an awesome new idea -- I reckon there's a high end market for jams and preserves made from wild fruit.  I'll call it "wild thing" and sell it for gobs of money in fancy restaurants and boutiques to well heeled city folk who want "more than organic".  Quantities are limited, obviously, and the product absolutely fantastically delicious, as well unusual.  Combine rare, unique, and delicious, and I think we may find a way to make this project actually even make some profit for us.

We did have one grand triumph, though -- it wasn't ALL disaster.  The bees did their job, and we harvested over 100kg of the best wild mountain honey you have ever imagined.  Mind blowingly delicious!  Oh, and the goats can't dig up potatoes, so lots of potatoes too!

Now that autumn is upon us, Gab has spent a month clearing paths in the forest for fencing, building up the fixed fencing and gates around the stable and paddock (and planning permission be damned...don't tell any park authorities though!) and installing the new smaller mesh electric fence all around.  They now have a great big piece of land to browse and munch in peace, without threatening anybody's gardens.

And so we get back into the swing of things!  The bucks arrived yesterday, and soon we will have a stable full of pregnant goats.  Soon I'll go up and get some pictures, and that will be my next post...in a few days, rather than a few months!!

Ottimismo e anarcosocialismo reale a Provaglio Valsabbia

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!

Le gratificazioni dell'Homo Agricolus - grazie per la fiducia accordata

Alcuni esercizi commerciali scrivono sui sacchetti "grazie per la fiducia accordata". Ipocriti. A loro interessa il mio acquisto, con la mia fiducia non si pagano i fornitori. 

C'è un pastore, in fondo alla via, si chiama Peppino ed ha 50 pecore.
Il Peppino da sempre alleva vacche, pecore e capre e sfalcia e vende fieno che taglia nei suoi tanti prati col trattore e la falciatrice, un lavoro pesante malgrado l'età vada ormai verso gli ottanta.
Sempre per non perdere l'abitudine e tenersi in forma, fa pure il boscaiolo, davanti a casa sua ci sono enormi cataste di legna da tagliare, spaccare, impilare, caricare sul trattore e consegnare.
Col sole, la pioggia, con la neve. Lui è sempre fuori con le sue pecore e suoi cani.
Peppino è una persona per bene, è rispettato e sa farsi rispettare, il suo giudizio su un animale -o su una persona- è pesante, a Sabbio Sopra, quanto quello di una corte di giustizia. Suoi, o dei suoi discendenti e familiari, sono parte dei prati lungo il Canale e nelle Piazze. Li sfalcia lui, anche quelli non di sua proprietà.
Peppino è una persona dalla battuta pronta, il suo sarcasmo è tagliente, anche caustico, ma ogni volta divertente. Sa farsi ascoltare anche quando è irriverente. E' uno giusto.

Certo che lo stimo. E gli porto uno scherzoso, ma sinceramente ossequioso rispetto.

Da quando lavoro in Canale si fa vedere regolarmente, mi studia, chiede cosa faccio, commenta le mie tecniche e lavorazioni che, apprese per lo più sui libri, spesso si discostano dal modo di lavorare che lui conosce meglio, quello tradizionale del posto. Mi piace confrontare con lui pregi e difetti dei vari sistemi e, per rispetto alla conoscenza tradizionale e per uno strano senso del dovere, chiedo, mi informo, mi sforzo di imparare tutto quello che può e vuole insegnare, sulla sfalciatura del fieno, il bosco, le erbe e le piante buone e quelle cattive, l'allevamento, i cani, il pascolo.
Cerco di assorbire il più possibile e ne nascono spesso discussioni stimolanti, anche perchè nonostante l'età si dimostra tutt'altro che scettico o chiuso verso le mie stranezze. Spesso mi loda, e mi piace sorprenderlo con prodotti "esotici" che non conosce. I Topinambur gli sono piaciuti al punto che se ne è fatti dare qualche manciata da piantare questa primavera. La moglie ne va matta, mi dice.

Qualche tempo fa, dopo avermi visitato e ispezionato puntigliosamente le capre, facendomi i complimenti per la scelta, mi giunge voce dal paese che il Peppino dice "in giro" che le mie capre sono tra le più belle che ha mai visto e che, a tenerle bene come le sto tenendo, "le farà bel fes", ovvero mi daranno soddisfazioni. Orbene, mi sono detto, la prima grande soddisfazione me l'ha data proprio lui, la sua approvazione -pubblica, per di più- conta per me più della medaglia alla fiera nazionale. E mi verrebbe da dire che le lodi da sperticare sarebbero quelle degli allevatori che le hanno selezionate e tirate grandi a sufficienza per portarle da me. Ma tant'è, il riconoscimento, almeno per il lavoro che sto facendo, è arrivato e me lo prendo con gusto.

