Woofing at New Earth Farm

We took a bus from Granada to take us on the windy road up up and farther up into the Alpujarras. We oo-ed and ah-ed after every curve in the road at each new spectacular view of the deep valleys and rolling hills of olive trees. We got off at the villgae of Orgiva and had just enough time to buy some water when our contact at the farm- Jordi Jutglar- drove up looking for us.

We got in contact with Jordi through the Wwoof Espana website. On the site, his farm is called The New Earth Farm. Wwoof is a worldwide program that helps organic farms find volunteers and vice versa. We wrote to several farms around Granada- we were looking for a farm with a family rather than an organization or business. We made contact in February and touched base again by email a few weeks before our arrival. He had let us know before we arrived that they wouldn't be there the full two weeks and we would be doing mostly farm and house sitting. At first we were a little disappointed but it really turned out to be great deal because we weren't locked into a strict schedule of farm volunteer work and we had lots of flexibility to visit surrounding towns.

Luna who we nicknamed Crazy Eyes.

After initial introductions, We hopped in the van and immediately met Luna- a crazily rambunctious labrador. We learned on the short ride to the farm that Jordi is from Cataluna in northern Spain, his wife Lore is Swiss and they moved to the region from Scotland for a job that was offered to Jordi (16 years ago). Now they run their own organic bakery. I thought it was interesting that Jordi says he prefers  the south of Spain to the north- because "the way of life is more humane." This really intrigued and got me excited for the next four weeks in southern Spain.



At the farm we met Estrella- an older more tranquil golden retriever. Estrella especially was our faithful companion and followed us wherever we went on the farm and slept outside our caravan at night.

Estrella

The Jutglars have around 70(ish) citrus and olive trees scattered on their property along with a large veggie garden, small soccer field, a beautiful swming pool, a meditation cabin, some storage sheds, our caravan RV, and their house. They also have six cats!

Our humble caravan.

We really enjoyed the pool.

Upon our arrival, Jordi showed us around and then we had lunch and got to meet Lore and his children Rama and TAra (we didn't ask about it but we noticed Rama and Tara both have names of hindu gods). They run an organic bakery in town called La Espelta, which means we ate a lot of really yummy organic bread! Our first lunch consisted of gazpacho, bread, quiche, and muffins made at their bakery plus local cheese and olive oil from the cooperative they re a part of.

Part of Wwoofing is that the host provides room and board. We weren't quite sure how it would be if they were leaving but luckily We have been spoiled rotten with what they left us. Lore left a huge tub of freshly made gazpacho, a fridge and freezer full of bread from their bakery (the olive bread was my fave!), home made jars of their "salsa multi uso," a ton of organic multi colored pasta, apricot marmalade, plus a whole garden of tomatoes onions and zucchini.

Organic bread and cheese with fresh olive oil and Alhambra beer.

Salsa "multi uso"

Fresh squeezed mint lemonade.

Some of the things we would be doing in exchange for two weeks at their farm would be mostly upkeep and maintenance. Feeding the dogs and cats everyday, pruning their huge tomato plants and some bushes and trees around the property, picking up some straggling lemons and oranges so they wouldn't rot on the ground, adding chlorine tablets to the pool once a week, cleaning the pool of leaves as much as possible, re digging a canal around their meditation cabin to protect it from the weekly flooding (see below).

Julio with the ladies and the family veggie garden behind.

The family finca -farm- was a five minute drive or a thirty minute walk from Orgiva. Orgiva- kind of a hippie and backpacking town- is also known as the door to Las alpujarras.

Orgiva's Cathedral.

At the Thursday market in Orgiva.

The Jutglars' organic bakery in town.

On the way to Orgiva- A beautiful walk.

I was fascinated to learn two interesting things about las Alpujarras - 1) it was the last place in Spain to retain a strong Moor population, specifically those who did not want to convert to Catholicism and having been pushed out of every other corner of Spain took to these hills 2) the Moors built an extensive canal system throughout the whole region to being fresh water from the nearby Sierra to the whole area. Jordi compared the canals with the nervous system with all it's little veins and paths. This system has been maintained throughout the centuries and is still used today and is how the jutglars water their citrus and olive trees. Jordi explained it as "watering by flood" -regar por inundacion- once a week when the water is channeled their way.

What the flooding looks like.

Jordi and the family left three nights after we arrived- just enough time to learn everything we needed to.

When we left two weeks after our arrival, some neighbors took over for another week until the family returned. We are just amazed that almost complete strangers would trust us to take care of their home and animals for two weeks and allow us access to their pool, their house, etc. Luckily everything turned out okay and we hope to one day be able to see this lovely family again and who knows- host them in Chicago.

One of our last nights at the farm in Orgiva.