‘People’

April has been a busy month and one which has seen dramatic changes as we enter autumn.

We have had a couple of days of high winds followed buy some early morning frosts and a steady drop in day time temperatures.  The trees are stunning as autumn paints their leaves in infinite shades of green and brown and yellow. Our vines were caught by one of these frosts and at first we were terrified we had lost them all. Apparently not, provided daytime temperatures continue to fall, and provided we do not water them (and it does not rain either), they will start to go dormant for the winter.
A big sigh of relief all round.

Our first section of perimeter fence (last month’s post) now has all 7 wires fitted and tensioned and the wooden spacers wired in place. It looks impressive when viewed from outside the farm and well worth the effort. Only another 300 yards to go!

All 7 wires are now in place

Our quinces ripened and we harvested some to make our own quince cheese (Dulce de Membrillo) and quince jelly (Jalea de Membrillo).

Harvesting quinces

The best fruit was selected

Selected quinces for the cheese and jelly

and once again our kitchen became a jam factory

Quinces in the pan

And now we have quite a selection of home made jams to last us the year.

Our home made jams

At the time of writing a fruit buyer has purchased the rest of our crop but we are still waiting for him to turn up with a lorry and gang of pickers.

Hare hunting with dogs (usually greyhounds) is a very popular pastime here. Many a time we have seen and heard them hunting close by the farm. The other day, when we drove into our entrance, we saw a group of men and dogs at the far end of one field. We drove over to where they were and chatted with them and explained, politely, that we did not want any hunting or shooting on our farm. No problem, they accepted our request and left.

A hare hunter leaves the farm with his dogs

And his friend leaves too

Now that autumn has arrived the whole farm is covered in a carpet of fallen leaves.

27 acres of leaves to sweep up!

Next time you moan about having to sweep up the leaves in your garden, spare a thought for us with around 5 kilometers ( about 3 miles) of various sized irrigation diches to keep clear of fallen leaves!

Ditches become nature's collages at this time of year

But with scenes like this it is a pleasure to rake them up.

Although we are only about 115 miles from the highest peaks of the Andes the atmospheric conditions can considerably change how much of them are actually visible to us. From our viewpoint there seem to be 3 or 4 groups of peaks behind each other. This picture was taken from near the farm on a rare day when the tallest, snow covered peaks were visible. Later, on the drive home it was getting cloudier and the tallest peaks became visible, showing themselves above the cloud layer. Impressive.

A rare glimpse of the snow covered peaks

Sorry, but it is artistic photo time again. This was taken as we left having just completed a night time irrigation of the vineyard.

The moon rises above the farm entrance

For most of the last month we have been fighting off the weeds and ants that seem to attack the vineyard on a daily basis. But this has not been without a few laughs and ‘events’.

A line of soldier ants on their way to the vineyard

One of our farm boundaries runs between our internal irrigation ditch and the public irrigation supply canal for about 410 yards. The fence here was almost non existent, and when sections did appear out of the undergrowth, they consisted of a single strand of rusty barbed wire.

We had taken the decision some months ago to replace this fence with a traditional Argentine boundary wire fence – 7 very taught wires held apart every meter or so with wooden stretchers (varillas).  This is a  fence that keeps out animals as well as making it very difficult for humans too to cross. A contractor quoted us a stupid amount of money to for the work, so we decided to have a go ourselves. The posts were put in earlier in the year (see earlier post).

A homemade reel to hold the wire was constructed and a 1000 meter roll of 17/15 oval section wire was loaded onto it ready for the first  wire pull through a 110 meter section.

Home made wire reel holding a kilometer of wire

The first wire was difficult to pull through the posts as it had the weight of over 60 wooden spreaders (varillas) on it, but subsequent wires became easier and easier.

Wire pulling in progress through the forest section

By the time we had 5 out of the 7 wires in place it was beginning to look like a serious boundary fence at last. This is a view from the public side of the irrigation canal.

View from the public side of the fence

Just to the right of the post in the picture are a group of wooden spreaders waiting to be slid along the wires into place.

Until all 400 meters of wire is in place we have used temporary straining posts to take the force of the tension on the wires. Here some local watches the work going on.

Some chap kindly leans on the post to stop it falling over.

