Please don't

Valentine's Day is approaching and sadly many people will be buying and gifting roses and flowers. 

Please, please before you do so, watch this documentary and rethink your decision about buying or receiving roses.

The flower industry is so damaging to the environment and the communities where these rose and flowers farms are set. Instead of gifting roses/flowers gift the person you care for some seeds or a potted plant that you potted yourself. Please, there are One Billion persons who can not afford 3 meals a day like us, so do not be selfish and think of them too.

I personally never gift roses/flowers or receive them, unless I have grown them myself. And if a man gifts me store-bought flowers/roses, I will kick him on the ass and shut the door firmly behind him and never see him again, ha-ha. I know this is severe but I believe if someone doesn't care about the underprivileged, the poor, the weak, the needy, he will never really care bout me or anyone else. This earth belongs to all of us and we HAVE to think of those who have less than us. 

The sad thing is the line between necessity and commodity, between what is vital for our living and what-is-not had vanished. :(

Our Days

 We have been having a very severe weather and the only ones that seem to enjoy it are Kiwi and Luna! Despite the snow and the freezing cold they spend most of the morning and part of the afternoon frolicking in the snow! I have been quiet, reading, thinking of some projects, planning my new vegetable plot (I will  move into a bigger one, further from the current one; and will plant some berries on the current one) I will plant some blueberries and blackberries. Before I started growing my veggies and fruit, I used to hate winter and yearn for summer and hot days. I still love summer and hot days but certainly I do not hate winter and I tend to enjoy each season and revel in its beauty and bounty. I now know that each season is very important for mother nature, so I love and enjoy each one of them. I do not rush things, and I apply this new philosophy even to my personal life. I do not rush anything and let things take their own course.

 Anyway, I get my apples from a small co-op of small local and organic producers. I got about 10 kilos  in December and they are almost gone now. I'm going to get more and I hope I will be able to get my hands on a dehydrator soon (thanks Ely for introducing me to yours, as I have been looking for one for ages here with no success!) I'm so excited to use it for drying tomato this summer.

 I finally opened the last pumpkin and it was delicious, small but good.

 I made a tomato soup; it is a North African recipe; I used some of  my tomatoes which I put in the freeze last summer.

 I also baked some apples with raisins, oat and sugar. Luna wanted some too :)

Gosh, these jars are disappearing so fast. I gifted a lot of them but kept a lot for me too. I opened the jar of pears and they were so delicious. I devoured the small jar of apricots too :) I will certainly make more this summer. I have been looking and searching for new preserving recipes and I'm so excited to be making more this year. plus the drying of some of my produce. 

Slow living

Hand-operated washing machine

I firmly believe in slow living, that is to do things the slow way whether it is cooking or cultivating land or creating or producing, etc. I believe this is not only good for one own health, as when you live slow you take it easy and really enjoy life and food, but also it is good for the environment. Slow farming and producing means you plant only things that belong to your region, you plant only seasonal, you plant only a small field that can be harvested by hand. Slow living rejects all (or most) electric equipments that run on electricity or fuel.  

I have been embracing this style of living for  a long while now but I have to admit that I use a washing machine now (I lived without one for years) It is not mine and I'm determined that when I move to my tiny smallholding, I will get myself a hand-operated wonder wash (see photo above) I found this on a website and loved it. You just put your dirty clothes and water and soap (I will be using mine) and just crank that handle. I also do not have a dishwasher and will never have one. I do not own a fridge but I use one at the moment; I will not have one when I move out. Most of the kitchen gadgets I have, which are very few, are operated manually, like vegetable mill, a good wooden mortar for grinding spices, garlic or making pestos. I make everything manually by hand and very slowly :)

Slow living means you do things slowly and savour the moment; it means you take your time to do things and if you haven't finish your task, it is ok, you can finish it tomorrow. But what it is beautiful about slow living is that fact that you will be able to do everything and have time to rest and relax and enjoy life! How come if you do things manually? Because you are doing few things, because you own few clothes so you do not spend the whole day doing laundry, because you plant a small field, you do not spend many days harvesting your grains or veggies or fruit (just a day maybe or half a day); because you have few goats or sheep, you do not spend the whole day feeding them or milking them. You simply own few things and as a result, you spend less time working. 

