Patronzinho

Written to Dusk by The The

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”

- Dr. Seuss

Esben has gripped his new role of Farm Manager with both hands...already managing day-to-day operations with only minor input from me. In less than three weeks he has become the fazenda's best, non-Brazilian milker (though he has yet to prove himself head-to-head against Sandra), learned how to chop Pennisetum purpureum (Napier Grass or Uganda Grass), managed the building of a chick house with capacity for 1,000 chicks and helped me repair the main source of water to the fazenda after six days of intensive rain last week. In best Matthew McConaughey style, he took advantage of every opportunity to take his shirt off. All of these exploits have earned him the title of Patronzinho from the employees -and he still found time to chilax.

Shortly after Esben arrived, Clair and Rosana went on vacation. We are, therefore, running shorthanded, but Esben's presence has accelerated the cadence of work considerably. He spends virtually all day in the trenches with the employees, which inevitably speeds things along. And there is certainly a need for speed; we are busy preparing the soil for planting, which we will begin in the first week of August, during minguindo or the waning moon. Thus far, we have prepped pasture 3 (2.4 hectares), half of Hog Hill (2.7 hectares) and our former garden (approx. 0.8 hectares). The Fazenda Brazil hogs are busy clearing half of Hog Haven, so we hope to add another 1.3 hectares of cropland within the next two-three weeks. All three areas have been plowed, either by tractor or by hand, limed and tilled. Next week we should receive our plantadeira and the heirloom corn and feijão seeds, after which the sky is the limit, and its byproducts, sun and rain, will seal our harvest's fate.

What is certain, however, is that we have begun harvesting Fazenda Alfheim's very own homegrown, organic mandioca, a milestone of great significance. We harvested the first four sacks a week or so ago, and this initial yield earned 3 Michelin stars from our hogs.

With the help of João Getulio, a local pedreiro or bricklayer, we have also started building an 80 m2 half-walled barn to house the tractor, plow, till, planter, hay and other non-perishables. João was recommended to us by Rosana's father, Antonio, and thus far he is proving a real asset. The only minor issue was having to wait a couple of months for him to finish all of his other projects so that he could dedicate himself (almost completely) to our needs; he will spend four days a week working at Alfheim, giving him a little leeway to assist his other customers. Also, since João the pedreiro does not have a motorcycle, our João gives him a carona to work each day, something that will cost me a two new tires for João's motorcycle, a R$184.00 investment (€80.99 or $104.50)…and well worth every centavo.

Something else worth every centavo is our new Mitsubishi L200 Triton HPE 3.2 Diesel, which we recently purchased at Virage Mitsubishi in Taubaté, where we got a very fair price for our Ford Ecosport 4WD 2.0 16v. So nice to be driving a truck again, though for legal reasons I am obliged to inform my readers that this is Lone's truck; I am but the payee and her humble chauffeur.

Finally, in another sign of the resurgence of São Luiz do Paraitinga, our old internet café has returned to the town square after a half-year's absence...bigger and better than ever. Very uplifting to see the old crew back on their feet again in such grand fashion.