Fair Harvest Festival of No Waste

So after weeks of preparation bashing, baking and brewing, we finally woke up on the big day like kids on Christmas Morning! We were so excited to showcase our: Sauerkrauts, Pickles, Organic Gluten-Free Breads, Juns, Dehydrates and Organic Apple Cider Vinegar and wasted no time (see what I did there?) getting our babies on display. Our first time on the other side of the stall!

Connor had a strong realisation of how much his life has changed when he walked passed a car radio, transmitting the third day of the first Ashes Cricket Test. There is no way he would’ve missed a single moment of action a few years ago. The call to making a healthy contribution to the world is one that we have tried to answer and it has consumed us over the past couple of years. It is a decision that has changed our lives dramatically in different ways and although it can be a bit scary sometimes when we hardly recognise our new forms, events like the Festival of No Waste help confirm to us that we are on the right track.

We met so many like-minded people, so many folk becoming more conscious of their health who are mustering the courage to make the necessary steps towards achieving their goals and understanding that creating a healthy gut flora is one of the first keys to unlocking vitality.
There were also many people who are interested in becoming more empowered and who want to learn how to make these fermented eco-systems themselves. No need to buy expensive probiotic pills when you have the knowledge to create your own medicine.
That’s why we will be running our first SAUERKRAUT WORKSHOP at Fair Harvest Permaculture in the near future and will let you know once we have figured out a date and a format. We are really excited to get this off the ground and start educating people on how to build a more alive version of themselves by upgrading their micro-biome.

We had so much positive feedback on our Sauerkrauts and Breads that people made us promise that we would let them access our surplus. It has really got us thinking about operating on a bit bigger scale, especially after seeing all the inspiring people who have recognised their gifts and the areas in which they can make a positive contribution to the cause of creating more healthy models of behaving and acting in the world. To see people “going for it!” was very encouraging and has left a vision of possibility in our minds.

Having a big shake down to Charlie Mgee was a perfect way to end the day and move our bodies in rhythm with all the other bodies who helped make the event such a powerful meeting place for people who have had enough of the current self-destructive models of operation in this world. The festival of No Waste was such a beautiful invention and we are so thankful to Jodie and Do, who are doing their part to keep a larger dream alive in our hearts, a dream of rebuilding and inhabiting a healthy home planet.

As always, we are reminded that, “Small and Slow Solutions” is one of the building blocks to creating long lasting, sustainable and regenerative change and we sincerely hope that the seeds planted at the festival grow in to giant old grow forests.

With Love and Hope
Stay Vital
Connor and Marta

WWOOFing at Fundació La Plana, first volunteering experience in Spain. December 2015

My new WWOOF hosts

For my first WWOOFing experience in Spain I had chosen a place called Fundació La Plana, which is situated few kilometers from a small village Santa Maria d’Oló in Catalonia and about 70-80 km north from Barcelona. There, hidden in the picturesque high plateau of Moianès region in over 100 years old masia a wholehearted group of 8-10 people run a foundation that receives throughout the year various organized courses and retreats related to human body and mental health and care (like yoga, meditation, psychological courses etc.) La Plana exists since about 30 years, but became a foundation in 2002. One of it’s residents, a girl named Flor, was precisely responsible for a vegetable garden project where she tried to implement permaculture and biodynamic principles. 

Photo credit: Fundació La Plana

I arrived in La Plana on the first day of December and stayed for nearly 3 weeks. Masia, which is a type of rural construction common to the Catalan countries was very big and representative. As a typical example of architecture of mountainous areas it was made of rough stone and had 3 floors. The place could host over 130 people in its rooms with bunk beds. Besides, the property had a modern and very cozy private library with a study hall and lots of books from various categories and in many languages. I spent there most of my evenings reading and studying. There was also a yoga hall in a separate building, workshop rooms and private dorms. The place was partly surrounded by forest and partly by neighboring fields. It was very peaceful and views were enchanting. Unfortunately except a dog, two lovely donkeys and a horse there were no more farm animals. 

Quickly I noticed that even though not very far from Barcelona, but being already in the mountainous area the climate differed a lot. Mornings and nights were pretty cool by that time of the year, somewhere below 10°C, yet some of the days were still pretty sunny and warm and on occasions I could work in a short sleeve. In the mornings the air was very refreshing and awaking, which together with nice views made it a great start of the day.

My WWOOF tasks

As a WWOOFer to my main task belonged helping Flor in the vegetable garden. But since La Plana received on every weekend and bank holiday various groups of people coming to attend courses, everyone from the live-in community was involved in helping with organization around them. That of course included me during the time of my stay. While I WWOOFed in La Plana we received groups on two weekends, one of which was an extended bank holiday and on that occasion came around 110+ people. It was a lot of work! Courses where organized from outside but we were responsible for the accommodation and meals. I was helping with the preparation of dining rooms and serving the food. Seems like not a big deal, but with this amount of people setting tables and serving meals took about an hour or hour an half before every meal to get it all ready. Of course we took shifts, so that I had to do it usually for one or two meals a day.

Our cooks were amazing! Concha lived in La Plana and also cooked every day for all members of the community. While the assistant cook came in only during these courses. Each time they prepared separate food for people with all sorts of special diets – gluten-free, diary-free, vegetarian or vegan and so forth. Besides that we had a Brazilian guy whose name unfortunately I have forgotten, who made different types of sourdough bread. Delicious treat! 

During the week time we all gathered to eat together at lunch time, while breakfast and supper everyone ate as pleased. One day I made typical polish food for my hosts. With help of Flor we made 100+ handmade pierogies with two kinds of stuffing (one of it was spinach from our garden!) and a soup we call Ukrainian Borsch. For a dessert we had an apple pie. Everyone loved it! But for me the best out of all suppers was the one with seafood. To celebrate the fact that they managed to make some decent money on selling scrap metal we had delicious meal of all sorts of seafood. From what I remember we had clams, squids, octopus, mussels, prawns, langoustines, razor clams, some kind of sea snails that are called in Spanish búsanos and more. All of these were prepared in a typical Spanish way. It was a real feast! Too bad I lost the photo of these delicacies.

Vegetable Garden

The vegetable garden was placed on the lower terrace – flat side of the property that received a good amount of sun. Since it was early December and the temperatures were not too high we didn’t have a lot work planting and harvesting in the garden. However, we cleaned two of the parcels from the remaining previous crop and planted beans and garlic. When it comes to harvesting we had some spinach, arugula, cauliflower, parsley, onions, swiss chard and lettuce that we picked. Spinach for instance I used for my pierogies stuffing and it was delicious.

The biggest task in the garden, which took me few days of work was building raised bed in a shape of number eight. I made it with Flor’s help. We used stones that we plastered with combination of clay with sand, straw and water. It was so much fun! I had never before worked on this kind of projects. I found out how much pleasure it gives to build something from a scratch with your own bare hands. That was also when I realized my interest in natural building, which I tried to explore some more on my further trips. As a finishing touch on the top part of the deep bed we made a mosaic from pieces of some old colorful tiles. It turned out very nicely and super pretty. We hadn’t planted anything as Flor wanted to do it later closer to spring.  

          

As I loved so much creating things I also decided to build a bird feeder. There were lots of birds and winter was coming so remembering how back in Poland when I was a little girl we used to prepare bird feeders with my father I took the plunge to do it this time by myself. I made it from a wood fruit box I found in the shed and cut in half and few small boards for a canopy. As a final touch I painted it red. It wasn’t the prettiest bird feeder I’ve seen but I’m sure birds appreciated their own little red house on the tree!

Taking first steps in making homemade natural cosmetics

Flor besides having knowledge about plants knew also a lot about making homemade natural cosmetics. As she finished a course in aromatherapy and learnt secrets of making wonderful natural creams and oils, now she was willing to use her skills and teach others what she knew. One magical evening she showed me how to make herbal distillates (also called hydrosols) of rosemary and rose petals. It’s actually pretty simple but to prepare it you need a distillation apparatus set. Nevertheless, after doing a little research on the topic I found out that there are ways of making hydrosols using for example a coffee pot. It all reminded me of my chemistry class back in the high school years where we used to do many experiments.

The other day we gathered together with few other women and turned one of the kitchen-dining rooms into “real” lab. We had many different oils, essentials, powders, hydrosols, fresh calendula flowers and necessary equipment. After few hours of brewing potions like some kind of beauty witches, we received three different creams – for face, eyes and butter cream for body. Too bad you can’t smell these wonderful essences! The creams I made as a present for Christmas for my Mom and some small samples for my besties in Warsaw. Making homemade cosmetics is very pleasurable, natural and not that complicated as long as you have good recipes, ingredients and proper equipment. I hope in the future I will make some more! 

