The color purple

Written to Led Zeppelin Remasters

At the worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived.
-Dame Rose Macaulay (1881 - 1958)

It began raining on Wednesday...and it basically has not stopped since. Rainfall levels for the week:

• Sunday - 8 mm
• Monday - 4 mm
• Tuesday - 28 mm
• Wednesday - 4 mm
• Thursday - 27 mm
• Friday - 4 mm
• Saturday - 57 mm
• Total - 132 mm
  

In parallel, the temperature held steady at approx. 30 degrees Celsius until Thursday. The aggregate impact of all of this rain, unfortunately, is that the roads have become impassable for heavy vehicles. Therefore, neither the Nelore cattle nor the plowing oxen arrived as planned, nor will they until things dry out. The trucks are too heavy and the roads too poor. Fortunately, we have not yet been landlocked, and Lone was able to pick up and deliver Chico and Martins, who were able to get in three solid days of fencing (for the most part it rained in the afternoons). As you can see from the previous photo, Chico reaches only to the top of the fence post -with his hat on: 220 cm of fence post minus the 50 cm that is buried below ground minus his hat leaves less than 170 cm of Chico. Height notwithstanding, the sexagenarian together with his septuagenarian compañero de trabajo nearly completed pastures 1 and 2...and did finish fencing the paddock next to the corral. Slowly but surely we progress, but there are at least four more pastures to fence as well as the enlarged hog area, so this saga will continue for some months. This photo sums up pretty well the rain's impact on the activity level at Alfheim.

That said Lone did manage to cover her vegetable garden-to-be with hay -and likewise her potato plants- and seems very un-Danishly self-satisfied with herself.

Here she merely looks rather short. In fact, this photo illustrates the ridiculous growth of the banana plants that Johannes and Esben planted back in August, barely six months ago. When first planted, they barely reached our knees.

While Lone was in São Luiz do Paraitinga picking up Chico and Martins, she also picked up four meat bones for free at the butchers...excellent choice Layla, Negão, Huginn and Muninn seem to be saying.

The hogs could not be better...they continue to bulldoze the landscape unabated. Ditto for the Galinha-d'angola or Helmeted Guineafowl chicks and the kittens, i.e. they are all doing well -rather than bulldozing anything.

Clair also cut more grass for hay this week. At some point we will have to consider investing in a gas-powered grass trimmer...together with the leaf blower the scourge of the suburbs, but an essential tool on 319 hectares of fazenda.

The truly enduring impression of the week, however, is the blooming of the manacá-da-serra (Tibouchina mutabilis). The forest is ablaze with purple and white. From every corner of Alfheim ones eyes are delightfully assaulted by the tapestry of purple and white flowers pouring forth from the carpet of green hues. Nothing short of spectacular.

This week's flora and fauna winners: a frog in our kitchen and a series of gourds from the family Cucurbitaceae (1, 2 and 3).

Finally, next week (February 21st-24th) is Carnaval , the annual festival in Brazil held four days before Ash Wednesday. Therefore, I will be taking a week off from blogging. During our mini-holiday, Lone and I will visit our new friends Emmanuel Rengade and his wife, Filipa at their fazenda, and hopefully receive a visit from our good friends Melissa, Layla's previous owner, and Patrícia -and generally chill as much as possible. Please cross your fingers (7-9-13) for a period of dry weather or you will soon be forced to read a blog that consists solely of accounts of Lone and I playing backgammon...indoors...waiting for the sun.

I'm not sleeping

Written to Be Good Tanyas: Hello Love

You’ll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind.
- Anonymous

Lone and I spent three, as opposed to the usual two, days away from Alfheim last week, which resulted in, among other things, our returning to our fazenda on Friday morning at 02:00. Unfortunately, there was no time for laying about or catching up on missed rapid eye movement (REM) sleep on that particular morning; the Instituto Biodinâmico for Rural Development, IBD, inspector, Maria Carolina Wilmers Manço, was scheduled to arrive at 09:30 to initiate our process of organic certification. Much to my chagrin -Lone is the Morning Good of the two of us- and my anything but rapidly moving eyes, Maria Carolina arrived about one and one-half hours late. Nevertheless, upon arrival she was all business, and soon thereafter, Clair, Rosana, Lone and I accompanied Maria Carolina and her colleague, Rosangela, on an extensive tour of Fazenda Alfheim; all in all we walked from approx. 11:00 until 17:00, and not less than 10 km, only breaking for a quick lunch. Together we visited all of Alfheim's planned and/or productive pastures and fields, from which we took a composite soil sample that will subsequently be analyzed for pesticide residues, reviewed farming practices and spent the final couple of hours until they departed at just after 20:30 going over every detail of the process to ensue. It was without question an exhaustive but also productive and satisfying day, and it culminated with Lone and I feeling convinced that we had achieved what had hitherto been a seemingly unattainable clarity regarding precisely what is required for us to obtain organic certification. Maria Carolina will publish a report of her visit in the next 20 days, after which one of IBD's technical consultants will review the contents and make his/her recommendations, ultimately submitting our project for formal approval. We will have ample opportunity throughout the process to provide additional input and comments.