Prima gratificazione.

Seconda: lo scorso anno, mentre sfalcio un prato vicino ai suoi, mi dice che forse per l'anno prossimo mi lascia tagliare uno dei suoi pezzi, visto che mi serve il fieno e visto che sta diventando faticoso per lui da fare con la falciatrice, lui preferirebbe fare solo i pezzi col trattore. Mi sono detto, ad avere la sua grinta, mi aspettano almeno 40 anni di sfalciature in piedi con la BCS. Non so se sarò in grado di trovare una potenza così in me, ci proverò. Se non altro per sfida. Se ci riesce lui, diamine, devo farcela anche io. Tanto non è serio, mi dicevo, figuriamoci se me lo affida davvero. Sta scherzando come al solito, mi provoca per vedere la reazione. Ovviamente accetto con finto entusiasmo. Non posso mica dirgli di no.
Passa un anno e si ricomincia con il fieno, mi ferma mentre passo e mi molla la bomba, "dobbiamo andare alle Piazze che ti mostro i confini".
Ostia.
Era tutto vero.
Andiamo.

Sono emozionato, mi rendo conto che lui, l'ultimo pastore di Sabbio Sopra, l'autorità morale ed etica più alta del Canale, ha chiesto a me, io povero cretino appena arrivato, di sfalciare i suoi prati.
Poteva darli a chiunque, ci sono una mezza dozzina di agricoltori e allevatori che ne hanno bisogno nei paraggi, mica solo io. No, tocca a me. Forse, mi dico, mi vuole solo mettere alla prova. Il prato è molto grande, di certo avrò più fieno di quello che mi serve, ne avrò da vendere.
Eppure non ero il solo ad essere emozionato, credo che anche lui avvertisse un po' la solennità del momento, si comportava stranamente.
Non lo avevo mai visto così severo, serio e preciso. Mi impartiva gli ordini di lavorazione come un caporale con le reclute, "si parte di qua, si volta di là, si infila da questa parte, non farlo là" e via così. Nemmeno una battuta, niente. Finito il giro, si fa riportare a casa e sparisce dentro, niente ciao.

Avere in carico il prato del Peppino è più che un lavoro, è un onore. Una gratificazione personale importante perchè materializza una fiducia data, la fiducia che qualcosa, tra quello che passiamo la vita a fare, grazie a qualcuno prosegue alla faccia dello spettro dell'abbandono, visibile ovunque, nelle terre, nei mestieri, nelle parole. E quel qualcuno sono io. Segare il suo prato è una medaglia che porto sul petto quando incrocio gli altri contadini che sfalciano attorno. C'è scritto "ci sono".

Tutta questa fiducia è inattesa e forse immeritata, certamente sono inadeguato allo scopo, o almeno così mi sento. Non ho nemmeno il posto per tenere via tutto questo fieno. E non va bene per le mie caprette, l'ho venduto a uno che lo darà ai torelli, per loro è perfetto. Dovrò lavorare come un mulo per due lire. Pazienza, si fa lo stesso. E non basta, perchè una volta fatto tutto il terreno assegnato, "se ne avrai ancora voglia", di prato ce n'è ancora il doppio, il triplo, ce n'è a sufficienza per un medio allevamento.

Sono lusingato, onorato, un po' impaurito dalla mole di lavoro e terrorizzato all'idea di deluderlo.

Domani vado a trovarlo con un salame, una boccia di vino, e glielo dico.

Ci provo, Peppino.
Grazie per la fiducia accordata.

Quick Updates...

I must learn the technique of the super fast blog post...things are going by so quickly, and so much is happening, but everytime I think of posting I imagine all epic discourses I want to expound and I run out of steam before I even begin...I think there must be space in here for a two minute post as well as the 2 hour in depth posts. Better numerous quickies than months of abstinence??

So, anyway, here is my attempt at a quickie and hopefully it will free the way to go into some detailed discussions later on this week...Here's what's happening!!

