October 20 - 26, 2008

We spent six days in São Paulo this week, from Saturday to Thursday. In two words: too many. By Tuesday, Lone was beginning to exhibit all of the classic, early indicators of megalopolis-itis, aka urban-itis. By Thursday her symptoms were undeniable, and we decided to return home after BioFach and dinner at our good friend Leonardo's house in Jundiaí.

That we traveled to São Paulo on Saturday in the first place was, in fact, my doing. I was convinced that I had badly sprained or more likely broken my left foot and wanted to visit an emergency room. I was convinced of this because I was experiencing increasing pain with each step, and the foot itself had swollen significantly. Long story short: after a lengthy visit to Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, one of the country's leading hospitals, both my x-rays and ultra-sound were pronounced negative. Instead the doctors diagnosed me as having 'some kind of infection', possibly caused by the anklet I received a week earlier courtesy of my old nemeses, the leafcutter ant minors.

BioFach on Thursday was remarkable. Lone and I had attended an earlier BioFach in Rio de Janeiro in 2003, and the difference was quantitatively and qualitatively marked across every parameter. I spent the entire day visiting as many of the exhibitors as possible. I came away with three principle observations:

1. The sheer number of exhibitors was tremendously encouraging and underscored the fact that organics is the fastest growing segment of international food and beverage markets (Brazil's annual growth rate is 30%).
   
2. The level of organization and professionalism among the exhibitors was very high.
3. The breadth of products was remarkable and, again, indicative of a robust segment. From coffee to clothing, jams and jellies, from fruit to fertilizers, from acaí to art to Amazonian products. Also, all levels of government, local, state and national, were active and seemed to be providing well-considered support.
   

While I roamed the trade show floor, Lone attended the conference, including sessions on Organic Market and Traceability, Sustainable Packaging and Cosmetic Market.

All in all, a most fruitful day.

When we returned to Alfheim after a four-hour drive from Leonardo's house in Jundiaí (note to self: in the future, accept Leonardo's gracious invitation to spend the night), we arrived to find that our key did open the lock on the front gate. It was at that moment I recalled that Manoel, from Mano's Moveis (Mano's Furniture) in São Luiz do Paraitinga, had mentioned something in an e-mail about his 'tomei a liberdade de abrir' (took the liberty of opening) our gate when he arrived unannounced on Saturday to deliver some furniture. But Manoel also assured me in a subsequent e-mail that he 'deixei em ordem' (left everything in order). Needless to say he did not. So at 02:30 or thereabouts, Lone put on her Wellington boots, I grabbed our trusty One Earth Emergency Wind Up Light and we climbed over the gate and walked the 0.8 km to our house, where we quickly fell fast asleep. On the plus side, Manoel did deliver a beautifully crafted king-sized bed (not that I mind sharing a single bed with my lovely wife, but she responds to my daily query about her previous night's sleep with the phrase 'I woke up a lot last night'), a kitchen table and a vitrine of sorts.

On Friday we awoke to find that in our absence Clair had carefully packed all of the surplus building material into the exterior, bamboo storage shed, cleared most of pasture #3 and was busy liming the exterior of his house, which either turned out very nicely or very blue, depending on whether you side with Clair, Roasana and me or Lone. Granted before leaving for São Paulo I had asked Clair to focus on these three tasks, but not in my wildest fantasies had I imagined that he would be able to clear such a large area of pasture in only three days! The before and after comparison of the cleared vs yet-to-be cleared pasture is very, very promising. In fact, the regrowth of the grass on all of the pastures, in particular the lower pastures -after we removed the 34 head of cattle that were squatting at Alfheim when Esben and I first arrived in early July- has been nothing short of stunning. Once fenced, and after we remove all of the Samambaia, which causes bloody urine and recurrent bladder infection in cattle, we will be able to implement a proper grazing rotation, with easy access to our very own Ent-draught, brewed from the waters of the mountain springs, allowing us, we hope, to produce approx. 20 organic vacas de corte or beef cattle and 20 bulls every 12-15 months. Annual revenue: approx. R$80,000 - 120,000 (€28,000-41,000 or $35,000 - 52,000).

BIG news: our very own soja perene has begun to sprout...after only two weeks!

On Saturday, breakfast began as it does most days with Lone's magical papaya (Carica papaya) and maracuja (Passiflora edulis or passion fruit) special, a trifecta of pleasure for the eyes, the nose and the palate...a spectacular way to start the day. This was followed by bacon and eggs. What made these particular eggs extra special was the fact that they were the very first from our own hens. Yes, at last our hens have s . l . o . w . l . y begun to lay eggs. All this while group harmony continues more or less unabated.

And finally, for those of you already planning a trek to Alfheim for your first (or second) visit, we have established the road marker to end all road markers. Whether you are coming from Rodoviário - Osvaldo Cruz through Vargem Grande (20 km of estrada de terra or dirt road) or Rodovia dos Tamoios through Posso Alto and Bairro Alto (41 km of estrada de terra or dirt road), you will now be able to find the entrance to our little patch of paradise with ease.