Estancia Salvacion: Harvest Time!

Fall has arrived. The air is significantly crisp and fresh, and we have gone from sleeping with fans and airconditioners going non-stop to adding heavy blankets to our bedding. Apparently the unusually warm weather Montreal was experiencing last week is being off-set by the unusually cold weather we are experiencing here in Formosa, Argentina. Thanks for the equilibrium Mother Nature.

Either way, I am happy that it is fall because fall means harvesting! Though I am not working with fruits and vegetables, there is still plenty to forage and collect at Salvacion to satisfy my eager taste buds.

Pomelos

Pomelo fruit trees can be found in a number of locations around the estancia. One of these locations is at the corral at El Chinchorro. Yesterday we spent the morning working there branding and marking calves, and enjoying some pomelos. The fruit when ripe has a pale green to yellow colour, and has a yellow-white flesh. It is apparently the largest citrus fruit in existence, and tastes similar to a sweet grapefruit. I love the tangy taste of citrus fruit, and so I spent much of the morning carving pomelos with Diego's knife. (I tried not to think of what the knife was last used for as I cut the fruit open.)

Once the work was done, the gauchos enjoyed some pomelos as well. However, then consumer theirs very differently that I. I ate the flesh of the fruit, carefully peeling away the white portions. The gauchos cut away the rind leaving part of the very thick rind pith to use as a cup. They cut a hole in the top of the now maleable fruit, then squeezed the contents juicing the insides to then drink without getting their hands all sticky. Though a much quicker and cleaner approach than mine, I still prefer the sensation of having the little juice membranes of the citrus fruit explode in my mouth.


Wild Honey

When Diego and I arrived at one of the water retention stations to pick up a worker that needed a lift to Isla Negra, we were surprised to see that while the water was being pumped from the reservoir pond to the holding tank, the men were sifting honey!

The two men had found a big hive in one of the nearby trees and smoked out the bees. By the time we arrived, they had the liquid honey and some of the hive matter in a large tarp which they were pouring through an old nylon sack. The sack was then squeezed tightly to separate as much of the liquid honey from the solid matter as possible, before discarding the solid hive remnants on the side. The honey was dark and cloudy but so so sweet. I was very impressed with the find as well as the lack of bee stings on the men who had successfully nabbed the bees hard work. That's called experience.

Armadillo - or Tatu - Hunting

Here's the story. I was accompanying Marcelo, Capitas of Isla Negra, and Diego, vet, observe some of the herds out in the field by horseback two days ago. When we were already on our way back, the dog that followed us for the entire journey got a scent of an animal. Marcelo and the dog started to work together to catch the critter trying to evade their grasp. Diego says to me, "Want to see a Tatu?" Not knowing what a tatu was, I said sure.

Before I knew what was happening, super sexy gaucho man, Marcelo, jumps from his horse, catches the Tatu with his bare hands, and the help of his dog, raises it for our observation, then stabs it in the throaght with his machete. The animal takes a few minutes to die, before Marcelo guts it and cleans it in a puddle in the field, leaving the innards and head of the animal in the puddle for the vultures to find.

After telling this story to my boyfriend back in Canada, who has had his colleagues back home only warn him that many a woman has strayed from her man after finding themselves a ruggedly handsome gaucho in Argentina, says to me that he has started to develop a little crush on the ability of the men I am hanging out with everyday; his honesty makes me laugh.

Apparently armadillos taste like piglet meat, but Marcelo gifted the animal to Diego, who is taking the kill back to his family this weekend to enjoy. When I told Diego that food is meant to be shared amongst friends, he said that was true. All meat EXCEPT tatu meat. Which apparently is his favourite meat. When I said I have never tried armadillo meat, he says that that was too bad and that I really should, one day. My efforts were proving fruitless to get a bit of that armadillo. Still, the catch was exciting.