We had another breakthrough, no pun intended, of sorts this week, when four of the ten Galinha-d'angola or Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) eggs hatched...with a little help from Rosana. Considering the fact that prior to arriving at Alfheim the eggs had traveled some distance to São Paulo, where they then spent a few days unincubated, 40% is an impressive result. No doubt there were a few awkward moments when mother hen met her chicks; nevertheless, all parties seem pleased in the aftermath. From these to these in just over 21 days...amazing!

On Sunday morning, Martins stopped by with another of his compadres who plows with oxen (arado de boi). Hopefully he will prove more reliable than Ronaldo, who was a no-show for reasons which have still not been explained adequately. With a little luck (7-9-13), plowing and sowing will begin on Sunday, February 14th, the very day in 1876 on which Alexander Graham Bell applied for a patent for the telephone, as did Elisha Gray, but also the day that commemorates the death of St. Valentine, the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome, marking Valentines Day. In all, it will take approx. two weeks to plow and sow each of the three feed fields.

After Martin's visit, Lone and I drove to Paraibuna to visit our good friend Beto Camargo, who had arranged for us to visit a farm in the region to look at some Nelore cattle.

Nelore or Nellore beef cattle originated from Ongole (Bos indicus) cattle originally brought to Brazil from India. They are named for the district of Nelore in Andhra Pradesh. The Nelore has a distinct large hump over the top of the shoulder and neck. They have long legs which help them to walk in water and when grazing. The Nelore can adapt to all except very cold climates. They are very resistant to high temperatures and have natural resistance to various parasites and diseases. More than 100,000,000 cattle in Brazil have Nelore blood, making them the majority breed in Brazil. This popularity came from parasite resistance and growth rates.

We ended up buying 20 Nelore heifers (a young cow over one year old that has not produced a calf). Once again, Beto's cousin, Abilio, will deliver the animals to Alfheim...by Wednesday if all goes well. Very exciting!

In anticipation of the arrival of the heifers, Chico and Martins will return this week to complete the fencing of the first four pastures and the area around our recently refurbished corral. Thereafter we will ask them to fence a large area around the pig pen, allowing the hogs to continue to range free, but not so free as to allow them to eat our feed crops.

Finally, Lone's tomato plants continue their impressive growth, and this week's fauna sightings include a spectacular caterpillar and a turtle.

"Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Written to Sheryl Crow: C'mon, C'mon

Early in the twentieth century American corn breeders figured out how to bring corn reproduction under firm control, and to protect the seed from copiers. The breeders discovered that when they crossed two corn plants that had come from inbred lines—from ancestors that had themselves been exclusively self-pollinated for several generations—the hybrid offspring displayed some highly unusual characteristics. First, all the seeds in that first generation (F-1, in the plant breeder’s vocabulary) produced genetically identical plants—a trait that, among other things, facilitates mechanization. Second, those plants exhibited heterosis, or hybrid vigor— better yields than either of their parents. But most important of all, they found that the seeds produced by these seeds did not come true—the plants in the second (F-2) generation bore little resemblance to the plants in the first. Specifically, their yields plummeted by as much as a third, making their seeds virtually worthless.
Hybrid corn now offered its breeders what no other plant at that time could: the biological equivalent of a patent. Farmers now had to buy seeds every spring; instead of depending upon their plants to reproduce themselves, they now depended on a corporation. The corporation, assured for the first time of a return on its investment in breeding, showered corn with attention—R & D, promotion, advertising—and the plant responded, multiplying its fruitfulness year after year. With the advent of the F-1 hybrid, a technology with the power to remake nature in the image of capitalism, Zea mays entered the industrial age and, in time, it brought the whole American food chain with it.
- Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

On Thursday morning we liberated the gilts...I opened their newly constructed gate and introduced them to the joys of free range living. It took all of no time for all 21 gilts to mosey out of their pen. Cade os suínos? Here, there and everywhere. One of the reasons that I chose Thursday to free the gilts was that we were expecting the Duroc boars to arrive that day, and I figured it would be easier to guide the boars over to the gilts if the latter were out and about. As it turned out, the boars did not arrive until Friday, so at around 16:30 Clair and I used the sound of the bell and the lure of their single, afternoon feeding -which I had introduced earlier in the week- to herd the gilts back into their pen...Easy Peasy!

