Zen Mini Flaneur: The Farm

The Zen mini flaneur came about from my recovery from Covid-19 in Spring 2020.  Organic gardening was refreshed from years ago in California volunteering with UCSC Chadwick farm project.  I was able to rent a plot of land in a rural area south of Madrid to get out into the fresh air and sunshine. It was a way to build back my physical strength and at the same time raise my own food.  As I rode along to the garden plot, I took notice of the farming community that I was now becoming a member.  There were fields of corn, oats and alfalfa.   Wild storks and cranes feasted in the freshly irrigated fields giving me a splendour beyond words as they flew over head.  I could not walk easily due to the depletion of muscle mass in my legs from COVID-19, so I used a bicycle on my zen adventure to my garden plot.  I rose early and kept a strict schedule to get into shape and let my body get accustomed to a regular routine for better health.  The garden was a shared large plot with a few community members of all generations.  On my flaneur to the country road of the garden, I stopped and took in the flora and fauna with tactile perception.  In an abandoned field next to my plot, I found overgrown strawberry plants wildly branching out in all directions.  I ventured into this wonderland and tasted the most delicious fruits of the season!  Later I discovered this ‘fresa’ (strawberry) was the original strawberry of the local area dating back to the Bourbon crown.  It was a feature of the Strawberry Festival that was held every year for decades.  Unfortunately, this ‘fresa’ has been technically modified to become the ‘freson’ (big strawberry) and grown in other areas of Spain in greenhouses. The area where I was gardening is a unique crossroads of two large rivers in the land of Don Quixote. Its rich riverbeds have been thriving since the swamps have been drained centuries ago for agricultural use. I was lucky to enjoy my mini flaneur in the strawberry fields forever delighting my palette! I planted my own chili and green peppers, watermelon, eggplants, tomatoes (4 kinds), melons (3 kinds) and zucchini.  On the border, I planted my dream flower; the sunflower. They all flourished with my zen attention to detailed weeding and care over the next 4 months.  Farmers in the local area and my fellow gardeners help me to understand the soil, watering, and harvest times. The naturally rich soil with a little horse apples (manure) was still harvesting up until late October 2020.