Always in search for more knowledge

Besides homemade creams I also tried to learn how to use the sewing machine. The goal was to make for my friends little aromatic pillows stuffed with fresh rosemary. I made around 10 or 12 of them and felt very satisfied with my job. I think that to know how to use a sewing machine is a very useful skill. My Mom used to have one when I was a child. Maybe one day I will get one for myself and learn how to make some clothes!

Driven as always by indefinite curiosity and interest for knowledge while in WWOOFing in La Plana I decided to take an online course – Introduction to sustainability. This course was 8 weeks long, had great video lectures, readings and tests. I found it on the coursera.org website which is an education platform with world’s top universities and organizations that offer courses online. They have a vast amount of different programs from almost all fields of interest. What’s curious – it’s for free! Of course if you would like to receive upon completing the course an official certificate there is some fee required, but still it’s not a big sum. I can honestly recommended this platform to anyone interested in broadening their knowledge. My course on sustainability was created by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was very informative and interesting, explored how today’s human societies can endure in the face of global change, ecosystem degradation and resource limitations.

But of course in my free time I also went exploring the surroundings. There were some walking trails with gorgeous views and nice paths for running. It turned out of course how out of shape I got in only about a month and a half break. Well ok, also the fact that I was not used to running on hilly terrains was the reason for it. I enjoyed it anyhow!

In nearly 3 weeks I already got used to everyone and it was sad to say goodbye. However, I know how to find them and as they said, I’m always welcome to come back. Now it was time to go back home for Christmas, first time in 3 years! I was looking forward to it for a very long time, longing white polish holidays so with excitement reaching the zenith I took off to repack in Barcelona and catch my flight to Warsaw!

Fundacion La Plana location

WWOOFer arriving home – Barcelona 3 months later. November 2015

I made it home pretty late at night and was welcomed by my flat mate Robin and his girlfriend. We had a nice chat, talked about what’s new (or same) in our lives and then I was left alone to myself again. I probably should say that it was nice to be home but actually it felt kind of strange to be back there. My apartment looked the same, familiar and neat, cozy in its simplicity and full of memories of the moments lived in it. My painted white room with large and comfortable bed and huge closet crammed with clothes for any occasion looked unwelcoming to me. I decided to leave unpacking for the next day and went to get some groceries.

Barcelona by Stan Baranski

Reflections upon… Food

It was around 10-11 pm on the weekday and at that time the only place opened was the Pakistani mini market around the corner. It was small and piled with stuff of any shapes, colors and packaging, stuffy without air-conditioning it felt like I was in a turned-on oven. Mostly everything over there looked to me like garbage in a packaging, all that industrial, processed food of rather very low quality. Bottles and cans, plastic bags and boxes stuffed with food coloring, artificial flavors and its enhancers, made from products grown on pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, that are often genetically modified and created in laboratories.

Do you ever read nutrition and ingredient labels? Do you wonder what’s inside that bag of potato chips or chicken pate you are buying? How much of peach is in your peach soda? How was grown that tomato when it’s actually not a season for it yet? How far had to travel that mango, which obviously doesn’t come from where you live? And how come these apples don’t rot for so many days even though they came a long way to reach your kitchen table? Well, maybe that’s the right moment to start paying more attention to these things. I used to read labels, but not as closely as one should. I began “to study” descriptions of all bought goods at the beginning of 2015 when I learnt about my intolerance for quite few products. And that was when I found out how much shit (pardon my French, but there is no other better word to call it properly) is stuffed in food we buy. Who would think that ham or sausage are not only made of meat, but also could include wheat, corn, milk and other alike additives? Often it’s modified corn and of course it includes multiply artificial ingredients that help the flavor and color of it. And I could name dozens of examples like this one, each of them as shocking as the first one. When something tastes good it doesn’t mean it’s healthy or good quality, but I believe you know that already.

So why we don’t do anything about it even if we know these facts? There are few reasons that occur to me right now. First of all, this food is cheap and easy to get and usually it comes in big or large packages (or buy 2 get 3^rd for half price offers!) Also it’s usually either ready-to-eat or easy to prepare. You know, all sorts of convenience food like dry and canned products, frozen foods, prepared mixes and snacks. Nowadays when everyone lives in a rush, working extra hours, taking additional classes and so forth, we try to decrease the time we spend on grocery shopping or in the kitchen. Usually thinking that it is a waste of our time and effort we go for eating out or buying some pre-cooked and easy to make food. And that’s a pity! Of course not everyone has to be a kitchen enthusiast but cooking doesn’t have to be very complicated or time consuming. Food is our gasoline; if we deliver poor quality gas to our beloved cars they will break sooner and the same happens with our bodies. Pharmaceutical companies are well prepared for these occasions offering us a wide range of medicine and supplements that will help us with all side effects of poor diet and lack of exercise… and cause us even more health problems in the long run. But let’s not get more into the details now. My point is – the more fresh, local and seasonal your food is the better will be your health and overall well-being.

The city that never sleeps and consequences of it

You can probably imagine that after so many weeks of sleeping in pervasive silence it was hard for me to fall asleep in my Barcelonian flat. Unfortunately I used to live close to one of the major widest and busiest streets of the city. But it wasn’t only that. Somehow I managed to forget that the city never sleeps. If it’s not a car or motorcycle, there’s always someone wandering around, talking very loud one to another, skating or dumping glass bottles in the garbage bin. The streetlights illuminated my room making it even harder to get lost in the world of dreams. The air didn’t smell with the same natural freshness. The truth is I could not sleep. Almost every night I was laying on my bed for hours begging for sleep to come.

Barcelona by Stan Baranski

Too much stuff too many choices

In the next few days I also realized that having too many choices is absolutely overwhelming. My closet terrified me. I had way too many things there. Going out see my girlfriends became a real challenge as I didn’t know what to wear. We were supposed to hang out having drinks and some food, nothing fancy, very casual. However, once you have choice you start wondering what is the best for such an occasion. Maybe a dress? Then which shoes and bag should go with it? The black cardigan or maybe a denim jacket? Don’t get me wrong, I was never a fashion freak compulsively shopping for clothes. Jeans, regular fit t-shirt or a simple dress with a pair of sneakers is what I usually wear. But on some rare occasions when I’m going out with friends it strikes me that choosing what to wear becomes a bigger issue. You maybe start wondering what the others are going to wear? What will match the occasion? The place? The time of the day? The method of transportation you will use? List can go on but I’m sure you’ve got my point. It was so much easier on the farm. You didn’t have to bother what to wear as long as it was appropriate for the weather and comfortable to work in. No one looked at you strangely when you were wearing same trousers for a few days in a row. And getting ready in the morning took me about 2 minutes so I could sleep longer before starting with my chores. For three months I travelled with couple of things I could stuff into my bicycle panniers and not even once I longed for my big closet! Honestly, it was a relief to stop worrying about my daily outfit.

Moving sale and packing stuff up

This way while days passed by one after another I became aware of the fact that for me there is no coming back. I could not live happily in a city anymore. At least not now. Maybe in the future it will change but for the time being I couldn’t imagine myself living my old life again. I had to move on. Continue with WWOOFing, gathering more experience from farms, learning about permaculture and bio construction techniques. Living simple life in surroundings of nature. I made up my mind – I decided to resign the contract for my flat.

Next days I spent on organizing the flee market sale of my clothing and moving sale of my furniture, utility goods and other gadgets. Deciding what to keep and what to sell or give away was definitely not an easy task. However, I noticed that each time it happens, saying goodbye to objects becomes easier. My goal was to get rid of as many as possible things and save all the money for traveling and volunteering. My awesome friends helped me out not only by supporting the idea but also by buying stuff from me and throwing in their old gear for the flee market sale. It felt good to free myself from these objects. I felt an instant release and joy.

Flea market sale

From among things I decided to keep, some of them I shipped home to Warsaw and the others I stored at my friends’ flats. Alba, Carmel, Carlos & Paul, Dasha & Jesper, and Kathi became my longterm saviors. That’s where the rests of my belongings and both bikes are peacefully resting now. Again I understood how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many beautiful souls who are willing to reach out to a friend in need. Thank you guys, you rock my world!

When all was set, I was ready again to go back on the trail of volunteer opportunities and my journey of personal rediscovery. I arranged for December WWOOFing at Fundació La Plana located in Catalonia, about 70 km from Barcelona and decided to go home for Christmas. After three years abroad it was to be my first Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Poland. I was excited with this perspective of spending holidays at home with family and friends. In January I would be back in Spain to Wwoof in Andalusia. That was the plan!

Towards my final destination – Copenhagen here I come! October, 2015

Direction – Copenhagen

So here I was on the road again! I felt sad to leave Prästabonnens Gård, but on the other hand I was very excited about beginning the last part of my cycling journey and reaching my final destination – Denmark. I had never been to Denmark either and I dreamt about visiting Copenhagen. I heard so many good things about this city and that together with Amsterdam it was the most bicycle friendly city in Europe (or the whole wide world?) After going to Amsterdam in May, which completely possessed my heart and is ranked by now as my second favorite visited city in the world, I was very curious about the famous Danish capital.

