The F-Word: The Stackable Garden Part 3 Harvestime and the Cops

Yesterday we harvested the first fruits of our composting and planting project from the stackable garden, enjoying peppery, crisp red and green lettuce and basil leaves. Sadly the other vegetation is proving a bit slower to to sprout and has suffered from the heavy storms of the last two weeks and hidden enemies nibbling away at them. Dominick discovered (thank you internet!) that those responsible for holding the foliage hostage to their appetites were miniscule red spider mites, who hide out on the underside of the leaves, quietly decimating them unseen. So we are making some home-made insectides of garlic, vinegar and cayene to target them and most of it should be salvageable.

   I decided today was a good time to tackle the borders of weeds and the leaves and general debris that came with the storms. Plus gardening seemed an excellent distraction from working out with my kettle bells (although I still beat my current record and reached 800). I managed to fill four garbage sacks with weeds and leaves, but left just enough to keep the habitat eco-friendly or should I say: gecko-friendly. We need the lizard population to help with the flies, but they like leaves and general coverage for their attacks as well as shelter, so some must remain to keep them happy.

Having scrubbed most of the dirt from my face, knees and hands I trekked down to the bins down the road with a couple of other bags of recycling - bottles, jars and cans. And I got "pulled over" (if a pedestrian can technically be detained as such) by the police. I had no idea what he was saying except he kept saying the word NO, actually yelling it and the word 'siete' which is seven. From this I conjectured that 8 bags were too many and I could only deposit 7 and so I 'lo siento-ed', with more deference than I felt, and continued to put bags in and separate out the bottles and plastics and metals. At this point the 50-something moustachioed cop hooted the horn loudly and got out of the van and started really yelling at me. Something that hasn't really happened to me since 1991 when I was at school. He was so animated I couldn't understand a word and was feeling rather worried. Had I accidentally committed the unforgivable crime of putting a plastic item in the glass bin or vice versa?   

  Finally, and rather angrily, he drew me to a tiny sign on the road side of the last bin and I understood that he was trying to say rubbish can't be deposited during the day - only at night. I felt very stupid, but also somewhat annoyed - I'm on foot, I don't see signs on the roadside because I am approaching from the pavement, not the road. Maybe you could put the sign on all the bins on both sides. Luckily my not very advanced Spanish prevented me from arguing and getting myself into anymore trouble. And so I had to bring all the weeds back. I guess we could just burn them since we can't use them for compost, but there is probably a rule about fires during the day, which is probably wise given it's a pretty hot day and already in the 70's....

   On the positive side I do like the fact that there is so little crime that the local police have little else to do but see kids across the road and pounce on unsuspecting emigres attempting to dispose of rubbish outside the correct hours for doing so.

The F-Word Part 8: The Wise Women of the Canaries

  The Canary Islands have gone through times of prosperity and economic hardship. Right now is a downturn for most of Spain's provinces, as well as much of Europe. But once upon a time they were nothing to do with Spain and relatively autonomous. I've been trying to learn as much of the history as I can from local publications and internet research but the material is sparse.

  Fuerteventura has a population of around 103,000. When I think that I used to live in a suburb near London that had twice that in the space of a few square miles, it seems incredible. However unemployment is beginning 2013 at 33.7% for the 2.3 million residents of the seven sister islands:

 

In the three weeks after we arrived and had no internet I took to researching everything I could about the island the old fashioned way books, newspapers and magazine articles. I tried to piece together some of the history of the islands and their connection to the rest of the world.

 

We knew already that there were archaelogical discoveries of ancient civilisations from our trip to the little fishing hamlet Pozo Negro or Black Well. On our first visit here in January 2012 this was one of the isolated communities we fell in love with; a cluster of white houses encircling a pebble beach scattered with a few fishing boats and a couple of tiny locally run seafood restaurants overlooking the sea. On the winding road approaching Pozo Negro there is a museum off to the left with dozens of ruined structures where it is believed the earliest known inhabitants resided from Africa. The Saharan sandstorms from Africa and strong Atlantic winds have eroded and destroyed most of the early remnants of human civilisations and little is known about them. Although it is a volcanic island, there hasn't been any volcanic activity here for about 5000 years. There is though plenty of seismic activity and lots of low level earthquakes in the vicinity. El Hierro suffers the most and has had 7 small earthquakes already in March and 4000 earthquakes and tremors were recorded in 2011.

 

Still despite extremes of weather and the storms that have regularly cut off power and closed schools and ports over the last couple of weeks, some remnants of ancients civilization remain. The rest must be pieced together through the limited historical evidence that exists. Prior to the the Norman and Spanish conquerors who discovered the Canaries in the 1400's there wasn't a great deal of contact between the islands and the rest of the world. Ancient texts describe the islands as being inhabited by mystical creatures such as "dragons, cyclops and sea monsters" and others as the location of the lost city of Atlantis, possibly swallowed by the sea as the plates beneath shifted causing volcanoes and earthquakes. There were no papryus recordings or scrolls and the only remaining 'written' histories come from rare cave paintings preserved from the elements and glyphs, although very few have been discovered. Pliny the Elder wrote in the first century that explorers found no inhabitants on the island but ruins of great buildings.

 

It is believed that the first inhabitants around 1B.C. were from North Africa and were extraordinarily tall blonde people (perhaps the Nephilim, the offspring of so-called fallen angels, gigantic in stature). They originally dwelt in the caves which provided the most protection and shelter from the fierce winds and harsh sun. In some of these caves mummies have been discovered where goat skins, furs and salt have been used to preserve the bodies.

