August update from La Pasera

It's been a busy month. A couple of visits, a family wedding, a family barbecue, lots of work around the vegetable plot and garden, some building work, a street market to prepare for and stand, and...a few preserving and jam making jobs.

Luis' brother Oscar came to stay with us from El Salvador and besides valuing his help with one or two DIY jobs it was good to hear about his life as a Marist Brother teaching in El Salvador. He have previously been living up the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela so this recent move is quite a change for him.

Another brother of Luis, Ruben, got married to his long term partner Veronica and we all met up with the family at the weekend for a large family barbecue and gathering. It was a lovely day and great for Luis to spend time with some of his nieces and nephews.

Just a snack before the main event...

The vegetable plot is producing well with beetroots, aubergines, basil, peppers, cucumber, marrow and chard ready for harvesting almost on a daily basis. I made two large pots of Basil pesto (Recipe here) with lots of garlic and some mature Parmesan. It is lovely to have with pasta and a variety of vegetable and cheese dishes. I doubt it will last long. Luis made 14 jars of Raspberry Jam and there are still lots on the canes and many more frozen ready for later on in the season.

We have just stood our 5th or 6th annual Rastrillo in Nueva, a small village a few kilometres away. It has always been a great showcase for our chair restoration and with a live demonstration we always attract a lot of interest from passersby who either remember past relatives being able to weave cane or rush or from people who have chairs they want restoring. This year, along side the chairs we took a whole load of bric-a-brac; items we no longer had a need or use for. We took quite a healthy amount of money on the day and will probably put it towards a high-end shredder which will help tremendously with out coppicing and pruning off-cuts.

An early start setting up our stall.

We are gearing up for more visits in September and will continue with some building jobs before winter sets in, more about that in a later post. The main holiday season is nearly over here in Asturias and although it is good to see the place buzzing, it is also a relief when they leave and the beaches and roads become tranquil and at peace one again.

The holiday season in Asturias

Asturias is a popular destination during the heat of the summer in Spain. Many Spanish people come during the main holiday period of last two weeks of July, August and beginning of September. Many leave their town and city based apartments where the summer temperatures rarely fall below 30 degrees Celsius, to come to the milder and more tolerable northern coast; Spain's Natural Paradise, Asturias.

The once quiet towns and low-key cities now buzz with extra traffic, more pedestrians and busy terrace cafes and bars. The beaches that are mainly deserted for 10 months of the year become a mosaic of sun chairs, beach umbrellas, beach towels and sand castles. The hundreds of peaceful walking routes become punctuated with walkers, ramblers, cyclists and runners, the gentle hum of the mountains ring out with cattle bells and camera shutters and the subdued markets come to life with extra stalls and animated stall-holders eager to sell their wares to passing tourists.

As you wander around the small fishing villages, farming communities and hidden towns, the aromas of cured ham, grilled fish and seafood, still cider and barbecued meats float through the air with unprecedented regularity and the haze of wood smoke intensifies the tapestry of greens, golds and blues that are typical of summer here in Asturias. During the next few weeks we will see and hear a proliferation of fiestas, music festivals, street theatres and recitals, all geared up to entertain and bemuse both the locals and the incomers; something for everyone.

It is great to see this influx of visitors during the summer months and although it can upset our normality, we realise that the economy needs it. What always confuses us is why Asturias is so quiet during the remainder of the year? We appreciate that it is the main holiday period for many Spanish workers but we feel that there is no-where better to visit in Autumn or Spring and even Winter than this beautiful region of Spain. OK the weather can be unpredictable particularly in Spring and sometimes in summer but cooler and wet weather fronts rarely last for long and after all, that is why Asturias is so green and lush. With mountains, woodlands, pastures and coast, larger cities and quaint villages all easily accessible within half an hour no matter where you stay, Asturias really does cater for all tastes.

Below are a couple of videos that show some of the beauty of Asturias, the first is a video from the hotel we first stayed in on our first time in Asturias (worth a visit) and the second is one I have featured before of the Cares Gorge; the most iconic walk in Asturias. Who knows we just might meet here one day....?

Winter walk along the Cares Gorge, Picos De Europa, Asturias and León, Spain from Tomas Millar on Vimeo.
A walk along the Ruta Del Cares in Northern Spain. Posada de Valdeón - Caín (León) to Puente Poncebos (Asturias) - Courtesy of www.casausborne.com.

Filmed using:
DJI Phantom Quadcopter
GoPro Hero 3
H32D Gimbal

Knowing your onions...

When something works, why meddle? 

Onions have always cropped well for us, granted, some years have been better than others but on the whole we usually grow enough onions to last us most of the year. We use a lot of onions in cooking, in chutneys and pickles and in salads. This year like previous years we have planted 150 early onions, 150 red and 150 white. Together with spring onions and leeks we will, mother nature willing, have enough at harvest time to last throughout the year.