1) the park authority met us, said "yeah, only a farmer would wear a hat like that, sure you can build there" so we are back on with the projects, though have used the hiatus to make some important changes -- when they are finalised I will post pics!

2) Spring is in full swing, we have new chicks and have started the planting.  The peas are in, the onions are truckin' along, and the beans went in this weekend.  Next week, potatoes.  The bees have awoken and are buzzing around all the flowering fruit trees -- many new ones added over the winter, including 18 new blueberries, lots of peaches, nectarines, apricots, and more pears and apples.

3) WE HAVE OUR GOATS!!  The babies arrived last week and are the cutest of the cute.  They add a whole new dimension to the work load, and Gab is now running a full nursery as well as everything else...warm milk twice a day in bottles to 13 critters...let's just say he gets home pretty late these days!

We are gathering the first harvests of spring, which, quite interestingly, have nothing to do with agriculture and everything to do with mother nature...the wild greens are the first to be edible, long before the farmers' seeds even get in the ground.  There's a whole post coming on the amazing and delicious wild plants that are so so common!

Happy Easter everybody!!

Winter tales -- more new arrivals and other news

Well, its been nearly 3 months since the last post, and as usual, there is loads of news to catch up on.  A new baby in the house has meant a re-arranging of priorities, and the blog has fallen by the wayside a bit, but we seem to be settling in to a routine now, so from now on i will try and get back to the weekly postings! For now, the main news in three handy headlines...

1. More New Arrivals
First of all the news, we have lots more "new arrivals" to welcome to the bigoloni project...

This is Heidi, our new shepherd puppy.  She joined us a month after Ernesto was born, at only 4 weeks old -- so she is more or less the exact same age as 'Nesto!  She's going to learn how to herd our goats when they arrive (they are born now...just need time to be weaned and we should have them by easter!).  But only after she learns how to poop outside...first things first!!  Her momma is an mix australian and german shepherd, and her poppa is australian -- so she's mostly an australian that likes to put some wurst on the barbie every now and then.  She is fitting in nicely with the family, and much loved by all, especially her new best friend...



This is Solus.  She came all the way from Canada and brought her human with her for a grand adventure in italy.  Her human, Stephanie, is helping her take care of our huge brood of mini-humans!  Stephanie is my cousin from Ottawa, and she has come to learn Italian, have an adventure, and help us out with all the craziness in a big family, and I don't know what we'd do without her!!  Its really awesome having her here, for the adult conversation as well as all the help!!

 Also on the new arrivals slot, we have four new geese, two mated pairs, from Angelo.  We are getting loads of goose eggs, and if the damned snow and cold ever ends, we will pop some under a broody hen and get new geese come spring.  Oh!  And speaking of broody hen...just as 'Nesto was being born, we had a surprise hatching of chicks!  Ciuffetta had collected and sat on her own eggs without us even noticing, in all the hubub around 'nesto.  We noticed she was sitting, but didn't think it had been nearly so long and kept planning on taking the eggs away (its too cold for chicks!)...until one morning there's a "cheap cheap cheap" coming from the broody pen.  Surprise!  More Babies!!    And Ciuffetta is such a great momma, the chicks had no problem with the cold and are thriving!

2. Winter on the farm

And in other news, it has been snowing snowing snowing here (Stephanie reckons she is in danger of being deported for illegally importing a Canadian winter...) which is fun when you have a sled...the kids have been enjoying it, the chickens not so much.  Nor the car.  Nor the drivers of the car. 

 Winter work is all the maintenance and care taking, and Gab has been building fences, spreading manure, pruning fruit trees, clearing wood and brambles.  The big job of the winter so far has been building the stable -- with the help of his brother Davide, and his own two hands (and a power tool or two) he's built a wee temporary stable to house the goats when they come this spring.   

3. Troubles in Fratta

I will preface this news item with some adorable pictures of Nesto -- he started smiling right on time at 5 weeks, and starting laughing out loud super early, at 2 months.  He starting rolling half way (from his tummy onto his back) last week, so all progress on the baby front is perfect...

So perhaps that light news sweetens the bitter to come...the house plans were completely utterly and totally rejected by the park authority.   The situation should be resolvable, though, and I will come back with updates when I can!  

New Arrivals!

About 10pm on the 10th of november, the first contractions started -- Ernesto Elia Bigoloni was on his way, and right on schedule for an 11.11.11 birthday. 36 hours later, at 10am on 12.11.11, weighing in at 3.770kg and 51cm long, he was FINALLY born, a few hours off the mark!  We reckon he couldn't bear the thought of being born into a world with Berlusconi still in power, so he waited for the official resignation before coming out! 

