Albert Einstein
You may remember a couple of weeks ago I told you about the butter and fresh pasteurized milk we buy at El Paraiso, which is just across the street from us. That store is operated by Lisa. Today our weekly farm tour took us to Granja El Paraiso (translates to Paradise Farm), which is operated by her husband, Mark.
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| This is for Greg, who misses raising chickens |
We walked to the farm, which took about 40 minutes using quiet paths. Our guide, Memo, was ahead of me with his machete. I was relieved to hear he carries it to cut back any overgrown areas to make for an easier walk, but the path was mostly clear. My imagination questioned if it could be for more scarier things!
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| First something to eat ... |
Once we arrived at the farm, Mark gave us background information about the area that I could never explain correctly. I did find it interesting to hear how the indigenous deer and wild hogs are considerably smaller than we'd ever see elsewhere as the jungle makes it difficult for them to get food because of the limited light to the ground. Apparently, the local deer are no bigger than a mid-sized dog.
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| Then something to drink ... |
Mark's farm has 17 cows, 7 goats, and many chickens. He used to keep sheep, but no longer does. I don't want to know where they went! Mark hesitated when giving a count for the goats, as he said "4, oh no 5, oh no 7 - two more were born yesterday". One of the goats was expected to birth tonight, so soon it may be 8.
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| OK, everyone, stand still while I count ... |
His farm has been in operation for five years, and yet he knows the name of each cow. They acted more like pets and were content to have us roam amongst them. I don't think I've ever been that close to cows before!
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| Now time for a bath ... see mom's tongue working away? |
All the animals are free to roam wherever, including finding their own way to the river and back for water. Most of the time they stay in one area, where they feed. The feed area is an example of permaculture at work, which I won't attempt to explain. The chickens spend their days around the cows, and they benefit from being together. I'll leave it at that.
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| I need milk to grow big and strong! |
Mark also has cleared areas of the jungle to plant corn. Apparently the corn itself is not good feed for the cows, but the seeds are harvested for future plantings, and the stalks are cut up and allowed to ferment under tarp, which makes silage. This is then fed to the cows on the weekend, as somewhat of a treat.
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| Isn't this little one adorable? |
Our tour moved on to Lisa's store, across from our home, and Lisa gave us a tour of her production area. It was probably less than 15' square, but she had different products at various stages.
She was making butter, with a very simple setup using of a hand mixer. She was just taking out a batch of Cheshire cheese, which I understand is similar to Cheddar but not aged. She also had whole milk "resting" to make mozzarella cheese. Apparently a local Italian restaurant worked with their mother back in Italy to improve her test batches, and she now feels she makes "the best" mozzarella! She also had test batches aging of a cheese similar to parmesan.
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| That's the fresh cheese, in front of the butter batch |
Lisa and Mark are both dedicated to an organic approach for their products. Mark will not use any chemicals on his crops, and has a truly organic approach to his crops and animals. Lisa will only make varieties with natural ingredients. When asked whether she makes cottage cheese, she explained that it needs a gel component and she hasn't sourced out a natural product she's satisfied with yet. I thought the butter had food colouring in it because it's such a bright yellow, but apparently that's from the quality of the cream from the milk. After hearing from Mark about the volume of chemicals some growers use in high-volume crops, there are fruit I may never buy again!
People have apparently asked about making donations, to show appreciation for these tours. Our leader said today we can show our appreciation by buying their products. Today I had their milk, butter, and bread for my breakfast, before the tour, and I just bought some cheese from today's fresh batch.
Last night's beautiful sunset, from the rooftop of our building.
Note: My apologies for the post title; it's Greg's creation. Yeah, painful, I know.
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Location: Lo de Marcos, Nayarit, Mexico
Weather: High of 78ºF (26ºC), low of 71ºF( 22ºC)
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