Our land

Numbers about my fincas

Since Dez 2013, I have leased the "Veggie-finca", since July 2014 also the "L-finca". Finca is a property. The two properties are next to each other and have a total of 5300 square meters. They are in in southern Spain, 50 km east of Málaga, near the town of Nerja, 400m to the nearest beach.

Fruit and vegetables

Fruit in our garden: avocados, cherimoyas, figs, grapes, guavas, kumquat, mangos, monstera deliciosa, mulberries, physalis, passion fruit, pitanga, sapote blanco, sapote negro and strawberries. However, we only have small amounts of most of the fruits in the garden. Young trees, still without fruit: jackfruit, jujube, longan, macadamia, oranges, plums

Seasonal vegetables in our garden: chayote, corn, tomatoes, garlic, leek, pumkin, yacon and many wild plants.

The soil

The soil on our land has a good balance between clay and sand, but less humus than I'm used to in Germany. Therefore, we would like to get more organic material, such as grass clippings, hedge clippings, natural leftover vegetables, etc. After composting, they bring more humus to the soil. A high humus content is very good for almost all crops; the humus stores water and nutrients.

What we do with the land

I and my partner (Murielle) live off the fruit and vegetables we grow on the land, the eggs and meat from our chickens, supplemented by exchanges with neighbours and friends, collections in nature and occasional shopping. We do not use chemicals or mineral fertilisers, but for cost reasons we do not have certification for organic farming. As it is agricultural land, we cannot accommodate guests (except relatives and friends who visit us).

We try to grow versatile and healthy food with as little machinery and labour as possible. So we hardly grow lettuce and leafy vegetables, but eat many different wild plants from our garden every day.  On our land we eat everything raw, outside we eat cooked food about 2 times a week. Murielle eats a largely vegan diet, I also eat raw eggs and raw meat from our chickens, sometimes fish (I get free leftovers in town).

We live very simply, we don't have a car, no heating (the temperature doesn't slip below +5 degrees here even on winter nights), no fridge, nothing to cook with (we don't drink tea here either), our toilet consists of a small trench, our shower of a suspended hose.

People around

In the surrounding area, many people live similarly to us. We have a good relationship with our neighbours. On Fridays from 6 pm, I lead a small gospel choir here. Nearby, there is usually a weekly bhajan singing as well as other music groups. Nearby there is an association (BAM) for sale and purchase of products from organic farmers.