I was lucky again to find a place in Copenhagen, where eventually I was about to stay for almost a week. It was thanks to the bike polo/messenger community that I contacted few days before my arrival and asked if anyone could host me for a few nights. Trine, a messenger girl, replied to me and suggested that I should stay longer so that I could race with them in Alleycat, which they were organizing for Halloween. Of course I couldn’t say no to such an invitation! Thrilled with a vision of staying within the bicycle community, riding in an alley and hopefully playing some polo and having lots of time to visit the city, I started peddling towards Denmark.

Last days in Sweden – Lund, Malmö, Helsingborg

 Since I still had plenty of time and Suzanne offered that I could stay in her apartment in Lund, I divided my last part of journey into 5 days of cycling. This way I could peacefully enjoy my last kilometers through Swedish lands and do some sightseeing in the cities on the way.

I stayed for a night in Lund, which is the oldest city in present-day Sweden and well known for its University. Walking the streets of Lund I was imagining Suzanne living and teaching here. It’s a very pleasant and quite small city; I think I would enjoy studying there.

The next day I cycled to Malmö. It seemed very different from what I had always imagined. It is the third biggest city in Sweden, and I have no bloody idea why I thought it would be smaller and maybe a more cozy, more fishery-town style… I was very wrong; my imagination sometimes misleads me big time 🙂 It is actually a pretty modern city, a cultural and economical center of the southern part of Sweden. From Malmö leads the longest bridge in Europe that connects Sweden with Denmark. However, it’s not possible yet to cross it with bicycle and many people advised me that taking ferry in Helsingborg is better for the ride views, so I chose the later option. My very hospitable Couchsurfing host surprised me by taking me for a dinner to… his grandmother’s home! He explained to me that he promised her he would fix something in her flat and that he usually ate meals with her every now and then. It was a super nice experience to have such an insight in a usual day routine of a Swedish family and their relationships. His grandma was absolutely lovely; she cooked a nice meal and showed me an album with newspaper clips about the history of Malmö that she’s been collecting through years. All of a sudden it made me think of my grandparents and how I missed having them around.

Views from the road

I spent the afternoon and next morning walking around the city and in the early afternoon I took off to my next Couchsurfing stop. The route was very nice; from time to time I was cycling close to the coastline from where I could see shapes of Denmark’s shores. I arrived after sundown at my host’s place. She lived in a truly lovely house in the woods. I have to admit that for a moment I was worried that I wouldn’t find it as there where many similar looking houses and that I would get stuck in the darkness of the wilderness but I managed as always. It turned out that she was a super nice fellow cyclist, so we shared our biking experiences over the dinner. In the morning shortly after sunrise we split and I cycled my last part of Swedish route.

Wow, I was almost done with my trip. From day one, almost two months ago when I arrived in Sweden, I managed to cycle over 800 km and pass through so many distinct places and meet so many interesting new people that I was feeling a bit sad that it was nearly the end of it. If only the weather was warmer I would definitely cycle further, maybe down south Denmark up to Hamburg in Germany where my friend from childhood was living. Well, it will have to be next time as I’m sure there will be next time, somewhere, somehow 🙂

Now being even closer to my destination I could see Denmark’s coastlines clearer. How exciting!

My last stop in Sweden was Helsingborg, a town that is the country’s closest point to Denmark with only 4 km dividing both borders. My Couchsurfer was not Swedish but Hungarian and it was interesting to hear about his experiences as a foreigner living in this country. He showed me around the town that has pretty views over Helsingør, the Danish city on the other side of the Øresund. We ate Thai food and watched a documentary about ancient civilizations that followed with curious discussion on that matter.

Helsingborg with Denmark on the horizon

Farewell Sweden, welcome Denmark!

 The next day before saying “See you around!” to Sweden I sat down in the harbor for a while. I thought of the fact that I’ve been super lucky all the way during my trip. All the people I met were very hospitable and open-minded; each and every one was interesting and very different from each other and for sure I won’t forget them. I wish I could tell you in more detail about all of them, but that would take ages 🙂 Well, it was time for Denmark!

Crossing the border – Sweden on the right / Denmark on the left

The ride in the ferry was super quick; in about 25 minutes I was already on the other side of the Øresund strait. Hello Denmark, so good to meet you finally! The day was very windy, but the route was amazing. All the way to Copenhagen I had a neat cycling lane and the path led mostly by the coast. Stopping by the beach for a snack and watching kite surfers I rested for the last time before reaching my final destination. I was totally astonished by the cycling indications throughout the road that kept me perfectly navigated. And the fact that all the cars I saw on the way were parked either on the street or on the pedestrian’s sidewalk, but never on the bike lane, was truly impressive! Wow, I already felt instant love for Danish culture.

Cph – the capital of bicycles

Nyhavn harbor

 I arrived in Copenhagen at last! Wow and wow again – so many bicycles and bike tracks everywhere that I almost got lost twice before reaching my host’s place. Trine was a Danish bike messenger and lived with her best friend Boline and four foreign students – Italian, Norwegian, Romanian and Spanish. It was a nice flat and super nice people who right away made me feel comfortable at their home as if it was my own.

In the evening Trine gave me a quick bike tour through downtown’s main sightseeing points and took me to a dinner with her friends and some Finnish students. On the way she told me a bit about the city’s cycling rules, culture and infrastructure. We rode the busiest cycle street in the capital, Nørrebrogade, that is about 3 km long, which directly links a couple locations and the city center and in the rush hours the bicycle traffic is tremendous. Statistics say that daily it is used by around 36,000 cyclists. Nice. In the next few days I rode this street at least twice a day.

The next day before work Trine took me to The Little Mermaid, which turned out to be much smaller than the one we have in Warsaw and to Nyhavn Harbor that is colored with shore-side homes and tall ships docked along the quays. During that day and the following ones I cycled the streets of Copenhagen back and forward, learning my way through it, visiting key places on the map of the city: National Gallery of Denmark, famous Christiania, hippie zone, Ørestad district with its modern architecture, coffee places and messenger meeting points. But mostly I saw more streets, buildings and bicycles than anything else during my stay 🙂

Norrebrogade street

Bike messengers community and alleycat

 On Friday evening Trine took me to their usual bike messenger hang out in the city center. We had a few beers and great laughs. I quickly learnt that Danish people are very straightforward, funny, nice and easy-going, super cool actually.

Saturday was the Halloween and the Alleyween – the biggest alleycat (an informal bicycle race that usually always takes place in cities and normally is organized by bicycle messengers – loads of super fun!) in Denmark annually organized on that very occasion by members of Copenhagen messenger community. Last time I rode in an alley was back in Warsaw probably about 4 years ago, so I was very excited but also very afraid of it. It was organized at night and I didn’t know the city at all. However, Trine found me an awesome teammate, Emma, an ex-messenger who turned out to be suuuuper fast and good at racing. Together with her super nice friend Jody we created a cool team of three. They knew the city very well and rode like crazy, so I had a tough time trying to keep up with their pace feeling a bit like a third wheel, but hell, it was so much fun! We raced for about 2 hours and 30+ km throughout Copenhagen; there were 44 teams, 90+ riders and 10 checkpoints. For me that was the biggest alley I ever raced. Even though we didn’t arrive first (surprised, right?) Emma and me, dressed as Malificient, a beautiful evil mistress from Disney, we won a prize for our costumes. The next day I had also quite a hangover after the afterparty as you might imagine.

Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to play bike polo since the pick up games were very postponed but at least I met some of the players. A few years back I met in Warsaw on a tournament two Danish polo players and now I happily discovered that one of the guys is still in the game and remembers me. Reunions after many years are always a nice experience and so it was this time. I was impressed of how their polo/messenger community works well together organizing bicycle workshops for children and other events of that sort. Really nice and open people with good attitude and teamwork. I hope I will have a chance to visit them again one day.

A souvenir and a final countdown

 I almost forgot about one more little detail. I got myself a present in Copenhagen – a new race bike tattooed on my right wrist. On the beginning of my journey I promised myself that I would get a bike tattoo if I manage to get all the way to Denmark on two wheels and I did! From Nynashamn in Sweden to Copenhagen in Denmark; almost 900 km, 13 couchsurfing hosts + Trine and 2 WWOOF farms. Quite an extraordinary experience. Now, this bike will always remind me of these two months in Scandinavia that were filled with lots of learning, thinking, reflecting and analyzing, but also enjoying, resting and relaxing. The route was filled with beautiful and happy moments, but also sometimes with difficult and stressful ones. I had been fighting with my thoughts many times, pushed myself to the limits and learnt to enjoy the best I can whatever comes on my way. It was a new and powerful lesson and now I was about to go back to Barcelona and face reality. Soon I would have to make a decision about what I want to next – look for a new job in Barcelona or hit the road again.