What actually happened was...he had the cord wrapped around his neck, not once...not twice...but three times.  We think he kept trying to come down and would be pulled back.  The first 24 hours or so were manageable, intense contractions, but only every 20 or 30 minutes or so.  But the next 8 hours were absolute hell.  He was super active, perhaps trying to wiggle free? and that made the labour excruciating even in between contractions.  Finally I got the epidural and the last 4 hours were significantly easier to handle, though I was exhausted and the dosage was light so still felt pain, but it was do-able -- those faint thoughts of jumping out the window dissolved and Ernesto was finally born!

The midwife was calm, cool, and fast as lightening -- she freed him from the cord and he was rushed to the newborn ward.  He was completely blue, but they had him breathing in no time.  Apart from his breathing, which was laboured and super fast, everything else about him was fine and healthy and perfect.

Now that my ordeal was over, Ernesto's was just beginning -- the laboured breathing was because he breathed lots of liquid into his lungs during the delivery. His lung capacity was reduced as a result, and he had to pant just to get enough oxygen -- that's too much work for a newborn, and could have caused lack of oxygen and thus brain problems if left alone, so they put him in the incubator with a higher concentration of oxygen inside, so he got more oxygen with each breath.  That kept his oxygen level always over 95%, so he's well and safe from future problems, but it meant he had to stay in the incubator until his lungs were dried out and working normally -- that took 3 whole days.

Poor fella -- all alone in a plastic box for 3 days.  After the first day and a half, they let me take him out for a half hour at a time to try and breast feed him, with oxygen tubes in his nose, but he needed way more cuddles than that.  In the meantime, and completely unrelated, he also developed a neonatal infection and had to take antibiotics, so we were stuck in hospital for a full week.  Now he doesn't like to sit alone -- if he's awake, he wants to be held, and if he's asleep and you put him down, he'll usually wake up!  We have lots of catching up to do, and there are LOTS of arms here that want to hold him, so that's not a problem!

We came home finally on friday, a week after the whole thing began.  We were welcomed by a family so happy and excited to have a new member.  Raff is totally enamoured -- the first thing he said when he saw his new brother was "awwww he's so cute! I love him".  He's also constantly telling us that 'nesto is "dadolable" (adorable...).  His most used phrase now about his brother is "can I pat him?"  Better that he sees his brother like a new pet than a rival!!  

Nina and Mia are also thrilled, of course, and are like two surrogate mummies to him.  And of course we are ALL so glad to have Gramma with us -- I don't know what we would have done without her help, both when we were in hospital and now that we're out.

So, what's with the name?  Ernesto is from Ernst, a German name, and it means "strong".  Though in English "earnest" or sincere is not related to the name, it adds to the strength of the name I think -- it connotes strong honest direct will.  He was named after Che Guevara, whom Gab admires greatly and has studied extensively.  I am not such an expert, but must confess I think he was awfully sexy!  Just now, looking up a photo to stick in, I found mention of his complete name, until just now we never knew he had a middle name...anyone have a guess at what was Che's middle name???  RAFAEL!!!  No WAY.

Anyway, we know its a mouth full -- not easy to call a little baby Ernesto.  Its a heavy and important name, noble and courageous, but not so very pretty.  So you can call him by his middle name if you want, Elia.  Or you can call him 'Nesto (that's what we call him) or you can call him Stino (for Ernestino) or Tito (for Ernestito) or even Ernie if it feels good!  You can call him baby boy or coocoocoo...if you listen closely, you'll often hear me call him "Raffi!"...oops...

Major Milestone -- House plans are signed off

For more than a year now, I've been imagining all the possibilities for our new house. I've tried to think of all the little details that will make life easier, all the things I miss from Canadian houses (closets! Mudroom!)  all the things I love about italian houses (cellar, thick cement everything), and gone through about a million different designs, refining and getting better each time around, and finally we have our final drafts.

I gave my original designs to the architect a few months ago, and he made his suggestions and adjustments, put in the necessary things in order to get the permissions through -- and this is not an easy thing because we are building what is considered highly sensitive parkland, so we are very very very restricted in what would be acceptable to build; in fact, we are only allowed to build at all because the area needs non-intensive farmers that will tend the land properly, and there aren't enough of those around these days, so we have special government dispensation to come in and take care.