The point is we need to slow down to protect this earth, we need to own few things to protect the earth, we need to do things manually, first to move our bodies, second to cut waste and dependency on fuel. Not only we will be saving mother earth but also saving money that we can put into a good cause, like sponsoring an orphan or rescuing, treating and feeding stray animals, etc. 

Slow living means you savour your food, you take your time growing it, cooking it and eating it. You become more aware of the beauty around you; you become more conscious and sensitive and more attentive to people and animals around you. 

Slow living is the key to all today's problems. No stress, no need for medication or visits to doctors or  gyms; no sick leaves; no breakdowns; no mood swings; no anger or road rages, no nothing. Just peaceful, harmonious and full life. 

Try it and you will not regret. 

Our Days!

 On the farm there are more than 50 laurel trees (bay leaves) and I wonder if anyone has an idea if there is anything I can do with them, apart from using in cooking of course. Any idea of something I can make from them and sell to generate a bit of money?

The weather has been so mild, it feels like spring already, which is bad news for all the fruit trees that started to sprout! Though, we are expecting some snow from Tomorrow. I made about 10 jars of organic orange jam and turned out so delicious. I gave away quite few and everyone loved it. My friend Ina said: It is special jam :) I kept about 5 for myself and once I dress their heads with nice cover, I will take photos of them and post them here.

 Here is Kiwi sleeping on my sofa. He likes to sleeps like that! He has become thin and I'm worried about him. I will take him and Luna next week to do the vaccine and I will talk to the vet regarding the noise he makes when he sniffs things or just walk sometimes. 

 And here is the beautiful Luna :) She has been very good lately and I'm very pleased. :)

 I cooked a lot and this quiche is one of the stuff I made. It is crustless and wheat-free.  I posted the recipe in previous post.

And risotto with peas I grew last summer :)

Happy 2015 to you all :)

 This is where I live; click on photo for a better view. It is so beautiful.

Well, happy new year every one; I hope 2015 will be filled with good health, good ethical (preferably grown by you) food, good company, good deeds, and lots of laughter. I spent last night home despite being invited to a new year party held at my friend Stella's house. I decided to stay at home because we had a lot of snow and it was freezing outside; it was -10! As I only use a wood-burning stove to heat my place, I thought by the time I come back from the party, my house would be frozen :) Plus I was tired and just went to bed at 10 pm! Anyway, this morning I woke up early, made a nice coffee and porridge and sat by the fire and read a bit. Then head out to feed the critters. It was freezing and I had to return home few times to defrost myself, haha. 

 Then, around 11 am, I got going with the cooking. I made few things, tomato soup with chickpeas, roasted red peppers (I preserved some peppers from my plot in summer) and cumin (it was so yummy), gluten-free pasta in pesto (During summer I made lots of pesto from basil from my plot and froze them in ice cubes, then deposited the cubes in a bag and back to the freezer; every now and then I would get a cube and use it), roasted veggies and apple crisp. If you click the photo, you will see two things in the oven too : Apple crisp and roasting some veggies.

 Here are Kiwi and Luna. Kiwi has been a very good boy; Luna not so good but ok. After spending all the morning and afternoon out in this freezing weather, she is now crying wanting to go out! Of course not.

 I made this mashed potato and some tomato sauce with mushrooms few days ago. It was delicious.

I love roasting oranges with potatoes. Try it, so yummy. In winter I get 10 kilos of organic oranges from the co-op; I had my first ten kilos in November and I made some orange jam; so yesterday I ordered another 10 kilos, plus 5 kilos of organic apples. I want to dry some apples. 

My Homemade Christmas 2014

 I made this wreath from leaves and small pomegranates that were inedible. I have 4 trees on the farm and they produced like crazy. I made a syrup with an ancient recipe used in Albania! It is so easy, I just couldn't believe myself. I will share with photos of the syrup I made.