So I left Copenhagen profoundly touched by kindness of the people I met on my way and thankful for their help and hospitality. I loved the city. Even though it was cloudy for the most of my stay, I felt good in it. It is interesting and has a character. But I missed Barcelona too and was looking forward to see it again. See you hopefully soon Scandinavia, thank you for having me and hello again Barcelona!

From Nynashamn to Copenhagen!

 

 

Prästabonnens Gård Part Two 9-24 October 2015

Preparing garden for the next year – harvesting, fields and deep beds

Since it was already halfway through October, in Sweden the weather was getting colder with each day and the days were getting also shorter. It was about time to prepare for the winter. I began harvesting carrots, beetroots, and broad beans and leaving a few plants like lettuce. As a big carrot lover I can honestly say that carrots from Prästabonnens Gård were the best I ever had; flavorous and juicy, deliciously crunchy, big and some times of funny shapes – perfect to me. Beetroots were super tasty too, so one evening I cooked two Polish dishes made of them. After harvesting I began to prepare the soil for the winter and next season – first I weeded it and later dug hole by hole of about 50 cm per 1 m length and 5 cm deep which I filled with a bit of compost, the soil previously dug out and after finishing the entire field, I covered it with fallen leaves. This way the organic matter enriches the soil and the leaves protect it from the weather, weeds and birds.

                       

When it comes to raised deep beds, I dug deeper holes of about 10-20 cm depth, put the layer of compost, covered it with leaves and charcoal and the rest of the soil, finally spread on the top a layer of fallen leaves. This way the prepared fields and beds would wait for the planting season in spring. In the garden I also covered the surface around all the currant bushes with leaves.

Raised deep beds

Storing vegetables

We stored in the cellar most of the harvested carrots and beetroots. To keep them safe from rotting, slacks and other insects I put the veggies in plastic boxes with small holes on the bottom (for the air circulation) in repeated layers of veggies scattered with charcoal (for protection) and leaves spread on the top (to separate the layers.) Prepared like this, carrots and beetroots can be stored through autumn and winter without a problem, I was told.

Compost

I was impressed with the quality and richness of the soil made from the compost. Folke built his two-bin composter with removable bricks made of LECA (Light Expanded Clay Aggregate.) It was large and deep, divided in two sections with a net and protected with a sliding cover. First they use one of the bins and once it is full of organic matter they switch to the other one and scatter from time to time a bit of charcoal on top of it. Worms working from bottom to top easily can move between the sections, and to keep it moistened, if it doesn’t rain they water it a bit. Folke told me that in approximately 6 months, good and rich soil is created. When I used it for the fields I noticed that its composition was moist and there were many worms in it; it looked very good to me.

Aquaponics and sour dough bread

In Prästabonnens Gård I saw aquaponics for the first time. Folke designed this very curious construction. But what does aquaponics mean you probably wonder? Well basically it was a greenhouse with a design of a fish tank and connected to it pipes, which circulate the water between the bottom and upper section of plants that grow among little stones and bits of soil. Fish purify the water and add their droppings that enrich it with nutrients. In this way, my hosts cultivate tomatoes, peppers and physalis fruit. It looked really impressive.

As I mentioned before Folke is a really good cook and he likes also to make various preserves from fruits like apple mousse, cranberry syrups, jams, and pickled vegetables. Together we pickled beetroots and made sour dough bread. I have never before baked bread in my life and I was happy to find out that it is actually quite an easy job. In this case the crucial thing was to have the sour dough starter, which we used for the bread.

Sour dough bread we baked

Bird and bat watchers

Since both of my hosts were bird and bat watchers and Suzanne was regularly registering her observations on birds’ migration, once she took me with her on her monthly round. We went on bikes stopping in the observation points previously marked by her and watched through binoculars the birds. The route was a couple kilometers long and very beautiful, circling around the lake and going into the woods. Later on, Suzanne wrote down her remarks and sent them back to the University of Lund where they were analyzed and registered together with reports from other parts of Sweden. Suzanne used to work at this University before, but teaching Linguistics. The other day she also took me to an old forest on the outskirts of Södra Rörum where we looked for trees where bats could live and placed in them bat-homes. It will help the ongoing research of bats that inhabit this part of the country. On the weekend of my departure my hosts were holding a reunion of their “bat friends” with whom they shared their observations and analyzed together their findings. We spoke about it on various occasions and I have to say that I never though that these creatures were so interesting.

Two weeks at Prästabonnens Gård went by in no time. Many times the thought of staying with Suzanne and Folke for a longer period crossed my mind. I definitely would love to do it and maybe one day I will ask them if that would be possible. In any case I hope to visit them again one day, as the experience was superb; they are wonderful and open-minded couple with vast knowledge on various topics and I really enjoyed spending time in their company. Encouraged and with my new motivation and skills I pushed forward to Copenhagen to complete my journey.

 

Prästabonnens Gård or where my transition truly began. 9-24 October 2015

Arriving in Prästabonnens Gård

It was Friday afternoon when I reached my destination; a bit tired and cold with sweat. Prästabonnens Gård turned out to be very different from Krogstorps Gård. First of all, by its location – it was at the entrance to a small village called Södra Rörum. There were forests nearby, but not as close as at Krogstorps, and a pretty lake a few kilometers away, where my hosts went fishing. Secondly, it was not a big animal farm, but rather a house with a nice permaculture garden, aquaponics, chickens and ducks. There were also a barn and a large cozy guesthouse used for volunteers, behind which was a natural swimming pool inhabited by frogs and a sauna.

My hosts were a couple of retired professors – Suzanne was an expert in linguistics (French, German and of course Swedish) and Folke, a specialist in human ecology, natural agriculture, sustainable living, grey water purification and permaculture. Folke for decades studied peak oil among other issues and translated John Seymours’ “Manual of Self-Sufficient Life.” They called Prästabonnens Gård a transition experiment as my hosts tried to live as self-sufficient and sustainable as possible. They used solar panels and burnt wood for heating both houses, used composts toilets (there was one in each house and one outside), recycled and composted what they could, collected rainwater, used electric car, grew vegetables and fruits in their permaculture garden, fished, made homemade bread, pickles and other preserves among other things. Within two days with an exciting feeling I already realized that I would learn a lot here; this place seemed to be a sign on my path that would guide me onto the right direction and my hosts were to be my first mentors on this new way.

With my hosts Suzanne and Folke

“You must be the change you hope to see in the world”

 When I arrived there was another volunteer on the farm – a Turkish girl Gökçe. We spent only three days together as she left home on Monday evening. There was not much time to get to know each other, although she seemed like a very nice girl and I felt good in her company. Yet, I could tell we were very much different. I just managed to get out of corporate life with a huge relief, while she was very soon about to start her new job for a big corporation and she was surely excited about it. It appeared to me that all the volunteers I met so far were doing WWOOFing for a bit different reasons than I was. They were interested in nature and organic farming, some grew up in the countryside, one of them even studied agriculture and planned to start his own farm, but I felt somehow even beyond that; my quest seemed to be rooted deep inside me for long time and now I was slowly uncovering its layers and understanding that its not only about being tired of the city and the bad quality of food, but very much being overwhelmed with the way we live nowadays, what became of our civilization, how we treat and destroy nature that is an inseparable part of us. I was always interested in environmental issues and following the news, but lately I started digging into the subject even more; watching documentaries and reading articles I became with each day more and more terrified, enraged and upset with what was going on around the world. I didn’t know yet what I wanted to do about it; I had at least a few options though. For instance with my experience I could look for work within NGO’s or Non-Profit Associations or Environmental-oriented news platforms; it would be probably difficult to get job in these places, but it was worth trying for sure. Though I felt that I didn’t want to go back to work in an office and life in the city, at least not yet. Besides I felt that the change should come first with me, like Gandhi said, “You must be the change you hope to see in the world.” I guess that’s why I decided I wanted to learn more about where it all starts – the roots of this planet, our soil and the food we grow. By farming ecologically we don’t pollute the earth and water, kill plants and beings, thus we don’t poison ourselves. I wanted to learn how we could live more sustainably and self-sufficiently without depending so much on non-renewable resources and maybe later share this knowledge with others. That’s also why I finally decided to write this online journal; hoping that maybe there is someone who shares the same thoughts and is wandering around the world asking same questions as I do, looking for answers I’m trying to find.