And so now, finally, about 5kg of paper all organised into the appropriate folders for the appropriate bureaucrats have gone off the appropriate offices, and within 45-60 days we should have all our permissions set and be ready to build...of course, in 60 days it will be winter, and we can't do anything until spring anyway, but still....

So here are the floor plans -- a few essential things I really really wanted include the mudroom --  a place to sit on a bench and put on boots and hats and coats, with its own entrance and outside the mudroom door will be a bench, bootjack, and fountain for cleaning up before coming inside.  Also the easy access from the kitchen to the cellar.  In the original plans, I had a spiral staircase in the kitchen itself, and then i realised that was dumb...I just had to put the kitchen right by the backdoor staircase.  Imagining trying to navigate a spiral staircase with a crate of 30 jars of jam set me straight pretty quick on that.  Gab was smart enough to realise we would need ramp access to the cellar as well because even a regular staircase will be a pain to access with a 70kg wheelbarrow load of potatoes!

I also insisted on a huge dining space, within the kitchen.  Dining room separate from kitchen dining has just always been wasted space for us, but I need dining space big enough for entertaining, and we can have some biiiiiig parties, so the 10 seater table in the kitchen will have another 12 seater attachment that we will put in a "T" across the top when we have parties.  The sitting area in front of a big open kitchen fireplace was also an essential.  Of course, big kitchen space with sit in island, with all the cooking we'll be doing, that's essential.  Windows in the kitchen, lots and lots.  That's something very uncommon here, and in fact I had to fight for it...Gab and the architect will both see the benefit when its finally built!

A bonus that i love but had not even dared to put in the original design is the loft studio space above the dining area.  Because of the strict building restrictions, we can only have a ground floor, can't over 4m height as an average across the whole...however, there is a high ceiling space right across where its widest, and just enough for a loft comes out right in that space.  The loft will look down on the kitchen and the sitting area, and will have a lovely wooden bridge which will cross the entrance hallway, so you will see that when you look up from both the front and back doors.

5 big bedrooms, so everyone has their private space, and there is a very big linen/general walkin closet by the bathroom.  We only have one "main" bathroom because we're a "pee with the door open" kind of family, and always end up using the same bathroom anyway, so all our bestest bathroom resources will go into one single gigantic super wonderful bathroom, and the other two bathrooms will be just small useful things.  Oh, there's a fourth bathroom in the basement, but I don't think we'll be using that much -- its a just in caser...The laundry room, off the small guest bathroom, has a door directly onto the portico, so laundry will go straight from the washer outside onto the line without any carrying anywhere.  

And here are the computer renderings of the house placed into an actual photograph of the land where it will be built.  The hills in the background are on the other side of the river, the house backs onto a steep cliff down to the river, where will put a nice gazebo as a walking / lookout point.

First, below pictures of the front of the house.  Not shown, the barn would be just to your right as you look at the house in this direction. The house will built with antiseismic armoured cement -- the wooden panneling is just an aesthetic finish that the bureaucrat responsible for passing the externals is particularly partial too -- she has already pre-approved our first drafts, so we know she likes this finish. Also, the scan came out a bit too yellow, the colour of the stucco parts is more biscuit than lemon...

And here is a rendering of the house from the side. This is my favourite perspective, and its what we'll see as we come in from the garden and poultry areas.  The top pic you can see the back of the house and the portico, and the bottom pic is full-on side view, and you can see the barn in the background behind the house.

And here is the rendering of the barn -- the top pic is what you see from the house, and the bottom pic is what you see from the road, and the side the animals access from.  The top doors are hay storage and the bottom is the circuit for the goats -- they go in the small door on the right one at a time to be hooked up to the milking machine in the milking room, then exit the milking room in to the main barn area from inside, then exit the barn from the main double doors in the middle.  Not shown, just around the corner where the wooden panneling is, is the big garage and storage area, and on the "short" side of the barn (so the window on the right side of the top picture) will be my mosaic studio and materials storage area.

Now we just have to wait for all the permissions to come back, and we are set to go!  But first there's a baby that needs to be born (first things first, right! Priorities priorities!)...only a few more weeks now before Ernesto Elia joins us, and I am quite ready...he's getting awfully heavy!!

How deep it goes

Ahhh that sweet sweet voice of Anne Wilson, Nancy's tender picking -- there is a reason why this song has been stuck in my head for a few days...