 

The earliest written histories specific to the Canaries describe two great women,  Tamonante and Tibiabin. Tamonante counselled and governed the early tribes, settling disputes and determining justice. Tibiabin  was a prophetess/soothsayer/witch according to these texts and used 'demons or natural judgment' to prophesy and was worshipped as a goddess, who also presided over ceremonies and rituals as a priestess. They were sought as wise women by the male leaders. At one point Tibiabin predicted the arrival of "powerful people" by sea "in white houses" and she advised the tribal leaders to welcome these foreign visitors rather than recieve them with hostility, promising benefits to the land if handled diplomatically. The tribal leaders refuted this counsel and when shortly after Europeans arrived to capture the peoples as slaves they defended their islands as best they could.

 

Initially their defense was successful. When Norman baron Jean de Bethencourt invaded in 1402, his army of soldier/sailors were both badly organised and poorly disciplined, little better than pirates. Consequently the Canarians were given some victories benefiting from their knowledge of the land, it's elements and the secret long distance form of communication which still exists today. "Silbo Gomero" is a form of phonetic whistling which enabled them to communicate over greater areas and helped them resist the early conquistadors. It is preserved as a cultural language and is currently being revived and taught in some local schools.

 

However the conquerors continued to press the islands especially as they became of note as an important trading post between Africa, Europe and the Americas. Tenerife was the last island to fall to the "Guanches" in 1495. It had taken almost a century for the indigenous populations to be captured and converted to Christianity with many thousands of fatalities along the way. And today they remain under the government of Spain, although with their own president.

 

It's difficult to say whether the advice of the two wise women, had it been heeded could have changed the course of history. It is probably likely that the Conquerors with their great wealth and resources would have succeeded anyway, but I admire their attempt to strategically approach these invaders with peaceful methods in any case. 

The F-Word Snapshorts: The Stackable Garden Part 2

So for anyone who read my post about the Stackable Garden and composting a couple of months ago (http://ninawilliams-crumpetcapers.blogspot.com.es/2012/12/the-f-word-part-4-stackable-garden.html) here is how it's going now - pretty flourishing it would appear, but appearances can be deceptive.



All manner of veg and herbs are growing well, however Dominick spotted some interference from the infiltrating insects so we are trying a natural pesticide now - made of garlic, water, washing up liquid, hot peppers and onion placed in a spray which will hopefully deter the insect invaders who think that this is yummy for them!

In addition - the compost, although kept in a dark room outside, has somehow given access to varieties of insects that should not be able to get in. Weirdly some of them seem to be actual fruit flies that have lost their ability to fly - as if their wings are sealed up, so despite weeks of dedicated recycling of all waste this may not be viable for going into the next stackable garden.

The F-Word Part 7: Barriers

So it's a new year and the sun is beating down whilst I look at images of beautiful snow across my friends' facebook pages. I remember how much I used to snuggle under the feathery barrier of my duvet during winter, hoping the eerie white glow from outside would be from an overnight fall of snow, closing down the public transport so I wouldn't have to go to work. The worst scenario was a light sprinkling in the morning, not enough to stop the trains entirely, but lengthy delays standing outside and then battling to get on the one train that made it through with hundreds of other people, only to get to work, wet and cold, and then for the snow to really fall hard. I'd spend the day anxiously reading travel reports showing all my lines home being closed, praying that the powers that be would send us home early, only to find that would give me a red mark for being late because of the delays in the morning and then for that to be reflected a few months later in my pay review.

I did deliberately chose to live on an island that has no trains or tubes and never has any snow so those obstacles are removed. But wherever you move there are obstacles and it would be ingenuous not to expect that. That said, I don't think I anticipated just how hard the language barrier might be for me.

I've spent the last 7 weeks studying Spanish every week day for 2 hours, accumulating phrases and responses and words. And I am still far from able to conduct a conversation in Spanish. I've only met two or three people who speak English and the onus is really on me to learn, otherwise only Dominick receives my conversational "gems". I practise my new phrases on Dominick, but apparently my accent really sucks and I need to get pronuniciation down as much as vocab.

I do love the language - I enjoy learning it and there is a huge thrill when I do make myself undertstood through language more than hand gestures. Yet when it comes to being thrown into a situation where I must think and speak quickly and understand I may as well be deaf and mute. I'm confident enough in the supermarket now - to ask for veg to be weighed and ask for carrier bags or how much something costs. But anything else totally throws me, like the postman coming today with a package I ordered over three weeks ago with guaranteed 48 hour delivery. Ordering things and receiving them are no simple task and usually an extra fee is required to receive items of mail as most things are taxed when they come in, hence the delay in receiving anything. Any unusual items (not in an envelope) get sent to customs first and then they assess how much tax they can add to the product or just hold it and leave a slip in the letter box asking you to send receipts for the item which takes a couple of weeks and then it arrives and then you have to cough up the euros. However, when I don't really understand what the postman is saying, well then I tend to panic and have no idea how to respond or ask questions.

I can only speak a little Spanish and usually that is when I have sat for a good five minutes practising what it is I want to say in my head or under my breath before I have a go, but in normal life you don't get five minutes to rehearse responses to unexpected situations.

It gives me a new sense of empathy for immigrants to the UK who have very little English at their disposal and how hard they must find it. And also an understanding of why people who do move countries often gravitate towards their own language/ethnic/groups because it is easier.

The best gift I think you can give kids, apart from being loving parents obviously, is give them a shot at another language when they are super young. Have someone in your life regularly as a family that can engage them while their brains are fresh and acquisitive in a second language that they will never forget the building blocks for.

So it would be easier to just seek out the ex pats here but I will perservere because language barriers are made to be broken, no matter how often I embarass myself or get flustered.