Inspiring supper – discussing the world

On that very first Saturday at Prästabonnens Gård my hosts’ friend came for a visit. For a supper we had a delicious fish from the nearby lake prepared by Folke, who I soon discovered, cooked very well. We had a very nice conversation during the meal, talking a bit about what Gökçe and I do in life and how we ended up WWOOFing, and then with just one question the discussion entered on a different path. I believe that we were talking about environmental issues like climate change and so forth when I was asked how do I imagine the future of our planet. And there, intuitively feeling on a safe ground, even though I had been there for only 24 hours, I let myself absolutely honestly answer this question. Something I usually don’t dare to do, being afraid of the reaction of my listeners. Yet here, it seemed to neither surprise or shock; they just shook their heads in affirmation, said something in line with me and asked Gökçe the same question. From this moment on for me the real discussion began. We spoke about basically everything that had been bothering me for past months and I finally felt alliance with someone who not only didn’t consider my observations controversial or conspiratorial, but actually agreed with me and deepened my knowledge of these subjects. For the first time I heard about authors like John Michael Greer or real estimations of peak oil that Folke has been studying for about four decades already. Suddenly it turned out that both Folke and his friend knew one of my Couchsurfing hosts, Jessaia, as they all belonged to a small circle of people coordinating a Transition Movement/Towns Project here in Sweden. I heard about this movement for the first time from Jessaia and his girlfriend Ulrika just few days before. That night staying at their place we had similarly stimulating and inspiring discussion that cheerfully made me realize that there are more people thinking like me. I couldn’t believe this coincidence of them knowing each other; it felt like an evident confirmation that I was on the right path. I went to bed with my head spinning from excitement and thoughts about what we’ve spoke that night.

In the following days Folke lent me his books of John Micheal Greer on peak oil, John Seymour on self-sufficient life, and Bill Mollison on permaculture. Hungry for knowledge I greedily started reading almost all at once as I couldn’t decide where I should start. We went back on discussing these subjects with Folke and Suzanne almost everyday during our lunches and dinners. I felt like a student again, able to ask as many questions as I had and always receiving answers and explanations for them. Folke was to me like a wonderful walking encyclopedia that with a smile replied even to the most irrational questions I asked. I wish I knew more back then so that I could ask better questions. But at any rate I felt fully inspired and motivated to continue discovering more about permaculture, sustainability and self-sufficient living. Now I was even more convinced that we have to act fast and learn to use less or no non-renewable sources like oil and start to search for renewable energy, I promised myself to dedicate my time to learn more about this alterative world. I decided I would first go back to Barcelona, stay for a few days and see how I felt being back at home and only then make my next move. However, I already felt quite clear that I want to continue WWOOFing, looking specifically for permaculture and sustainable farms, which could give me a broader view on the possibilities of creating such a self-sufficient, peaceful and in harmony with nature place.

Once Gökçe left Suzanne and Folke asked me if I would like to stay for one week longer. From the very beginning I wanted to stay on their farm for two weeks and besides, now I also felt that I was in the right place to learn what I was looking for, so of course I said yes. During the day I was eagerly working in the garden, in the afternoon studying the books in awe with my eyes wide-open and in the evening we often discussed what I read over the supper. I felt like I was discovering a whole new world, excited and with head full of new ideas and plans that were unrolling one after another. Knowing that I’m not alone in my thinking suddenly gave me strength to push forward and to believe that it is the right thing to do. After all, it is always easier to go back from where you came than to enter a new path, right? Well, that’s at least what I like to think!

On the route – cycling through my mind. October 2015

Farewell Krogstorps Gård!

Saying goodbye to Krogstorps Gård was tough. Hans and Peter were very good hosts and their farm an idyllic place. My days were full of new experiences and evenings reserved for wonderful walks and good readings by the chimney. I had plenty of time just for myself and spent many cheerful moments in good company. I tried a couple of very tasty traditional Swedish meals cooked by my hosts and ate definitely too much chocolate. And last but not least, Krogstorps was a great beginning of a transition I felt I was about to make soon. When I decided to go WWOOFing I knew that I was not ready yet to go to one of these as-much-as-possible self-sufficient and sustainable farms. Instead I need a smooth conversion from my city life to countryside one. I felt I should take one step at a time, because the change seemed too big to jump head-first right away. Here I had my first contact with farm life and work, but still had all the comforts of the typical household – slept in a warm house with a fresh bed linen and cozy bed, hot shower and a toilet. We were recycling and composting, but used electricity for most things. My hosts were still keeping their regular jobs in order to meet ends and to slowly become more self-sufficient and I’m sure they are on the right path to it. I felt like Krogstorps Gård was somewhere in the middle between city and countryside life, just what I needed at that time. Now it was time to pack again the panniers and jump on my bicycle. The road was waiting for me!

On the road – my bike and me

Right, I was about to cycle a few hundred kilometers through unknown country on my own for the first time. It might sound like not a big deal for many of you, but for me it was a personal challenge. I always thought I’m not a bad cyclist; I bike everywhere in the city, once a week or two used to do up to 100 km distances on my race bike and I also play my beloved bike polo (lately unfortunately less than I wish to). Bicycling means freedom to me, and it feels like an extension of my body. I love cycling and everything related to it. But until that day I only once went on a longer bike trip with one of my beloved friends from home. It was in May and in 6 days we made it across 400 km from Amsterdam to Brussels. We didn’t rush but slowly cycled through cities, enjoying the moment and sightseeing on the way. It taught me a couple of useful things such as that you have to be prepared for all possible weather… including rain. Yes I know, I was super dumb to think that maybe luckily it wouldn’t rain in the Netherlands in May. I was very wrong; it already began to rain when we were leaving Amsterdam and continued for the next 5 hours of cycling. You can imagine how we looked and felt after this ride. This time I got prepared for the rain but not for the cool October weather. Well, actually everything was fine except my feet, which were freezing a bit. But it’s also because I have a very bad blood circulation in my feet and my cycling shoes were more for spring/summer season than for Nordic autumn.

Nevertheless here I was and ready to go beyond all my comfort zones and cycle from the east to the southwest of Sweden on my vintage Panasonic race bike. Many friends advised me to get a more comfortable bicycle for such a long trip. Like a hybrid/trekking bike where you wouldn’t have to ride all the time in a hunched position and attaching panniers would be easier. But no, I wanted to do it on my good old buddy Panasonic. This bike went through a lot with me and travelled to many places. It was a present from my Mum for my BA graduation, bought with the help of my friends. It was bought used but in a very good condition. Strong steel frame survived even my accident with a car I crashed into one summer. And now it was supposed to support me and another 18-20 kg of baggage.

Back in Warsaw my friend had to invent a way to assemble a front bike rack since the fork was missing necessary holes and hooks and the rear rack was attached only to the saddle tube. Because of it I decided to take 4 panniers – two fronts and two rear ones, each pair not exceeding 10 kg for the balance and safety. At first it felt a bit shaky, but with each kilometer I was getting more used to driving this camel-like bike.

Route plan

When it came to the route plan I decided not to go too hard on myself since I didn’t know what the weather would be like nor the condition of roads and remembering that it will be my first time cycling consecutively for about 9-10 days. I simply couldn’t predict how I would handle it and also I wanted to enjoy this ride, having time to stop and relax whenever I felt like it. My daily distance averaged between 50 and 75 km, but there were places where I couldn’t find a couch and instead of cycling 100 km I was breaking it into two days having 70 + 30 km distances to cover. After all, these short days were good for resting and regaining energy. There were a few days that I cycled against strong wind. It felt like I wasn’t moving at all and making distance of 50 km felt like 100. However, I was super lucky that it did not rain even once during my journey. I used an offline GPS map (OsmAnd), which turned out to be a fair choice. In settings I specifically selected paved cycling routes and it happened only 3 times that it guided me through gravel or forest paths. Fortunately Sweden has good quality roads and many cycling paths going along the way. In other cases they weren’t busy routes, but small ones leading through gorgeous endless forests and patches of fields. Sometimes I could cycle for almost an hour without seeing a car.

These days when I passed through vast forests shimmering with autumn colors and smelling of fallen leaves and pine trees were unquestionably the best but also often the most difficult. Many times these beautiful narrow string-like roads ran through constant ups and downs, having no mercy to my tired legs and back. How I praised these views and at the same time cursed these hills! I passed many lakes; enormous and small ones, all of them filled me with longing for a little wooden house with a window looking out at one of them. I took my breaks camping either besides them or in the woods. I had a snack, scribbled in my journal and stared for a long time into the sky above me thinking of life.