The well guys came with a really really, no really, BIG truck with a super giant drill, and the guy dangled his keys around a bit and said "h-yup, right here".  He estimated we would find water at about 20 meters (60 feet or so). At 100 euros per meter, the quote was for 2grand, and that was OK...


And along comes Drilling Day...20 meters, still pulling up gravel, not even reached bedrock yet...30 meters...the guys have to go back to get more pipes...40 meters...the guys have to get bigger pipes because the gravel keeps caving...50 meters...and finally bedrock.  How much bedrock before we hit the water table?

Not much farther now, says the well guy, for sure for sure.  60 meters...70 meters...80 meters...No water and we quit for the day.

So here we are, 4 times over budget and seriously worried -- what do you do?  Keep going, keep spending for each meter?  How do you stop when so much has already been invested?  But what if there is no water?  What if we don't reach it until 200 or 250 or even 300 meters?  We started talking to folks with wells, and everyone had a horror story -- "oh, my sisters well was 330 meters deep (that's 1000feet -- just the energy to pump the water up from that depth is heart stopping!)".  "My uncle had one that went to 220".  "oh, at my cottage it went to 250"...EEEPS!!

Well, not much to do at this point, so the next day we just kept drilling and drilling.  And HURRAY! We finally hit deep water reservoir at 120 meters -- about 360 feet.  It has a good strong flow too, more than 1400 litres an hour, which is OK, and provides some pressure to get the water up with less energy than I feared.

Still, though -- 6 times what we expected to pay.  If we had any idea it would be that expensive NO WAY would we have dug a well at the little farm -- the running spring is enough, and we could just use that to fill a tank for the few times we will spend the night there.  But hey, now its done, so if ever we do want to live there, or have someone else live there, it will be ready!

So, I've done the calculations -- we use water at the little farm mostly to irrigate the vegetable garden, since we aren't living there, and that takes about 600-1000 litres every other day when its not raining.  At 1 euro per bottle, we could water the garden with Evian for a couple of months for the same price!

HATCHED!!

A couple of weeks ago, the chickens were all moved up to the new chicken house in Provaglio, except for...two hens went broody and stayed behind in Salo sitting on their eggs.  They were sitting together in the same nest on 3 giant goose eggs (from a neighbour) and one teensy tiny egg from the dwarf chicken "Chinesina".  Then we bought 4 new leghorn hens and 4 turkeys (mmmm...thanksgiving!) that went straight up to the little farm and started making themselves comfortable.  Lots of new poultry to keep us entertained!  Then Gab went to the champion breeder of Valdarno chickens and bought 40 eggs, and all they went into the incubator.  And just 3 weeks later...

WE HAVE CHICKS!!! AND THEY ARE SOOOOOO CUTE!!!

On friday, all the eggs in the incubator started hatching! On saturday, the geese and one dwarf chicken egg under the broody hen hatched!  How exciting!!! In spite of a power outage on the incubator for a few hours, we still got about 50% hatch rate, which is great for the first time!  22 little chicks and They are Soooooo Cute!  Here is a video of the valdarno chicks just hours old (under their heat lamp now)... 

And here is a video of the two geese that hatched (the third didn't make it) and Chinesina's little survivor egg...he is just absolutely adorable. Nina's called him "nemo" 'cause he's the lone survivor of a predator attack that took his mom...he's got special dispensation, and won't be destined for the pot any time soon!

The bees arrived too!  5 hives and millions of bees -- Gab kitted up in the beekeepers suit and took 5 colonies of bees and transplanted them from styrofoam boxes into their actual hives, and MAN were they pissed!  But the beekeepers suit worked, and he didn't get a single sting!

But there's bad news too -- within a couple of days, the new turkeys all showed signs of illness.  (I have never seen an uglier creature than a turkey...even the babies are hideous...still, endearing in their grotesquerie)  The stinking nasty brutish industrial battery raising stinking (did i say that already?) farmer sold us sick turkeys.  By the rules of the farmer's market where we bought them, they all should be vaccinated.  Humph, yeah right.  Same stinker sold a "couple", meaning cock and hen, of purebred dwarf chickens to Sabrina...she got them home, and they were a very modern "couple"...two cocks.  Double Humph!  Within two weeks, two of the turkeys were dead, but the other two miraculously survived.  The vet was tres impressed, and now we have 2 quite rugged immune turkeys!