While waiting for the boars to arrive on Friday, we planted alternating rows of feijão (beans) and girasol (sunflowers) in the field where we had earlier planted soja perene. The soja perene has not done as well as we had hoped...hard to say why, but rather than clear it, we decided to plant the fejão and girasol in between the rows of soja perene. Worst case: the soja perene will provide excellent ground cover and, after harvest, organic fertilizer. After a few hours of planting, with Clair and I digging the holes and Rosana and Lone planting the seeds, we made quick work of the field.

After that, it was time to turn our attention to Lone's vegetable garden. Earlier in the week I had designed the raised planting beds using the cinder blocks from Esben's (on the right) summer memorial to the Sumerians; using the remaining cinder blocks, we constructed the first six beds. Another 300 or so cinder blocks and we will be able to finish; Lone was clearly more pleased with this week's gardening results than last week's.

The boars arrived that afternoon, but because of the muddy state of our entry road, Abilio had to park a couple of hundred meters from the pig pen. Clair and I then guided the boars from the truck to the river. After taking in the size of the older, larger boar, it quickly became clear that he only goes where he wants. I estimate his weight at somewhere between 150-200 kg. If he makes a stand, he stands and there is no moving him...period! Thankfully, he is quite even-tempered. In addition, the two boars appear to get along well. When the younger of the two boars first arrived at the river's edge, the water more than the sight of 21 extremely horny gilts was what pushed him across. Both boars were too tired from their two-day journey for any hanky panky; all they wanted was a cold bath and some peace and quiet, not that the latter proved possible. Our biggest challenge thus far has been keeping the hogs on their side of the river, so on Saturday I wrote the first draft of the blog from a seat under a tree on the bank of the river. Fortunately, Muninn has proved such a natural herder that, together with Layla, no slouch herself, I have barely had to get off my backside, as the British are fond of saying. Anyone who doubts that Rottweilers were originally valued as herding dogs has only to take a look at these photos to see history and genetics at work. Muninn is fearless...and will only get better (and bigger) with age. And he continues to have the sweetest disposition, though he has already made it clear that he is the Alpha dog of the four. Needless to say the hogs are quickly learning to stay on their side of the tracks, so to speak.

Fortunately, the dogs herding did not prevent the boars from fulfilling their destiny...3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days from now we should begin seeing their progeny. I only hope that Muninn has not been emotionally scarred by the experience (he is only three months old, after all).

On Saturday the sun broke through at last...30 degrees Celsius and 55% humidity, the latter representing a significant decline after having hovered around 90% for most of the past two weeks. Time to get all the laundry done. The change in weather could not have come at a more opportune time; the entry road has deteriorated rapidly over the past couple of weeks. Hopefully we will enjoy a drier period over the coming weeks.

Also this week, Marcos and his father returned to build and install pasture gates, repair our dilapidated corral, provide us with a comprehensive quote for the construction of another worker's house and help me brainstorm bridge designs, feeding troughs, salt lick stands etc. In brief, there is very little Marcos cannot figure out. We are extraordinarily lucky to have a contractor who can be left to his own devices for a couple of days and when we return everything is on track and as agreed. Marcos and his father will return again in two weeks.

Finally, this week's blog post marks an anniversary of sorts...six months of blogging and my 21st post. To date, the Fazenda Alfheim blog has racked up the following Visitor's Overview (Comparing: All sites of similar size):

• 1,857 Visits - Benchmark: 80 (+2,221.25%)
  
• 3,502 Pageviews - Benchmark: 150 (+2,234.67%)
  
• 1.89 Average Pageview- Benchmark: 1.87 (+0.98%)
  
• 00:03:38 Avg. Time on Site - Benchmark: 00:00:16 (+1,273.86%)
  

Muito obrigado to all of you for your support, comments and questions.