Reflections from the road

A few days into my cycling journey I understood why people so often say that solo trips are mind clearing and heart opening. At first I was more concerned about my gear, distance, condition or my day target, but with time I started to sink into my deep thoughts and reminiscences. I reflected on my past, considered the present and wondered about the future. I went over and over again situations that happened, questioning if they could go other way around and what that would mean for me. But deep inside of me I began to fully understand that there are no rights or wrongs, all of it that happens we should see as a new experience and a lesson. After all I wouldn’t be here if I took a different turn in the past, right? Who knows if I would know my best friends? Or seen places I travelled to? Everything would be different so, – no regrets! – I decided. From now on I will try my best to enjoy whatever world brings on my path and try to learn from my achievements, failures, good and bad choices. And importantly, live this life like I please not like someone tells me I should. Don’t look back at others, because it is me living in my skin and no one can feel or understand what is going on inside me better than I could. It was time to put and end to commonly acclaimed stereotypes and live the way I felt was right for me. And I felt that I don’t want to come back to my regular life. At least not yet and not any time soon. I wanted to reconnect with nature, find fulfillment in my daily work and purpose of it. I decided I would continue WWOOFing after coming back to Spain and slowly discover where it would take me.

Couchsurfing

 Now I was on the route continuing southwest of Sweden. I never slept alone in a tent and thought it might be too cold anyways so I arranged sleepovers through Couchsurfing. I had been using this website for traveling already a couple of times and I always had a positive experience. However, I haven’t thought of the fact that eventually it would be 9 couches in 9 days, each of it after a couple of hours of cycling. Each time approaching my new host I felt exhausted, but once I reached the place I was so excited about meeting new people that my strength and energy came back in no time.

I stayed with all sort of people; families, single mothers and single fathers, students, couples and singles, foreigners like me and local people, on farms and in the woods, in small towns and in the cities. It was a totally amazing experience that nothing can be compared to. I believe that staying in hotels, hostels or even camping wouldn’t be able to give me the same experience. I met lots of interesting and truly inspiring people who gave me the possibility to look into their daily lives and reflect about mine. This way I learned things about Sweden and its people that I wouldn’t be able to read about in any guidebook. Some of my hosts cooked for me traditional or regional Swedish dishes while the others invited me to try their homemade bread, preserves and eggs from their hens. I was even invited to eat at my host’s Grandmother’s home! A few of them took me sightseeing; others showed around their animal farms or were they worked. Many times I talked with my hosts late into the night and with others I watched movies. Usually we ate breakfast together, but on some occasions they went to work early and let me sleep longer and left the keys so that I could let myself out. They were friendly, open-minded and trusting to let me in. But it also took balls to go to all these strangers’ homes without knowing what to expect behind the closed door. Especially the ones in remote places or when my hosts were men. At some point, already on the road for a week I thought that actually no one on earth knows where am I since I didn’t report to anyone. Being a girl travelling alone and sleeping at strangers’ homes can be more risky than for a guy I think. So before arriving at my next destination I texted my best friend giving her a password to my CS account and instructing how to check where and when I should be staying on what day. In case of no contact for 5 days I told her to check the profile and start to look for me. Uff, that already felt better; just knowing that there is one person in the world aware of my whereabouts was strangely comforting. Of course nothing bad or strange happened during my trip and every experience was totally distinct from each other. Some of my hosts actually felt familiar to me even though I had known them for only few hours. It seemed like we’d been friends for months, but really I knew only a small bunch of facts about their lives. Who knows, maybe we’ll meet again one day; I would surely like that!

To wrap it up

After 9 days and about 570 km down southwest of Sweden I arrived on my second WWOOFing farm. From Björnlunda through Nyköping – Norrköping – Linköping – Tranås – Nässjö –Ramkvilla – Växjö – Älmhult and Hässleholm all the way to Södra Rörum in Skåne County. On one hand 570 km seems not much, I thought. I know a few guys who cycled for 1500 or even 2500 km and that’s already something. But on the other hand, I’ve never gone so far by myself on a bike or walking. Actually, I have never cycled for more than 110 km all by myself. And after all, I’m a small girl not a strong big guy, right? I reconsidered my achievement feeling that I was actually very proud of myself. It’s a piece of land that I went through on my loaded shaky vintage bike; with its ups and downs, lots of wind, unknown roads through forests and at times along speeding cars, I made it without any problem or doubt. And there was more to come at the end of this month – I had to get to Copenhagen. However, now I was curious to meet my new hosts and was eager to work again!

 

 

Happy to be back in nature. My last two weeks on the farm. September 2015

City vs. farm lifestyle

I was glad to be back in nature. My weekend trip made me realize that I don’t miss city life at all. The street noise and lights, polluted air, crowds of people always rushing somewhere, car traffic packed buses, long lines in supermarkets, advertising wherever you look, long hours and busy schedules, the society of spending-buying-consuming and good appearance. Of course it’s not only that. The city can be wonderful, enjoyable and fun! There is always something to do, events worth attending, movies that you should see, parties you can’t miss, bars and restaurants you have to visit and people you ought to meet. There are so many cool things going on in the city that you are never able to do all you want and plan. And if you do, afterwards you end up being more tired than happy. That’s at least my personal experience. So I ask myself – do I need all of that to be happy? Do I know how to relax and enjoy the moment? Well, I’m not sure, but I definitely know that all this rush and excitement of constant plans makes me tired, nervous and anxious. I don’t sleep well because of street noise and lights and I certainly go to bed too late and sleep too short. For now farm lifestyle wins 1:0 with the city.

Photo by Taro 

I love to fall asleep in the peaceful quiet and wake up to the misty mornings and sounds of nature. I have never before experienced such silence as in Krogstorps Gård. At night when I was already lying down in my bed there were no sounds at all. At first it felt creepy, but soon I started to cherish it as the most beautiful music. Since the farm was located 2 km from the main road and it was hidden behind forests, lake and fields, there was no car noise at all. The only machines you could here were planes flying from time to time to the airport located about 40 km away. But besides that it was only nature’s symphony – crickets in the grass, birds singing, insects buzzing in the bushes, leaves moving on trees, sometimes cows mooing and goats bleating, deer howling in the woods… once you realized their existence, you heard everything that was moving over there. Incredible pleasure for all your senses.

The art of nature

What I liked the most about the surroundings of the farm was of course the lake and the forest. I took long walks and sat on the little boat piers looking into the water’s surface and at sunsets. It was a breathtaking view when the sky was turning all shades of red, orange, pink, and violet. Birds seemed to be little black squawking dots and the fish were stirring the water. Reeds slowly moving on the wind made relaxing sounds and my mind shifted away peacefully. On the other hand the woods were mysterious and dark. There is nothing else that smells as good as moist temperate mixed forest of the north. Tall pine trees and spruces, soil covered with soggy moss, and of course mushrooms in fall. The vastness of these forests made me feel little and vulnerable and my imagination was going wild. Often in the evenings when the air was cooling down and the sun was setting the mist would drift like ghosts through the ups and downs of the fields. If you were lucky you could also see a pair of deer coming out of the woods into pastures. As September is the beginning of the mating season, deer were howling loudly sometimes both day and night. It’s a terrifying sound when you hear it for the first time, especially without knowing from where and whom it comes from. Deer doesn’t sound like any animal known to me. Actually I don’t know if I could compare it to anything. But thanks to the mating season they were coming closer to the farm and I could often observe them from not too far. Absolutely beautiful creatures.

Before Isabelle left Krogstorps Gård we went on a small boat excursion. We borrowed the boat from the Peterslunds and rowed to one of the islands on the lake. We found evidence of beavers’ existence and hugged many trees (well, mostly I did the hugging.) On the way back… it was a bit tough, as we didn’t think before of rowing against the wind that was blowing pretty hard on that day. There were moments of consternation, but we made it to the shore. A few days later I made an extreme effort to wake up at 4.30 am and cycle in the total darkness winning over my fear of it (with all these scary sounds coming out of hollow blackness of the forest) to the Peterslunds’ farm where I met with Jerzy, a Polish volunteer, with whom I went fishing. We took the boat and rowed into the darkness of the lake observing how everything wakes up slowly. Man, the sunrise on the lake was a precious experience that I would repeat as many times as possible if I ever have the chance again.

New WWOOFer, horses and trip to Mariefred

A few days after Isabelle left, another WWOOFer arrived on our farm, Taro, a German-Japanese recent university graduate. We didn’t have many days to get to know each other very well as soon I left. However, the work together was peaceful and pleasant. We cleared the cucumber field and added animal compost to the soil, fought another war with caterpillars and prepared the stables for the arrival of the horses. Right! I didn’t mention yet that we were about to have two horses on our farm. A week earlier went with Hans to the horse farm from which we were taking the young one. I had an amazing experience as one of the horses fell asleep with its head on my chest when I was petting it. Wow, the connection with these animals is incredible and so calming. I hope that one day I will have a chance to do WWOOFing on a farm with horses. Ours arrived just a few days before I left. They were beautiful and a bit afraid at the beginning. They came from two different owners, but happily they got along without any problems or fights.

One day on the weekend we went with other volunteers on a trip to Mariefred. It’s a pretty town located about 35 km from our farms. It has the Royal Gripsholm Castle located by the lake (of course) and a railway museum that seems to be a big attraction there. During our walk around the town I found a cemetery where there stands a monument slab in memory of Polish soldiers fighting in the Second World War. History seems to be following us wherever we go.

