E-I-E-I-O

A chicken here-a chicken there-here a chicken-there a chicken…

E-I-E-I-O! 

That may not be right, but you get the idea.  There are chickens here on the farm.  Lots of them.  There is also potatoes, LOTS of onions (that we helped plant!), radishes, lettuce, cilantro, and some other random plants that I can’t remember.  It has a beautiful setting, set in the foothills of the Himalayas.  The kitchen is a tent set with the gorgeous background.  Below is the view from the farm (there is a bit of the terrace farming in the middle and left of the bottom) and the kitchen tent. 

The wwoofers (people who wwoof…people who do this type of volunteer farming thing) share a bedroom on the upstairs of this large house.  It only has two rooms and a big main room with high ceilings.  It has windows EVERYWHERE so natural sunlight is not hard to come by during the day.  It is by far the biggest, nicest house in the area.  The owner of the land is a business man that decided to have this place built as a type of sanctuary away from the business of home.  His family (wife, 2 sons, 1 daughter, and the kids’ spouses) live in his hometown, but he likes it out here so he stays here and visits home every two weeks or so. 

It is “winter” (I feel bad even using the word to describe the warmth and sunshine we get every day) so the crop we can plant is limited.  We have planted lots of onions and worked on random projects.  There is not a lot of obvious work to do, but search and there is usually something to do, if not there is always a book or a walk to take.  Today Mike and I worked on building a shelf hamper thing to put the food on to get it off the ground.  Pierre, one of the guys here, taught us a fun knot and we went to town.  It worked out well and now our food can stay off the ground! (We made the shelf that is on bottom, but looks like it’s on top in this picture.)  The other picture is of the kitchen in the tent:

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currently (to be changed drastically this week as many depart) there is a couple from France (Sago and Pierre), a couple from New Zealand (Ray and Ana), and Adam from Seattle.  It is a fun mix with lots of talent and energy.  Here are some pictures to end with: 

 

Mike wearing some color and the terraced fields.  We’ve eaten some homegrown potatoes, radishes and lots of cilantro!

 

We’re liking it so far and trying to absorb all the beauty and sun we can!  It is only cold in the mornings and evenings.  Otherwise: sun and t-shirt warmth.  Perfect running weather—WOOHOOO!