The ground is prepared by ensuring it has lots of compost and green manure dug in and left for a few weeks for the worms and micro organisms to start their work. We buy our main onion crop as small plants from a local grower who has a stall in Ribadesella market. Although they are not organic, we will grow them on using organic principals. We bought 400 onions and 12 lettuce from him for 20€.

We look for a good green and strong plant that has been well watered and not left to grow too leggy in the plant module. We have always been pleased with the quality of his stock.

We give the onions a good start in the ground by supplementing the rich soil with extremely well rotted manure. We have found a source near to us from a local farmer who has a few cows and horses. Over the years he has just piled up the manure and it has turned into black gold. We usually drop him off a bottle of home made liqueur based on Orujo and orange which we know he likes. We take the car up, fill a few sacks and off we go.

Heaps of black gold

A small trench is dug and filled in the base with black gold and then watered. The onions are laid out about 15cms apart, the trench filled and the onions bedded in. A final watering is pretty much all there is left to do and apart from a bit of light weeding from time to time and spraying with a natural fungicide, the onions will grow and swell without little interference from us.

Knowing our onions, the conditions they like, when and when not to spray and when to harvest works for us and results in a year round supply of delicious red and white onions for cooking and preserving. What are your tips on onion growing, maybe leave us a comment below or a link to your blog and we'll check them out? I bet they're not as big as ours.... ;-)

Photo walk in Gijon

We decided to visit Gijon, about 40 minutes away along the coast from us. On a Sunday there is a large outdoor market and it was also an opportunity to visit any Christmas markets and see the decorations. A very different experience to what we would have seen in the UK. Here are a few photographs with captions...

A velveteen mannequin of a boy on the second-hand market

The glorious red squirrels in Parque Isabel la Catolica

The promenade

Winter - ah, the smell of mothballs

Traditional marzipan crocodiles and monsters - the price tag for the small one read €78

A Morrocan style walkway through a water feature in Begonia Square

A rather subdued Christmas market

A revolving Christmas tree made from Cider bottles...

Surfers waiting for the next big wave in the bay

A swimmer preparing to battle the cold, cold water.

Having fun on the winter beach, dogs are not allowed on the beach in Summer

A Rhea in the parque we called him Chris

Chris' dinosaur-like feet

Visiting a traditional market at Porrua de Llanes

Once a year in a small village not too far from home is one of the most interesting fiestas in our area; Mercau Tradicianal. The market runs for two days, usually over the last weekend in August thereby making the most of the holiday makers who flock to Asturias in the month of August. The fair has only been running since the early 1990s but it has the feel of something with more history. It is loosely billed as a celebration of life before the industrial revolution.

The market takes place in the small village of Porrua which has a central park that has a well kept circle of entangled and grafted plane trees which form shade and a retreat from the mid-day sun. Around the outside is a wide circular walkway.

By the time we had arrived the streets were filling with visitors and participants alike who all congregated at the local bar 'Casino de Porrua'. This is where the opening parade starts from, making its way through the narrow village streets eventually reaching the park and the hoards of awaiting visitors.

As we made our way down, we could smell the wood-smoke from the huge barbecue which was heating up its embers ready for the onslaught of ravenous visitors eager for ribs and sausage. The streets were carpeted in a thin layer of golden straw and many people were dressed in traditional costume.

The outer walk-way was filled with stalls selling artisan products ranging from carved wood, leather work, book binding, jewelry, pottery, hand-made shoes, puppets and potions. The barbecue area included demonstrations of bell making, a re-enactment of a traditional Asturian kitchen and ladies spinning yarn from wool and flax.

Underneath the plane trees were many stalls selling food and drink. Cheeses from the region, artisan breads and cakes, snacks of tortilla, corn pancakes with meat filling, bocodillos (small filled rolls)... and so on. Complimented by the huge barbecue, there was no excuses for anyone to go hungry.

Together with the donkey, horse and oxen and cart rides for the children, the highlights of the fair are the many street performers, traditional pipe bands and dancers that wander the fair and entertain the eager crowds. They create such a buzz and whenever they stop to perform, a crowd soon forms and their imagination is captured for a few special moments.

Three characters that always raise a smile are the giant (human) foam puppets who stroll around and interact with the crowds. One in particular always draws a following mainly on account of his rather large (foam) penis he is only too willing to show to the ladies and demonstrate its squirting ability to lookers on....( watch the video).

You can easily spend half a day at this market, wandering around, sampling the wares and admiring the craftsmanship and skills on display, soaking up the atmosphere as you stroll. We shared cider with friends, ate tortilla and sampled cheese, bought cheese and bread and Luis even skipped. Replete,  we watched the world go by and petted a young donkey, all in all a great day out.