Photo by Taro

Last days on the farm and new WWOOF perspective

My last days on the farm were peaceful and quiet. I was thinking a lot about the cycling journey I was about to start soon. I didn’t feel like leaving the farm already, I wasn’t ready yet to go back to the city. Then, a brilliant though came to me. I will find another WWOOFing place in Sweden! The idea was great, but the weather was the problem. I badly wanted to cycle all the way to Copenhagen and that was around 700-800 km depending on the route and the weather was getting colder day by day. Riding in the rain and cold is not very pleasurable, I can tell that from my own experience in the Netherlands this May. I decided to search for a farm located close to the Danish boarder. Luckily there were three of them urgently looking for volunteers. Only one of them seemed to meet my expectations and besides it sounded very interesting. It was run by a couple of retired professors, one of which is a specialist in sustainable living, grey water purification and permaculture. It sounded like a great place for me, so I wrote to them. After few days of waiting they replied that I was welcome to come and stay with them for a week. Yes, so that was my new destination! Afer about 600 km of cycling ahead of me there was Prästabonnens Gård, my second WWOOFing experience.

 

New WWOOFer on our farm and trip to Stockholm and Uppsala – reunion with my oldtime friend. September 2015

New WWOOFer arrives and “war” on caterpillars

Isabelle weed whacking

After over a week of peaceful solitude my first voluntary companion arrived – Isabelle, a German student. I think that straight away I felt that I would get along with this girl. She was very mature as for her young age and absolutely optimistic. While working together we shared our past and made up funny stories related to the place and task we were working on at the moment. We had great laughs and at times profound confessions. Isabelle liked to sing and she did it very well, so I always asked her for some songs. On these days when we worked together we discovered that we had a plague of caterpillars in the vegetable garden. They were almost everywhere. It was insane and terrifying, they had eaten up lots of plants. One of our tasks was to pick caterpillars and drown them in the bucket of water. Later we sprayed veggies with a natural plant spray. We called this job “war on caterpillars”: “caterpillars’ invasion vol.1” and “mission total destruction.” Even though it wasn’t the greatest task ever I can assure you that we had loads of fun. Unfortunately, some days later we noticed that these beasts were back, so we had “caterpillars invasion vol.2” and of course a “mission total destruction vol.2.” I have never seen so many caterpillars at once. They look pretty and innocent, but if you have a vegetable garden they are your enemy number one.

Weekend trip – Stockholm

Eventually for the weekend I planned to visit Stockholm and my friend Katarina in Uppsala. She’s the girl who convinced me that Sweden was perfect place for my journey. We had known each other for 10 years already. We met at college in the USA and since then we have been friends. But there is also Paula, a Spanish girl who was a third member of our super cool trio. Paula lives in Barcelona and since I moved there I’ve been seeing her as often as I can. Sometimes I think about our college days and I’m fascinated by the fact that it’s been already 10 years since then, three of us moved back to Europe and we still keep in touch and try to see each other whenever it’s possible. I hope that in another 50 years nothing will change.

Stockholm

So I went to Stockholm on a Friday afternoon. I was very excited about meeting Katarina, but not about going to a CITY. I was the happiest person in the world on my secluded farm hidden in the woods and didn’t feel like melting into the crowd of people and cars. But I did. After all, you just can’t be so close to Stockholm and not visit it, right? Besides, after hearing so much in superlatives about it I expected the city to be fascinating. I will be completely honest here – it’s nice, it’s pretty, but it’s not as breathtaking as Swedish nature. Definitely out of all in Sweden I prefer their forests and lakes to any city I had seen during my stay. I walked around the city center and old town for a few hours. It has some beautiful views as it is in great part surrounded by the water, and it has harming architecture and neat streets and shops. Thankfully it is pretty small for a capital so the traffic wasn’t that bad and I didn’t feel completely overwhelmed by wild crowds of people. During my walk in Gamla Stan (the Old Town) unintentionally I found myself in front of Tyska Kyrkan, the Old German Church from the XVI century. On the pin board it said that at 6 pm there would be a Vivaldi concert performed by New Hamburg Philharmonics. Perfect! I had been dreaming about going to a classical music concert for the past few days and here it was happening right in front of me in that charming little church. For about an hour and a half I absolutely forgot about the whole outside world. The music was marvelous and the atmosphere of the church with rays of sunlight entering through the stained glass was spectacular. I walked out feeling a bit dizzy and moved and slowly walked my way to the train station from where I went to Uppsala.

Uppsala – friends’ reunion

Katarina was waiting for me on the train station. I had been dreaming of this moment for the past 10 years, I finally made it to visit her! It was pretty late at night so we had a supper at home and caught up before going to bed. Tomorrow was a big day – annual Uppsala’s Culture Day and a brunch with her sisters.

For brunch we went to an open-air restaurant where she always goes with her sisters on that very day. As per her sisters’ annual tradition we had exquisite oysters and champagne. Pretty fancy beginning of the day! In America I met only one of Katarina’s siblings and now I had the pleasure of meeting the other one plus her husband and children. All together they seemed like perfect family, you could tell right away that they are very close and love each other. Seeing them made me think again of my family and how I always wished to have siblings. I have a fantastic half sister, who I love dearly, but she’s 17 years younger than me and unfortunately I see her only occasionally. However, I hope that one day when she grows up we will talk and see each other more.

Uppsala Cathedral

After our superb brunch the girls took me for a trip around Uppsala, which is the 4^th biggest city in Sweden. It is home to the oldest University in Sweden and therefore many students, and because of its close distance to Stockholm (about 70 km) it is a common choice for many people working in Stockholm to live. Still, it is quite small and doesn’t have high buildings or skyscrapers. Definitely it has its own charm. I liked it a lot. I was lucky, because Katarina’s friend who joined us used to be a guide of Uppsala Cathedral, where among many rest King Gustav Vasa and Gustavianum, and there is a XVII century anatomical theater. I got a very detailed and interesting tour and afterwards we headed home for some rest. In the evening we went out to see some Asian street dances and for beers. It was a lovely day and I wished I could stay longer, but on Sunday it was time to go back to my farm.
Katarina joined me on a trip to Stockholm where we decided to do some more sightseeing before catching my train to Gnesta. We went to Skansen – an enormous open-air museum and zoo that replicates the way of life in different parts of Sweden before the industrial age and animals living in the country. It is located on one of the city islands from were the views are gorgeous. Among all different animals I had seen there were of course deer and reindeers. But seeing them captured over there made me sad. After all I believe that all animals should be free and where they belong instead of serving our curiosity in places like a zoo or Oceanarium.

 

My friend walked me back to the train station and we promised to see each other as soon as possible. I went back to Krogstorps Gård with my head full of thoughts.

 

Journey begins: Sweden and 1st WWOOF – Krogstorps Gård. September 2015

Sweden at last

After spending a beautiful and extremely hot August in Poland I set off to finally begin my Scandinavian journey. I took the ferry from Gdańsk to Nynäshamn, a harbor town on the
east coast of Sweden, about 60 km from Stockholm. I have to admit that the choice to travel by sea was an absolutely fantastic idea. I think that sailing gives you a totally different perspective on your travel, adding to it a sort of magic and making it dreamlike. When it comes to the comforts – I just biked in, left it locked in the car garage below the deck, took the panniers with me and found myself one of the airplane chairs that I reserved before. It was super simple and easy to arrange and comfortable to sleep. I didn’t have to worry about dissembling the bike and packing it in the box how I usually have to do while flying. If I will ever again have the opportunity and time to travel this way I most definitely do it.

After 18 hours of sailing, during which I mostly slept, or otherwise watched the sea from the deck, I arrived in Sweden. My first time ever in Scandinavia, which I desperately wanted to visit for so many years. I was super excited and curious about everything that was waiting for me out there in the “new” land. Honestly, you can laugh, but I almost felt like Columbus discovering New World. Arriving by sea is so incomparable with anything else. You see how slowly the land is becoming bigger and bigger, you pass by small islands and then finally you start recognizing shapes of buildings and houses, water splashing and engines of the ferry working furiously.

The surprise awaited me already ashore. I got a text from my first Swedish couchsurfer Jonas saying that he was awaiting me in the harbor. I was supposed to cycle to Södertälje and meet him there, but instead he cycled 65 km to pick me up and accompany me to where he lived. I can’t imagine a better beginning of a journey, right? On top of that he turned out to be a super nice and interesting person with plenty of his own amazing travelling stories. As we had lots in common we spoke long into the night without being able to finish any subject.