But, shortly after this picture was taken, I stepped down into our internal irrigation ditch only to see a huge snake laying on the damp earth. It was the largest snake I had seen outside a zoo, and at first I thought it was a rattlesnake. Graciela identified it as a Yarará ( Bothrops alternatus), known locally as a “Vibora de la Cruz”.  The snake was just under 6 feet (2 meters) long and about the diameter of my arm.

We presume it used to live quite happily in the rough land where the old fence ran, but our work had driven it out into our forest. So from now on it is knee length boots for fencing operations!

A Víbora de la Cruz - the most agressive poisonous snake in Argentina

At the time of writing we have completed all 7 wires on the first 110 meter run of fence – and at a cost of one eighth of the quote we were given.

Near to where we were erecting the wire fence there is a huge white fig tree. Last year its fruit never ripened. This year, due to it being watered every week, it is covered in green figs that are slowly turning slightly yellow and soft.
The figs do not all ripen at the same time and each day or so we collect a few handfuls to dry or eat.

White figs awaiting a little more time to ripen

On one side of the tree is a wasp’s nest the size of a football. They do not bother us when we walk past, nor do they get annoyed if we pick figs close to their nest. Well… not until the other day.

The wasp's nest in the fig tree

I was up a ladder using a long stick to get some ripe figs above the wasp’s nest and accidently knocked it. In a few seconds my head was covered in a black and yellow buzzing beret and I raced down the ladder and dissapeared across the farm heading for an irrigation ditch! As I ran I pulled off my T shirt to wipe the wasps off of my head.

Graciela said it looked like a cartoon with a long black cloud following my progress across the field. Fortunately for me these wasps are not aggressive and after a short while they left me and returned to their undamaged nest.

I was lucky as I was ‘only’ stung on my lips, in my mouth, on the back of my neck and on one arm. The stings have cleared up and now I treat the nest with respect.

The dog wonders what all the fuss is about.

When it is too hot, around noon time, I often take a siesta in a hammock. Graciela, meanwhile, opens up the portable office in the shade of the woodland.

The portable office in action

What a nice life!

July and August have been quite hectic months for us. It seemed that every time we go to work there was either something else that became more important to do, or a problem arose that had to be solved first.

We left with everything organised for the planting of vines.  At short notice we came to the UK and collected my parents, Mary and Freddy and brought them back with us to the farm.

The family

On our all too brief visit we saw the family for a few days, bought some essentials and flew back with Mary and Fred on Iberia. That was not one of our best experiences and, despite requesting assistance from the airline in advance for Mary and Freddy (who are in their late 80s) we were very disappointed in Heathrow T3 with the level of service. At Madrid airport nothing had been arranged for them and we all ended up waiting on our own on the tarmac by the airplane for a bus to take them to the departure terminal. Lets hope British Airways does not suffer from their merger with Iberia!

When we all arrived in Buenos Aires we took 2 days ‘off’ collecting the animals, visiting family and showing them a little of the area of Palermo. We all stayed in a guest house specifically catering for people who love tango, and we can recommend the excellent accommodation and level of service at the Caseron Porteno.

Graciela and Mary travelled overnight to San Rafael by bus, Freddie and I drove across Argentina during the day, and what an adventure we had! It was a public holiday and half of Buenos Aires had left for either the coast or the mountains. Coupled with that, for political reasons, there was a shortage of diesel, petrol and gas. So we limped into the driveway of the house with the pickup breathing vapour! But along the way we saw pink flamingos, ñandúes (ostriches), a wild cat, a fox, eagles, storks, herons, green parrots and many other species of birds.

Once back home it was time for work. But there was some time for Mary and Fred to sample the local meat and wine despite the daytime temperature of -8ºC.

Steak and wine for lunch

As we started ploughing the field for the vines, the weather broke, and the first snow of the year arrived. It was soft, powdery snow that turned our town into a typical winter scene in a few hours.

No barbecue this evening!

So, all work on the farm stopped for a few days until the snow cleared.

As soon as the thaw arrived we were back to ploughing the field for the vines and getting it level again before the final plough for planting.

