It's rainy and chilly but I could care less. This morning after a farmer's breakfast I followed Joachim out to his garden and pulled weeds for a while. It was wonderful. The tomato plants inside his hothouse are already 3 feet tall and loaded. There are mounds of potatoes, rows of strawberries and cucumbers and heads of lettuce inbetween it all. He showed me the bulbous celery that will be ready to harvest in the fall. Right next to the garden is the orchard yard that has trees with about 5 different kinds of fruit, plus about 7 kinds of berry bushes and... oh yes... some grapevines.
Behind the garden is the chicken coop and pigeon house. I got to hold some baby pigeons but you can't get too attached because they'll be the centerpiece of meals one day. They are Joachim's pride and joy. He's been raising pigeons for food since he was 10, taught by his uncle.
After the morning in the garden, Angela and I walked to a neighbor's house where we bought about 10 jars of local honey. The elderly many has a collection of taxidermied animals that is out of this world. I suggested to Angela that she ought to make a documentary about him.
Right now I'm in the kitchen watching Ute prepare Sunday dinner. So far she's peeled and trimmed white asparagus from the garden. I think there are also potatoes on the boil. She begins cooking each vegetable with water, salt, a little sugar and butter. That's basically the way she prepares all of their fresh vegetables, then they are served hot with more melted butter and perhaps some bread crumbs sprinkled on top.
I am absolutely in love with this family, their farm, their little village and rural (East) Germany. Later today we'll drive around Brandenburg and tomorrow Angela is taking me to Pottsdam.
1 comment:
sounds like you're visiting a little piece of heaven. You must describe how one peels an asparagus. I'm left baffled.
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