About the same time as the turkeys were dying, we forgot to close the broody house here in salo one night and a weasel got in and killed one of the broody hens.  Nina woke to the ruckus and came to wake us up, and we ran outside and scared him away before he could get them both and the eggs too. We lost the Chinesina, but saved her wee little eggie.

And then, while all this is happening, where is the damn cat?  She up and disappeared. After a week we started to worry it was more than spring wanderings.  Signs up all over the village, but our Calli has disappeared...maybe she's found a nice quiet family that feeds her tuna once a day and is living it large...i hope so!

But back on a good note, we had our first party!  Gramma and Grampa are here from Canada, and we had a picnic on easter monday up at the farm, and it was the best party ever!  Gab built a barbecue out of old pallets and some roofing tiles...who needs to spend hundreds of bucks on a barbecue, humph, not us!  Loads of people came, and we all had a beautiful day, loads of food and a great easter egg hunt.

Winter Work, Spring Work

Its been FOREVER since my last post, so sorry...but I have my excuses...fourth baby is on his way, due 11/11/11 (no, really!), and I've been laid out with first trimester nausea, tiredness, and general blah-ness.  In the 10th week now, and starting to move into the "superwoman" second trimester phase, when i will clean every corner, wash all the windows, iron everybody's underpants, and generally be full of energy and vim and vigour.

So what has been going on in the last two months?

Well, February and early March were full of winter work -- Gab has been up to the little farm every day, working at it full time and the late winter weeks he :

• pruned the fruit trees, 
• planted new ones (add to our inventory another 16 grape vines, 15 hazelnut trees, 2 walnut trees, a pomegranite tree, 6 blueberry bushes, and 6 current bushes, plus sage, rosemary, and rhubarb in the perennial beds), 
• built a super duper mega chicken coop, and a separate little one for chicks, 
• hauled about 6 tonnes of gravel to resurface the driveway and build the foundations for the coop
• fixed and refinished some of the fencing
• Built a support for housing the bee hives whenever they finally get here
• Got the house hooked up to electricity and wired
• did some terraforming around the spring, so we now have a pond for the ducks to play in
• Cleared the wood of brambles and undergrowth and started building terraces along the steep hillside
• chipped all the brambles and prunings to make mulch
• hauled over 11 tons of prime seasoned organic manure (he's special friends with the organic cow farmer who shares his special personal reserve stock with Gab...he gives him the good shit) and spread it around the trees and over the terraces where the veggies will go.

And then the winter broke, and we went straight from winter into summer, with 3 weeks of 30 degree plus sunny weather (the recorded high on the little farm thermometer was 37 degrees -- what is this, Africa? geeze!) we had to get our butts in gear to get the ground plowed and the manure spread in and the rows prepared for the veggie garden.

I did a whole bunch of research and studying and planning and designing for the veggies, so that we would have manageable sections of veggies that were manageable for rotations and also companion planted (planted together with other plants that assist each other -- onions keep away bugs, and are good with almost every other plant.  Nasturtiums act as an Aphid trap, and are great with everything but especially tomatoes.  Beans work well with cabbages, fixing the nitrates that the cabbages eat up.  NOTHING with potatoes...they need to stay all by their lonesome. And turnips love to live under fruit trees, who'd a thunk it!).  So it was beautiful designed and quite complex...and we followed it for the first ten minutes before we got carried away and just started planting everything everywhere! 

And over the course of the next couple of weeks, we kept remembering other things we should have planted, and tilling more new beds...and now we have planted nigh on 500sqm of veggie garden...HOLY SMOKES.  I'm a bit scared of what's going to happen when all those plants start producing...but we'll take it one step at a time and see how it goes.  And excess can go to the local CSAs who have said they want to buy our produce, and if its still too much, well...it will be time to get pigs!  They'll take care of any leftovers, and make really yummy salame out of it too!

So now all the seeds are in, the seedling plants we started indoors are also down, and we are waiting patiently for it to rain.  We've watered a few times from the spring, with a diesel pump that takes the water from the spring and pumps it up to the terraces so we have a hose with running water, but it would be really nice if mother nature would do her part and let it rain already.  Its been about 4-5 weeks without rain, argh!

And on that note, I leave you with "RAIN IS A GOOD THING" -- was one of our favourites in Vancouver (I guess we figured if we kept repeating it, it might feel true...now and with a lovely irony, we really really mean it!!) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VKy69sE4VY

What's better than a farm???