Happy Christmas everyone. I do hope that you all had a good one. Mine was good, full of good food and some gifts :)  The last two days before Christmas were very busy; I made lots of tea loaves and cookies and gave them to my friends, most of them were farmers. I also made some lavender sacks and gave them to some friends; also lost of jars of homemade jams and chutneys were given to some friends. All the gifts cost me about 20 euros! And I didn't set a foot inside any shop or supermarket, yaya. 24 December I made a nice cake and went to visit my old friend Giovani. If you read old posts you will know more about him. Anyway, he is in his mid 80s and lives alone; he has a nasty niece who didn't even call him to wish him a merry Christmas! Anyway, I went to visit him and he was so happy  to see me :) 

 On 25 December, I woke up early, made myself a nice cup of coffee and an almond mini cake, see above photo. Then I watched Little Lulu on youtube, haha. This is my tradition and I love it. Then I went out to feed the animals and check all is ok, then I had a nice hot shower, got ready and went to my friend Stella'a house for a Christmas feast. I ate like a pig and returned  home with a full belly and happy face :)   ( did you see the little wooden spoon in the photo above? It was a gift from a farmer friend! I've never met one single Italian who doesn't have no artistic skill! It is amazing, all seem to possess artistic skills!

Oh, and of course I opened the sack Santa left for me through the chimney, hehe. It was from my landlady full of dried beans, corn flour, chickpeas flours, dates, and other goodies.

 I baked these sweet/savory biscuits. They are wonderful with good cheese and homemade chutney. They are made with oat and flour and very easy to make. I can post the recipe if anyone interested. 

 26 December I ate a lot of Brussels Sprouts. Italians do not eat them and I am lucky to have a farmer friend who is a vegetarian and grows them! The chili was harvested from my plot and kept in the freeze. I have a big zipper bag full of fresh hot chili in my freezer.

 I also made a nice soup with cauliflower and lots of spinach.

And I went for a nice walk before snow and arctic weather hit us today. It is freezing and finally winter is here. We had a very mild weather; it felt like Autumn through out November and December, up to today!

Anyway, I hope you all had a good Christmas and remember the joy of Christmas is giving not receiving; also do not think of what others had or how they spent their day, just try to make the most of it with the little things you have. I have no money and it is so hard here but that was never a problem to me. Money doesn't bring happiness; I gift homemade stuff and they bring so much joy to the receivers and to me.

The Art of Living

To live off the grid is an amazing experience I would not replace or exchange with anything else in this world. I will never go back to my old life of a city person working from 9 to 5 to pay for rent, bills and stupid things; to be stressed, depressed and sick (lots of health issues and allergies which they are all gone now).

Living off the grid gives you freedom, happiness, joy; you connect with the earth and the food you produce, you connect with animals, with the wind, with snow, with rain; you become a peaceful person, glowing with health and inner peace and satisfaction. I just have no words to describe what I feel and goes through me. All I can say is I've never been this happy, joyful, optimistic, peaceful, content, merciful. thoughtful, humane, sincere as I am now. I just discovered the art of living and happiness.

 But, living off the grid requires a lot of hard work (which I donot mind at all and love). One of the basic rule to be off the grid is to be self-sufficient, growing your own food and preserving it. I had to learn everything by myself. I searched blogs; I bought and read books and I managed to learn from my mistakes. And I can now say that I can can, preserve and pickle anything. I also dry food and on my wishing list is a dehydrator (I have to save and scarp to save up for one but I will do) I need to dry may fruits and make fruit leather.

Anyway, from mid summer till late autumn I metamorphosis into an ant that store food. The preserving marathon starts mid summer and I spend days just doing that. It is hard work but the end result is just amazing. The satisfaction one gets at the sight of these jars that sparkle like jewels is priceless. 

