growth

stakes

we headed to muro in search of bamboo canes





we'll use them to stake the tomatoes and beans

els cargols

it has rained and rained and rained here. londoners this week have been telling stories of bbq's on roofs, suntan lotion and flip flops, air conditioning and sweaty backs, but here in mallorca it has rained and rained and rained.



as a result, we collected over one kilo ( i weighed them) of snails from the vegetable beds.... cabbages are lacey, and lettuces and cucumbers have disappeared.



now, i have a particular fondness for snails, and don't mind a loosing some leaves to them, but they've plundered our plantings this week. so action is needed....
once gathered tho, what do you do?? a great slimey stamping fest. or a great garlicy feast?

at the tobacconists......

we purchased a 15m of washing line, some wooden clothes pegs, some mosquito repellant, some wire mesh, marta looked at sauce pans whilst i looked at some envelopes.

infestation!!

will washing up liquid be enough to protect our plants?!!

Marta's Vineyard

this is where i spend weekends.
binissalem is a wine growing area in central mallorca
and is home to Marta
my friend on the island ;-)

it's where we are enjoying the good life

busy mornings of digging and plotting and planning
with words of catala weaved into conversations.
[reassuring me that tho' progress is slow that progress is made]

last week we heartily farted into the darkness, having eaten a cabbage [coll] each...making space for much more exciting crops





and today, after two weeks on a new improved watering scheme, we enjoyed a lush abundance of lettuce [lettuga] with shop brought tomatoes [tomatiges], having planted out four melons [sindries i melon] , three courgettes [corbassons] and two cucumber [cogombre] plants.

and then we went to Sa Pobla, to the magical garden of Pero.... surrounded by real farmers, rows upon rows of artichokes, beans and salads... he's been growing since January, more than even the hungriest eyes could eat!







carrots, just babies, plucked from the soil and eaten there and then made us giggle, just as the strawberries caused us to swoon.


lettuce float on a water store:



with shoes heavy with mud (from last nights rain) and bags, light but filled with green goodies we headed homewards.
we'll dig more and with vigour knowing that similar feast are ours for the taking.

with all the giddyness of romance we talk of that plot of land. as we drive along roads, lined with tumbling toolsheds we look dreamily and share the fantasies... of chickens and goats.... orange trees and five different kinds of strawberries.... of picking lettuce leaves as we make lunch..... and the tomatoes we'll dry and chutneys we'll make.

but, on the train homewards, back to the sea. i did wonder. this good life is alluring, and could be enveloping. i already know that a small wallet goes further here... not because things are cheaper, but because when the sea surrounds you, and the skies are bright and warm happiness involves less. requires less.
but..... and did i blush as i think it... or even as i type this... im not sure....
what would my contribution my lasting be? when all is over, and i am dust. is some compost (carefully chopped and thoroughly sifted) and perhaps some gently tended goats be enough?

and it's 4.40am.
i should be asleep

I've recently discovered flock [thanks jenny-bee] and it's set to make blogging so much easier.
and making adding photos a wizz.
hence
the visual catch up of my life much ordinary

Blogged with the Flock Browser

it's been a while

the two hour break in the day is a reality, people break the working day. the shops close, you see people carrying loaves of bread homeward, or ducking into resturants.
so there have been great lunches in palma... three good courses, with wine, water, and bread, for less or more than 10€


spending little and living alone
shopping has not been the activity i anticipated here.
rarely have i wandered through the covered markets
instead, i've begrudgingly head into the supermarket.
reluctantly cooking
uninspired and undemanding dishes
that require few dishes
and less time.



but it's unsustainable... it's not life giving...no source of pleasure

these past weeks i've been spending the weekends at marta's house in binnisalem.
surrounded by vineyards, she's set up a vegetable garden, this is will be the third summer.

so we spend the saturday digging, and shifting compost. and then on sunday mornings head to sa pobla, a small town in the centre of the island, to buy seedlings....today: three varieties of peppers, four types of tomatoes, courgettes, strawberries, some lettuces... which we excitedly hurry home to plant, as we chatter about what we will make come the harvest....... sun-drying tomatoes, making sauces, and chutneys.... all the while we exchange words of catala and english. and make slow sentences. casual statements that become deeply important by the speed of delivery


anyhoo.
i'm back.

food is good
it feeds the soul

groceries i didnt purchase: 6

snickers anyone?

just for supper?

spotted this nun for the second time this week, fishing off my jetty.

freshly dug

helen and ben prepared a delicious summery meal on wednesday. which included new potatoes dug up just a a few hours earlier. splendid. I learnt a new word. chitting. which means to keep in a dark, dry place until tiny shoots appear, then move to a cool light place. This process, known as 'chitting', encourages strong and sturdy sprouts. so there you go.

i dont recomend this.

ok.
so i gotta try and figure out how to buy food for ten days at a time
and not end up with some dodgy combinations at the end.
rather than throw stuff away I've just eaten a truly terrible risotto.

aubergine and squash.

sweet and sludgy
nasty nasty

im sure i could have done so much better.