Apricots and Other Culinary Delights

I feel like I am in a race against time. Today we were finally able to finish thinning the apricots - it had to be done. The fruit have grown so fast in the two weeks since we started the thinning job (as you can see above), that it could not be delayed any further without risking bruises and damage to the apricots. I am sure that the urgency to get jobs done on the farm will continue to increase as the months progress and our fields start gearing into high production.

In the meantime, I my roomates and I are enjoying the organic products available to us on the farm. I must admit that in comparison to most people I would consider myself to be very knowledgeable when it comes to the uses and origins of most foods and their ingredients. However, my knowledge is being put to shame on the farm. Every day I am being exposed to new foods.


Garlic scapes: these are the immature flower stalks of our garlic variety and can be used in cooking like garlic but with a milder flavour.

Kefir: Kirsten is the fermenting queen. This is her kefir jar containing the kefir mother (a large bulbous looking mass with a thick gelatenous consistency), fermented goats milk and the separated whey. She harvests the kefir every two days and then feeds the bacteria mother fresh milk to keep is alive and happy. Kirsten and I are sharing the products of this wonderful bacteria, and so every two days I find a new jar of kefir in my section of the fridge. Being lactose intolerant, the bacteria takes care of all the lactose in the milk on my behalf. The consistency of the kefir is like liquid yogurt. I use it in all dishes like milk or yogurt - I add some stevia and cinnamon for a dessert or I add some tablespoons to my idian curry dishes to make them milder and creamier.


Burdock root: Burdock is native to most parts is seems, and there is certainly enough of it here. I am under the impression that burdock is considered by many 'a poor man's food', but food is food right? On the farm I have seen the root sliced up and cooked or sauted like other root vegetables and served with different sauces.


Honey: Living in an agricultural valley, what we cannot grow here tends to be easily available. Honey included. Orchard Blossom is a honey distributor up the road. If you bring your own container, you can get liquid honey at $6.50 CAD a kilogram - for those of you who are not avid honey buyers, that is a very good price. I have already filled four jars on behalf of some Vancouver friends of mine which they are anxiously awaiting to receive.

You may be wondering then what a typical day of meals would entail on the farm living on the low budget that we are living on. Right now, the farm is certainly still in early production mode, but we still have enough food to see us through our workday. Generally, each day we are currently eating salad, mixed greens, eggs, kefir, apples, and squash. For our grains, sugars and legumes we put an order into Discovery Organics to get bulk (and farm) prices.

I am eager to see what eating organically for the next six months does to my general health, energy levels and overall mood. Good things I hope!

Exploring Cawston: Mountain Climbing

Cawston is a small town in the narrow Similkameen valley with a population of about 1000. Cawston is located 8km west of Keremeos and 40 km east of Osoyoos on the Crowsnest Highway 3. There is an elementary school, a post office, a grocery store, a mechanic shop, a community center and a corner store in town. The valley is surrounded by barren mountains and filled to the brim with fruit trees, ground crops and farm animals. I would definitely consider this another one of British Columbia's spectacular landscapes and look forward to living here for the next six months.

Since arriving, I have had my mind set on summitting one of the many mountains that enclose the valley. Today Bonnie, Manon, Kirsten and I accomplished this goal. At 10.30 am we started our journey by cycling up Daly Drive to the trail head. Though all the trail heads say 'private property' or 'no trespassing', we have been advised that we should just ignore these signs. So we hopped off our bikes, led them up the trail 100 metres, and locked them to an old wooden fence. Our initial destination was a waterfall up the Barcello Canyon which is supposed to be about a 45 minute hike.



Since it is spring time, you can still see patches of snow on the tops of the mountains here (or if you look in the distance you can see full fledged glaciers). This means that the creek that divides the canyon though small was running high and fast. As we hiked up the trail, we had to cross the creek on several occasions. Having long legs (and quite a bit of practice as a child) jumping across creeks, I was luckily able to jump across on certain parts, but for a good portion of the crossings, we did have to be creative finding crossings using branches or trees that had fallen across the waterway. By then end of the day though, I think each of us had feet that were a little bit wet if not completely drenched.