 I can proudly say that my cantina is brimming full with many jars of tomato sauces, different types of jams, different types of chutneys, pickled cucumber and onions, pickled pepper and artichoke under extra virgin olive oil, preserved apricots, preserved pears, other types of salsa, chili, and many more. 

Some of these jars will be given to friends as Christmas gifts and I will enjoy the rest in cold winter nights in stews, tagines or on homemade bread and good organic cheese from the local friend farmer.

I grow most of the veggies myself, so they are organic; and the ones I did not grow, I got from a local organic farmer. The fruits too, all organic. 

Ok, I'm off to crack open a jar of good chutney, prepare a place of some organic savory biscuits I made, load some good organic cheese, sit on my comfy sofa in front of the blazing open fire, put my feet up, stroke my kitties and enjoy :)  Ahh, this is the good life. This is the Art of Living. 

Meet Dandy

Ladies and gentlemen, here is Dandy, the little kitten I rescued few weeks ago. He now lives with is new human mama in another city and so happy and live an amazing life. I'm so delighted :)

My green,simple and ethical life

My yearly supply of organic, cold-pressed and local (from a small farm; he is a friend of mine) olive oil has arrived. Each year I get between 8 and 10 liters of it :) 

I live a very green, simple and ethical life. How I do it? Well, I grow most of my veggies; I only eat local and seasonal and organic produce (the stuff I do not grow or have, like the olive oil above); I never shop at supermarket and shop from local small farms; I make lots of stuff at home like butter, buttermilk; I preserve my food (wait for the photos of the stuff I made, you would faint, hehe); I haven't bought any clothes in years and get my clothes secondhand from my friends, etc. Here are some photos of the stuff I do to live a green life.

 I get my yogurt and raw organic milk from another small organic farm. One week I get 1 liter and the next one I get 2 liters. I make buttermilk and butter. And I return the empty bottles to the farmer and he gives me back 30 cents! Amazing; the organic raw milk is cheaper than the supermarket and I generate no waste. I love it.

 Some of the buttermilk and butter I make

 Last year I built a tiny greenhouse to start my seedlings but this year my friend's husband has built me a big one, yay. To save money and cut on waste I collect my own seeds as well, like tomatoes, pumpkin, basil, zucchinis, aubergines, etc. It is very easy to do so, I highly recommend it if you are living off the grid or just want to live a green life.

 Ok, this is just food. I love cooking but I do not use any fancy recipes, just what I have and in season. I do not like too sweet stuff, so I tend to make my own version of stuff. This is an apple galette/strudel

 Ok, roll the drums please. Here is Ms Fustoq, my typewriter. I got it this summer in a secondhand market. It is a secondhand but still new! I need to learn how to use it though :)

 Another pear and fig galette I made this autumn. I used buckwheat and it was delicious

And I rescue and feed lots and lots of stray cats. This beauty came to the farm last december. she was sick, scared and starving. I took her to the vet and she came back healthy. I named her Isabella and she answers to bella and Izzy :) she is so so cute but a bit grumpy. Now, I have a new kitten I rescued 3 weeks ago; he is so so beautiful, dark grey with blue eyes. I named him Signore Dandy Notte. Someone might be interested in adopting him. She spoke with me on the phone today and Im pleased. She seemed very nice and she loves animals. 

The veggies I grew this summer

look at this monstrous tomato!

 Here is a tour to show you some of the veggies I grew this summer. 

Of course the first one was tomato. It was not a great success like last year but still I didn't buy any tomatoes for daily consumption. I only bought few kilos from a small organic local farm to make salsas because mine did not produce enough.

 2- Zucchinis  were not a great success either, still I never bought any

 3-Chili were a great success and will plant more next year

 Yellow Zucchini 

 4-cucumbers were a success and one of the plants is still producing!

 5-Cherry Tomatoes

 More chili

6- Fat Gherkins 

 7- Potatoes were a success and huge! I will certainly plant more next year

8-  Aubergines were great and most of the plants are still producing!

More tomatoes

I also planted peppers, chard, salads, and all different types of herbs