SIMPLE LIFE
Goats & Cornflakes
I thought I’d share some of our experiences of life at Borga Nari….
Salvatore has decided it would be a good idea to get a goat from our friend Peppe who tells us that the price is very reasonable and we’ll get two litres of milk a day ( he didn’t say who was going to milk the thing!).
When last we visited Peppe we were given a big glass of the stuff still warm from the teat. He says drink up and watched with anticipation till we drank it to the last drop. YUM!!!!!!! Maybe it will taste better cold from the fridge?
He also gave us a cheese made from the milk the day before, so Carina and I are now thinking up names for the goat’s arrival.
My dear husband has also been motivated by the possibility of having to stay another year to put in an Aussie “Orto” to compete with next doors and supply us with huge quantities of pomordoro, melanzata, fagoili, and cucumbers. After digging all day yesterday he has given up today as he can hardly move.
So with all the milk and veggies and meat (try to explain that to Carina) we’ll be right mate!!!
What animal makes Corn Flakes?
Oopps also better get a few chickens and maybe a couple of rabbits as well then we’ll be real Gambascanesi!
If I have to wear an apron I’m off.
and the gang x
love this goat braised in white wine
I don’t think the goat would like that!
ciao lisa
Hi gang,
I am enjoying your adventure thank you for the inspirations, and the authencity of the path you are on. I have a new friend who has spent the last 6 years with her husband and daughter building a more natural self-sustaining lifetyle on the Olympic Pennisula in Washinngton State (USA). Christine’s blog and video give you an idea as to how far they have come. She is (has been enjoyably forced to become) a highly knowledeable organic micro-farmer and is a very “sharing” person (and an amazing artist of you resonate to her style of course); and so, if are looking for any additional knowledge along these organic micro-farm development lines just give her a jingle.
They raise chicken for meat and eggs; goats for meat and dairy; and rabbits for meat and have a quite varied and robust 1acre fruit and vegetable garden, incl a great volume of essential worm composting going on – the ultimate recyclers.
Christine & Joels Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/wasankari?blend=2&ob=5
Best,
Brian
P.S. What I learned watching her tour-the-farm video short’s: Comfy (the plant) for the goats aids digestion and also postively affects the quality of the milk, cheees, butter, etc.
Ciao Brian,
Happy to hear you are enjoying our adventures, I love your new friend. I had a look at her video’s do you know the name of her blog at all? Funnily enough my husband started a community garden as part of a program we were doing called The Self Expression and Leadership program. This week after three years getting it all through council they have their Grand Opening. It has been so fantastic seeing the community coming together in this way. I’d like to share her link over at http://www.growforlife.org.au I know they’d all love it as well. It will be a bit of a shock for this city girl to raise rabbits for meat, I’m looking forward to learning how to be self sufficient and the Italians have it down to an art form (they don’t even seem to know that the rest of the world wants to re-learn these skills).
So great to meet you,
I’ll look forward to hearing from you
ciao Lisa
I love that goat photo Lisa. Mmm fresh goat’s cheese
Hey Paola, nothing beats it. I feel I never really tasted food till I lived in Italy. I couldn’t believe that butter wasn’t yellow but very pale cream.
The best meals we had were also the simplest, home grown and prepared by many hands.
ciao lisa
Hmmmm…I have been thinking about goats, too, because yesterday I read all about the supposedly “organic” milk. which I buy, comes from cows that very likely have been fed GM alfalfa. I would be the one to milk the goats because hubby is not very interested in this endeavor. He takes care of the chickens and pigs, so to be fair, the milking would fall to me.
I want to be free of the grip of industrial agriculture but am not sure it’s totally possible in the US, what with all the rules and regulations. I should probably move to Spain or Italy.
So….you are going to plant a garden there in Australia or was that still part of the story from Italy? Good idea, and why not!
Ciao Caterina, really who knows where half of our food comes from…or what they have been eating. I am sure I would also end up being the one to
milk the goats. My hubby loves the garden but the animals are animals for him not pets. We have had chickens and my daughter would sit with them in her
lap. The thing I love about life in Italy is that in the villages the food is so natural and they don’t even know it because they have never had anything else!
We did plant an orto (garden) at the house in Gambasca about a month before we came back to Australia. Didn’t get to eat any of the produce, but were able to
eat the blackberries and tiny wild strawberries growing all around the house at the time.
My hubby has started a Community Garden here in Australia and last week (after three years getting it through Council) we put up the first plots and filled them with soil. Around thirty people from the local area came and it was fantastic. Seems people are keen to go back to the basics and grow their own.
So I agree….why not!
ciao lisa