Apparently this phrase is 100% acceptable in Catalunia and the Basque Country (and the rest of Spain as well I imagine). I suppose when your country’s history isn’t marred by racism and slavery, it is easier to get away with flippancy around said issues. Anyways, I sincerely apologize to any Americans out there who take offence to said phrase, but recently those of us here at Pikunieta have been working like negroes. The weather has finally given us a glimpse of what summer might be like… sun and heat in the 20s (aka 70s and 80s for those readers who, like me, are used to measuring such things in farenheit not celcius). I say all this in order to excuse how lax I’ve been lately about writing about keeping everyone updated on my farming adventures. Tomorrow I promise to talk about the exciting job of sheep shearing! (spoiler alert, I got to shear one sheep myself, it was so super awesomely cool!)
organic farming
Sheep Cheese!
Perhaps it’s time I actually talk about what I’m doing here in the Basque Country?
As I mentioned in my very first post, I’m WWOOFing. WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, and it is an international volunteer program in which people are given the chance to experience life on an organic farm. I am of course acquainted with the workings of small non-organic farms in the United States since my family owns Marquam Meadows Fruit Company (see their website here: http://www.marquammeadowsfruit.com/), so it seemed natural that I should take advantage of WWOOF. I get to travel, experience a whole new culture, practice my Castellano, and learn bits and pieces of a whole new language (Euskera), all while keeping the farm life I already know about as firm footing in a new world.
I registered with WWOOF Spain and sent e-mails around to some of the farms in the Basque Country that sounded the most interesting, and eventually ended up here at Pikunieta Baserria. A farm in which we raise sheep, then milk them and make said milk into cheese. Yup, that’s right. Sheep cheese. It’s actually quite tasty, I’d definitely recomend you try some if you ever have the chance.
Gracetopher Kirk 