Two Farms!

Yes, two farms!  We have pretty much concluded our exhaustive search of the area we've chosen -- we even knocked on doors and left letters in people's mail boxes "hey, wanna sell this??", and have seen just about everything on offer, and nothing, on its own, was absolutely perfect.

But we have the perfect solution in combining two different properties -- one is ex-parkland where the zoning was changed to allow for only small non-intensive farming just last month, big and beautiful and completely untouched. The other is a small weekend retreat that has been cultivated lovingly for years, and has an orchard that makes my knees go weak. (little farm is the one in all the photos)

The little farm is about 1.5 acres, (6500sqm) and has a tiny little house with a big fireplace in the main room downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs, clean clear spring water creek, a small section of woods on a slope (goat heaven, but not for too many of them!), and mature fruit trees that are just amazing.  The previous owner was a real fruit gardening fanatic, and knew just what to do to make strong healthy trees.  There are pears, apples (4 or 5 different types), plums (about 4 different types), figs, cherries (sour and red), grapes, hazelnuts, walnuts, chestnuts -- there are so many chestnuts that in the fall you couldn't see the ground for all the chestnut casings, you have to plod through them about 3 or 4 deep...wow!  It is on the south facing slope of a beautiful valley just above Sabbio Chiese, about 3km from the town centre and 2.5 from Grandpa Angelo's house and restaurant.

The big farm is 8 acres (about 30,000sqm) about 2km on the other side of town from the little farm (so they are about 5km apart), and the school is an easy 2km bike ride away.  That's, like, closer than the YMCA camp from my house in Dunrobin...easy peasy! Actually, I have visions of taking the kids to school in a cart pulled by a donkey with a straw hat with a flower in it.  Every kid needs a donkey with a hat, don't you think? It backs on to a public park, and most of the land around is owned by the town and restricted against building or development, except for one neighbour who also raises goats and is totally happy that we are coming and we can pasture our herds together, take alternate days off!

The land itself is beautiful.  Mostly flat with some gently sloping areas and a cliff or two dropping down.  A river runs through it, big enough to have a name (Its called the "Reale") and to think seriously about putting in a little water mill, but small enough that most Canadians would call it a "crick" rather than a river.  The water from the river comes straight from Vallio Terme on the mountain above and behind us, a famous spring that sells its water for gobs per bottle (and has a health farm resort based on the spring where a 20 minute massage costs 120 euros. Ack!)  And we get it for free!   With all that running water, we will definitely be farming fish as well as the rest of the usual.

The great thing is that the land is completely empty, a tabularasa that we can use to build our dream precisely to our specifications.  The sucky thing about it is that the land is completely empty, we have to build everything from scratch and there are no plants to inherit, no fruit, no nuts, the ones that take a good 20 years before they start really producing.  But that's OK, cause we have the other farm!  So we have a space that we can use to start off with, big enough for 50 chickens or so, a couple of goats, and all our fruit and veg, but not much else.  Then, in the meantime, we build the homestead exactly as we want it to be, taking into account all of the new research and technology to build something that fully realises the ideas of permaculture. Probably about 2 years until we can move in...

The great thing about having the park nearby is that is brings lots of people around -- we won't have to lug all our cheeses to market on saturdays, because the people will come to us...they will be at the park anyway!  I picture a Salt Spring Island kind of scene, a handpainted sign saying "come get your fresh organic eggs and goat cheeses, just 50m up the road".

And the great thing about the surrounding land being all public is that it is open for use of all residents, unfenced but tended, so we can pasture our goats there and the town council thanks us for helping to keep the undergrowth clear and the land fertile.  The town is also interested in maybe doing some didactic activities with the local schools, teaching about permaculture and local varieties of plants and animals.

Now we are just waiting for the bank to come through with the money, and then we are off and running!  And we just got the news today, the mortgage was approved -- we can get started and get building without selling the house first, woohooo!


Sorry, its been ages since the last post, and we have been very busy -- mostly with regular work, and a long overdue upgrading to new software that took over a month of concentrated work, ugh!  But now that its done, and now that the bank money is here, we will get started in earnest and there will be more regular Blog posts.

There are 15 eggs of uncertain origin in the incubator that should hatch on friday...but I'm not counting!  So friday or saturday i will hopefully have tales to tell of newborn chicks!

Happy new year everyone!!