We did reach the waterfall in relatively good time. It appears that both Kirsten and Manon's fascination for natural remedies, holistic cooking and gardening extend into the wilderness. Consequently, my fast paced ascent (needed to get a 'good burn' going) was miles ahead of my companions - they were like children in a candy store with every new flower, herb or tree we came across. So we made a deal, on the way up would be exercise, and on the way down it would be plant biology time.

The waterfall was impressive by my standards. You could hike up under the waterfall in a cavernous space to watch the water fall heavily in front of you, feel the mist on your face and hear the thunderous noise of the rapids passing over. I then crawled out the other side of the waterfall to go to see from where the water was coming. The girls followed. Pleased with our success so far, we stopped to have a relatively poor mans lunch consisting of a chocolate bar, almonds, some apple chips and some home made carrot cake. We got to enjoy the food with a relatively nice vista of the valley below.

After recharging, I proposed that we continue to the top of whichever mountain we were currently on and luckily the ladies were up for it. This is where the trek got a little bit more tricky. We found a peak that was relatively open so that we could see our destination - it is important to note that because the valley is so dry and warm, most of the hilltops are primarily covered in low brush, grasses, and flowers that can survive under these conditions and at high altitudes. In addition, the mountain range is extremely rocky (which will hopefully prove useful for my rock climbing ambitions), and therefore doesn't support much plant life.

The climb up was certainly challenging. We had to zig zag up the mountain trying not to cause a rock slide or to even loosen a rock that could tumble down and hit one of our team members in the head. I think one of the best peaces of advice for the day was 'to follow the poop' - basically what this meant was to follow the piles of deer poop up the mountain because the deer usually took the easiest or at least the most travelled paths up. For the most part, 'following the poop' worked well.




The summit was well worth it. We had a beautiful view of Cawston and the valley below, the winding Similkameen river and the mountains extending far into the distance. We were 1100 metres above sea level.

On the way down, as promised, was biology time. Here is a summary of the plants I learned about and their medicinal properties:

Mullein - This plant is a green ground plant in it's first year, and then blossoms into a 4-8 foot tall flower in its second year. You can use the flower of the mullein to make a tincture that helps with ear infections and a tea with the leaves of the plant in its first year can be used to help with lung health. It is a toner and expecterant - which means you'll cough up all that goopy goodness in your lungs when sick. The leaves are very soft, and often used as 'hiker's toilet paper', though Kirsten wasn't happy about this fact nor the name.

Oregon grape - Once I learned how to recognize this plant, I could see it everywhere. The roots can be scraped to expose the yellow bark on the inside which can be used as an antibiotic, as a yellow dye, and as a tooth brush. The small blue berries can also be used to make jams if you can collect enough of them.

Wild sage - This plant was the first thing I smelled once we were beyond the 'Private Property' sign in Cawston. The wild sage bushes covered the entire landscape and is probably the most common plant in this area. The sage, in my opinion, also has a slight orange odour to it which I found particularly pleasant.

Interior Douglas Fir - Although much smaller than the trees we were seeing in Haida Gwaii, it was nice to be shaded from the sun by the douglas firs on our hike and to smell their orange scented needles when crushing them between our fingers.

Stinging nettle - Everything I have ever learned about stinging nettle is to avoid this plant because it stings you - hence the name. But today I was proved wrong. The stinging nettle probably hat the most uses of any plant we learned about today. First, if you rub the stem and leaves, you can eat it raw - the plant tastes grassy but sweet. Then, you can cook it like any other green, you can dry it for tea, or you can grind it up and put it on a cut to stop bleeding. The stinging nettle is high in iron, so very good for women, and is a hemostat which is why it is good for cuts and internal bleeding. Ladies, get some of this to use like raspberry leaf for cramps.

At the end of the day, we made a quick stop to the local honey shop (where you can get 1.00lb of honey for $3.00) and to the Similkameen river, before having to race home because it had started to rain.

Today was a satisfying day.