We arrived by train from Barcelona to Figueres station where we were greeted by Amanda, Deno and their two dogs Rita and Lucy. From there we drove for an hour into the mountains and just past the small village of Albanya. The farmhouse is in an isolated location within a protected national park. We were truly blown away by the beauty of the area on arrival, between the rolling holm oak forests sat a 17th century farmhouse on a ridge above their vegetable gardens and fruit trees.
We immediately knew we would have an amazing experience there and within minutes we were kicking ourselves that we would only be staying a week. Amanda showed us to our room before we set off into the forest to explore the area, full of marron chestnut trees and meandering creaks. The dogs came with us and we were immediately friends! Later that evening Deno cooked up a lovely pasta meal and we drank wine and chatted until late. Deno is Italian and loved to cook.
The next morning we set about our week of work which was to include weeding then mulching the many raspberry, strawberry and artichokes patches, replanting mints as ground covers, strimming, making new beds for yet more raspberry’s, collecting butchers broom, a root crop for tea and compost preparation.
On day three I discovered a pair of disused tanks and a spring which looked like they were once used to wash clothes or something. Deno and Amanda expressed an interested in making use of it and I jumped at the chance of a fresh diploma project. I spent most of my weekend off observing the surroundings of the tanks, any unused resources and carrying out some experiments with clay to understand the possibilities of a design. Amanda and Deno seemed excited about the possibility of “growing” fish and aquatic plants and my new found enthusiasm in aquaculture was rubbing off. Watch this space for a design and implementation plan for PR4.
Our time at CanColl was really rewarding. Amanda and Deno are in the early stages of a Bed & Breakfast to earn a living and with Deno’s amazing cooking and Amanda’s hand in the garden they are certainly close to living out their dream. Thank you so much for the wild boar sausage!!!
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Posted in Diploma, Environment, Food, Permaculture, Travel, Wwoofing
Tagged Albanya, Aquaculture, Chestnut, Diploma, Figueres, Food, Fruit, Holm Oak, Pyrenees, Spain, Springs, Veg, Wwoofing
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