On the other side of the farm is a 400 yard long irrigation ditch that has not had water down its full length for many, many years. As we had already pruned our stunted apricot trees we wanted to irrigate them this season and, if time permitted, plant another row in front of them. But to ensure their survival we needed to clear this ditch of weeds and trees and then link it to a new ditch, still yet to be built. And all before next month.

The bottom of the farm by these apricot trees had been covered by thorny acacias, scrub and spiky Algarrobo trees. These had been mostly cleared by us, but before we dare drive the pick up or tractor into the area we had to hand rake up all the long thorns in the grass!  So we pressed Mary and Fred into service to assist.

The workers clear the ground of thorns

We collected all the thorns and sweepings to make a compost pile. (Our neighbours all burn ‘rubbish’ like this, but we have decided to be greener and to try to enhance or reuse rather than destroy wherever possible).

In the end we collected three piles like this from the area we cleared

Now the area in front of the apricot trees was cleared we could start to plough and dig an irrigation ditch in front of them. Once finished this would be the first time in over 17 years that this end of the farm was irrigated.

But first, the last 100+ yards of the 400 yard ditch needed totally rebuilding as it had ceased to exist as a ditch and was just a bump in the ground overgrown by a decade of non use.

All the thorny acacias, the scrub and tumbleweeds were hand cleared out of the way and stumps removed. This work was done by hand and the ground roughly leveled.

Hand clearing the last 100 yards where the old ditch used to run

Once cleared, the ground was ploughed level.

Leveling the area before digging the new ditch

And then an initial, narrow ditch was dug by pulling a surcador along behind the tractor. Finally this was hand dug, where needed, to get the slope and depth right so water would run along it by gravity.

A brand new irrigation ditch, 125 yards long, was dug in front of the apricot trees and so we completed one of our major tasks. To clear the bottom of one field, irrigate it and get it ready for planting new apricot trees.

The new ditch in front of the apricots being prepared

Following our clearing of the area we have a pile of wood, trees, branches and stumps large enough to fill a large lorry. Neighbours assumed we would sell it for firewood or just burn it to get rid of it. But no, it will get sorted. Trunks / branches large enough will be reused for internal fence posts, smaller straight branches will be reused as plant stakes and the remainder will be chopped for firewood for our own use.

Graciela, not only helping to clear the area at the end of the farm, also took on the job of pruning the membrillos (quince) trees. Like most of the farm, these had been neglected for years and had not been properly pruned. So, armed with a step ladder and a pruning saw, Graciela started opening up the centre of the trees removing all the old, dead wood. Then it was possible to start to shape the tree and get the correct branches selected for growth.

Pruning the quince trees

Whilst awaiting for the installation of the wood we went off to buy the wires and the ground anchors for the end posts. Ah, it appears that someone is planting hundreds of acres of vines and that our anchors are in a long queue waiting to be made. Apart from pestering the supplier every day, there is not much we can do. Without these ground anchors we cannot erect the posts and, therefore cannot plant the vines.

So we turned our attention to the rest of the farm. As it had not been seriously farmed for years all the ground would need deep ploughing and clearing of the deeply rooted grass and weeds. After some simple maths we decided to buy a second hand cincel plough (chisel plough) to rip up the compacted ground. In the long run it would be cheaper than paying a contractor or neighbour to do it for us.

The plough was bought, taken apart, thrown into the back of the pick up and then rebuilt on the farm – all 400 kg of it! And once built the farm cat kindly came and inspected it for us. You cannot see in the photograph, but the front two ‘prongs’ have huge arrow shaped plough on them to chop the roots. It is a mean looking item – and its label in yellow, translated from Spanish, means “spiky”!

The inspector clears the new plough for use

Then, last week, whilst still waiting for the ground anchors, the supplier of our vines called. The vines are ready for collection as they need the ground now to plant out new plants. Therefore it was a panic to give the field the final plough and contact the people who were going to help us plant 3000 grape vines.

But as the tractor was started the water pump failed and water poured out of the gland, and today is a public holiday and everyone is shut. Without the tractor or the wood in place we will have to dig a HUGE hole, bury the plants, dig a ditch round them to keep them dry, and await the tractor repair, anchors and workers all to be ready on the same day – and that day has to be a day that we have irrigation water on the farm. Hopefully it will be next Sunday, but watch this space.

Although we are in panic mode, the animals do not seem too concerned!

What panic?