Our Latest Volunteer - a Personal thread

As some of you know, every year we host volunteers from an international organisation whereby hosts can get help with their projects and World travellers can help out in different countries in return for accommodation and food while adding to their travelling experiences. We have had some wonderful times with people who have chosen to come to our little corner of Spain and remained good friends with many - one couple has even moved in round the corner. Our Irish helper, Robbie stayed for nearly two months and was a huge help bringing along the pig barn and keeping the grass cut down (legally required to do that here due to fire risks), and from that he has managed to find paid work and a flat in a local town.  This Tuesday, a young man from France arrived, keen to learn a bit about Permaculture, having heard good things from his sister who has been volunteering fror several years.  I have persuaded him to keep a brief blog about his experiences and post them here.  

General:

Hello, I am Quentin, French and this week I have started a volunteer experience at Mandy and Roy’s. I’ve heard a lot about self-sufficiency and permaculture but it is the first time that I am experiencing a real project. At Mandy and Roy’s place, there is a will to be independent, off grid, respectful of nature and wildlife but also to release as little fossil fuels as possible, having their own water purifying system, having food for animals and humans at disposal (5 essential foods to survive, chestnuts for pigs, pigs for winter…). The aim is that almost every living thing in this small ecosystem can contribute to the well-being of another.
Here is my dairy of my journey here.

Wednesday 18th

We collected tomatoes and the seeds from the dry beans.
Two types of tomatoes are grown here in separate fields in order to stop cross pollination. Five types of beans are grown together in the hope that they will develop strains of plants that will suit the garden.



Thursday 19th

On the morning, I’ve participated in the preparation of dog food which is made with chicken carcasses, aubergines, carrots, courgettes and potatoes. Courgettes are a yellow variety with softer skin and sweeter taste than green courgettes which I am used to in France. Courgettes seeds are then collected.
The meat is previously heated at 120 degrees in order soften bones and draw out the minerals.
Once the mix of all the food is done and the cans are heated in the canner, make sure there is no bubble in order for the food to be safely conserved. Canning techniques are important for self-sufficiency.
This video shows the process.

https://youtu.be/tZvqsSvYIDc

In the afternoon, we dug the ground for artichokes but carefully in order to respect the earth and not disturb life in the ground.



Friday 20th

The first priority was to clean beds for winter by taking weeds out the floor. The roots of weeds are very invasive and need to be taking care of.
The soil here in Viris is very dry and will have to be protected from the sun and infiltrated by enough water. Worm compost, dead leaves, coffee will be useful for that.

Mandy here - our lovely workawayer spent Saturday helping me to find a way of watching the World Cup Rugby on my tablet, then we spent the day.....watching rugby on my tablet, then Sunday watching Grand Prix......on my tablet before finishing the weekend at a local football match with him indoors.
Now he is having his break over on the west coast which is stunning. See foto below.   Back with us tonight, and 1st job tomorrow will be collecting leaves to finish off the raised bed.

poor Quentin - he came back to us very poorly - the tap water in a hostal seems to be the most likely culprit.  he has spent 2 days in bed, popping out only to get me leaves as he felt so guilty aobut not working.

we were so caught up in work that there was little time to write so...

'This is my third and last report on my WorkAway stay in Galicia with Mandy and Roy.

This week was mainly composed of soil caring like hay covering or deweeding. Works like these take time but are worth the taste of the final product.

I would conclude by saying that Mandy and Roy are good ambassadors of permaculture because they share their curiosity, they listen to nature, they upcycle as much as possible, avoid fossil fuels consumption, avoid wasting and they promote quality over time and money. (non exhaustive list)

Appropriate quote for this conclusion: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant” Robert Louis Stevenson
Apart from being an environmental friendly way of growing things, I feel like permaculture is more a state of mind aiming to share DIY knowledge of the nature’s rules which are most of the time under our eyes.'

I do hope Quentin stays in touch with us.  Not only has he been a great help for us, he is French which means there has been a lot of good banter between us.  We were all looking forward to the England vs France rugby match thhis morning - we were going to be online with each other and generally making a lot of noise in our local bar, but due to storms in Japan the match has been cancelled.  We sent him home with a jar of aubergines preserved in olive oil with garlic and chilli as he harvested all the aubergines for us and cleared out the polytunnel ready for winter salad planting.  He cleared all our other beds used for growing this season except the dried beans which are still going, pointed an old stone wall and helped Roy with the rewiring.  It would have been a perfect stay if my dog hadn't bitten him on day two.