Arriving in Krogstorps Gård

After breakfast I took off to my first WWOOFing farm. I had 55 km to cycle to Krogstorps Gård situated in the nearby town called Gnesta. The route was incredibly picturesque. I couldn’t believe my eyes – the views, oh my, the views were completely breathtaking! All these endless forests of tall trees, plentiful lakes with tiny islands and gorgeous red and white wooden houses! In just few minutes I already knew that Sweden was the best choice I could make for my journey. I’ve been always in love with forests and lakes and here this combination seemed to be the norm, surrounding me from all possible sides. It’s an absolute truth that nature in Sweden is amazing and mind-blowing.

Krogstorps Gård turned out to be just as I imagined my dreamlike Swedish farm – in a good distance from the main street, surrounded by beautiful forests and fields, with two red and white wooden houses and with a very large lake just about 10-15 minutes walking distance. My hosts, Hans and Peter and their friend Mona welcomed me warmly and I was shown around the whole farm. On about 14 hectares they have cows, sheep, goats, chickens, geese, two horses (that were brought about a week before I left), two cats, a dog, greenhouses, a vegetable garden and a few apple and plum trees. I stayed on their organic farm for a month. I enjoyed every bit of it and I’m glad this farm was my first WWOOFing experience. It confirmed my interest in nature, plants and animals and encouraged me to continue exploring the world of natural farming through voluntary work.

Krogstorps Gård was also my first farm experience. I have never before worked with animals or plants. Thus, my knowledge about them was very basic or in some cases none. I was a city person for most of my life so please take into consideration that sometimes I might be explaining things that are potentially for most of you obvious and regular whereas for me they are new and curious.

All the farm animals in Krogstorps Gård (except the cats and the dog of course) are rare and endangered Swedish breeds. The cows and goats were not milked for our use as they fed it to their young offsprings. However, we ate the eggs of the chickens and they were delicious. Hans and Peter grow from a seed and sell organic tomato and pepper plants. Also they have a butcher’s license and plan in the near future to prepare a room for slaughtering in the barn. Soon they will be preparing and selling their own organic meat as well. They had been also working regular jobs in the city (full and part-time) to make ends meet. They are a good example that you can combine both things – having a farm and a job outside of it. It might not be easy, but definitely possible.

Morning animal round and WWOOF schedule

 My usual day began with a morning animal round at 7:30 am. First I went to chickens to let them out into their fenced “chicken garden”, check on water, food and if there are any eggs laid. Next I filled buckets with water for geese and let them out. After that I went to check all animal fields; changed the water in the buckets, checked if the electric fences work and if they have salt and mineral stones. I or another WWOOFer repeated the same round in the evening before the supper.

At 8 am we had breakfast at my hosts house where all the meals were eaten all together. We spoke of things that needed to be done and after short break started working. Around 12 or 1pm we gathered for a big lunch with a hot meal. Usually we had about 45 min up to one hour break afterwards. On occasions before lunch we went for a walk with Peter or Mona and Rosso, the dog. Some days Sophia, my hosts’ cute baby daughter was on the farm and then we took walks with her. We worked normally until 4.30 or 5.30 pm. It dependent on the day, tasks and breaks we had. About 6.30-7.30 pm when Hans and Peter were back from work we had supper. Always one of us made sure that chickens were back in the henhouse, geese in their shed and all animals had water.

As a definitely not-a-morning person I thought at first that it would be a challenge to wake up so early, but it turned out that it actually was the best way to begin a new day! I loved to walk around the fields and welcome all the animals in the early morning when the sun was rising; the grass was covered with mist and everything was slowly waking up to life. Later on I understood why I always hated getting up early. The problem was not related to the early hour but with the purpose for which I had to leave my cozy warm bed. As a teenager I was afraid of a test or a teacher at school; as an adult I often suffered going to work I didn’t like or enjoy. Well, also sometimes my boss or manager was a total asshole to be honest. And I need time to wake up well in the morning and I don’t like to be asked questions or talked to too much. That’s actually the only time of the day when I don’t like to talk. I know it’s hard to believe but that’s a fact. Now it turned out that getting up early could be a really nice habit. No questions or talks, no one wanted anything from me and I didn’t have to answer a “super urgent” bunch of emails; it was only the chickens, geese, goats, sheep, cows and I. Perfect companions for a starter!

I love goats

 As I said before I had never before been to an animal farm neither had any experience with farm animals. It was an absolutely new thing to me. Quickly I realized that I’m very fond of… goats! The four rams lived in a field just behind my cottage so that I could see them through my windows. Sometimes I liked to sit reading my book on the big rocks in their field and they always kept me company following me wherever I went. They even liked to be petted and reacted when called, just like dogs but with horns 🙂 There was also Inga, a little female goat, who always came running and screaming, climbed on my legs and gave goat kisses.

One of the interesting things that I have learnt about horns of goats and sheep is that they are made of living bone where blood circulates, which makes them warm of course. I always thought that they were like finger nails – dead skin cells. Eyes of goats are also quite cool since they have horizontal slit-shaped pupils that are much more noticeable than in cattle or sheep, because of their pale irises. In September the breeding season commenced and rams smelled very intensively as they produced a special odor that makes them more attractive to females. The scent glands are located at the base of their horns. After learning about that I understood why one of the boys, Nisse, liked to rub his horns on me…

In the mornings I gave the boys fresh branches. I quickly noticed that they don’t like all types of them. Sometimes as a treat I also gave them apples that had fallen down the tree before getting ripe. Both goats and sheep are crazy about apples. One of my tasks was to collect fresh branches and hang them for drying in preparation for winter season and cleaning rams’ shed, which took me hours and dozens of wheelbarrows of last year’s hay.

A few words about chickens and apple tree pruning

 In my first days on the farms I also learnt a bit about chickens. We had about 15 hens and a rooster (which unfortunately and surprisingly I found dead one morning.) We let them out of the henhouse in the morning, but kept in the fenced area until after lunchtime. Generally
the reason for that were the eggs, which they would lay all around the farm otherwise. We never took the eggs first thing in the morning so that they wouldn’t get scared that they were gone. We collected them after lunch. (photo of me holding eggs) One day I found out that anyhow one of the hens had four little gorgeous chicks. We placed a special chicken house inside their henhouse and put the mother and her little ones in there. They stayed there for a few days until the little chicks got bigger. The hen mother was super protective. Whenever I was opening the cage to put some food and change the water I had to be very careful as she was aggressive and tried to bite my hand. Good Mama!

One day Peter took me pruning apple trees at the neighbor’s farm. I had no idea that it is such a complex task that needs a lot of knowledge of trees. Depending of what you want to gain (for instance to get more fruit or get branches growing in certain directions) you have to cut them in a precise way. He explained to me only the basics and it already seemed pretty complicated. Still, I think pruning is a very pleasant work that makes you appreciate trees even more. I will try to learn more about it in the future.

Our WWOOF neighbors and Annual Organic Market Fair

About two kilometers from us there was another WWOOFing farm run by a lovely vegetarian couple, the Peterslunds. One day my hosts arranged a visit for me at their farm. I spent half a day helping Malin to harvest, clean and pack beetroots, chard, and tomatoes. They are a part of association of organic farmers who deliver veggie boxes on demand and sell at organic market fairs. Peterslunds’s farm has 1.5 ha of all sorts of vegetables: beetroots, kale, cabbage, carrots, broccoli, Brussels sprout, lettuce, leek, tomatoes, zucchini and more. A beautiful view!

Malin explained me a lot about growing certain veggies and one of the things that was new and surprising to me was the fact that tomato plant contains small amounts of the toxic alkaloid tomatine. Also the fruit pollen that covers them is better not to be consumed. Of course only in great amounts, no worries if you have few tomatoes straight from the branch! However, it is always better to wash them first before eating. She also showed me how to pick ripe fruits by breaking the little joint on the branch close to the tomato. This way they come out easily without breaking the fruit. Malin and her husband had been receiving volunteers already for about eight years. There were 3 of them coming soon, among which one was Polish and arriving also on a bike! Malin invited me to join them at Sunday’s annual organic market fair that was held in a town a few kilometers away. It was a big eco event and of course I was eager to take part in it.

Unfortunately it was very rainy on that day but anyways we happily went to the market fair. Two of the WWOOFers that arrived on Peterslunds’ farm were German (a girl and a boy) and a Polish guy. All of them seemed to be very nice, joyful and young. The market fair was very big and pretty crowded; besides piles of deliciously looking veggies it had all sorts of handmade things of organic materials – clothes, cosmetics, jewelry, carpentry etc. It was set up on the property of a school that holds classes of organic farming and gardening for adults and children. We helped the Peterslunds’ a bit at their stand and walked around the market and gardens of the school. I got myself super comfy and warm woolen socks that are a treasure during rainy and cold days and nights. We agreed with other WWOOFers to get together on the weekend and do an excursion into the woods or to one of the towns in the neighborhood. Even though so far I enjoyed my solitude, it sounded like a great plan and I was looking forward to it!