That's right, Art and I have called Homestead Albania home for six years this month. I left a fancy IT job in New Zealand and moved to Art's home and land passed down for ten generations, without a look back. We've transformed the land, home and our minds living here and I do not say this lightly, THE BEST DECISION EVER.
First year
Sixth year same day
And this month
It's peaceful and we enjoy the food forest we've created, plus the sounds of nature that come with living away from the city and traffic. We spend most mornings with a coffee on the front porch overlooking the vineyard and the views of Mount Kraja (a peak across the lake in Montenegro). And we capture a few new birds on camera almost every day. The chickens and ducks run free and are always entertaining.
And when the coffees done we pick a task to accomplish. Art's main focus this year has been largely a secret dubbed the OGT. Coming 2025, we will have the Orchard Guard Tower offering a serene haven perched above the pomegranate orchard and in the garden. Our tiny home is complete with modern amenities and stunning views.
My tasks as of lately was polishing my seventh novel, They Say It's a Myth or helping Art with the OGT or garden. Our day to day is never the same here and that is also why this place is so easy to call home.
October was blissfully warm and dry, allowing us and few guests to pick the pomegranates from the orchard. Despite the adversity of the a stormy start to summer, the pomegranate season was a success by all standards. We sold a few kilos during the you-pick season. It's our fourth year with the orchard and our trees reach maturity at five years. Fingers crossed, no hail or harsh winds in late spring next year. We've squeezed over thirty liters of juice so far and haven't even started to tackle the pomegranate trees in the garden.
Along with the pomegranates we've also collected and smashed our grapes. We did not make any wine this season. But we did make three rounds of mushti aka sparkling grape juice. We bottle and freeze to preserve and enjoy during the winter. The bottles rarely make it to spring. But maybe we've made enough to get us to March. I'll let you know.
First round of three. Freezer is nearing capacity so we invited the neighbors over to fill up a few bottles.
Speaking of making it March. Persimmons. We've peeled, sliced, and dried all of our persimmons for snacks that rarely make it through the winter. They are just sweet and chewy. Perfect healthy snack with out any added sugars or preservatives. My favorite treat we make. Our cracked seed is long like a knife but some say its round enough to be a spoon. So shovel snow or scraping ice...we'll see.
New japanese plums (loquats) buds
And with the warmer sunny days we've had a few robins perched in the mulberry tree serenating our morning coffee time.
We've got onions and garlics popping up in the garden. Collard greens, spinach and kale are still producing. Soon we'll be back to prepping the spring garden. The roses are fooled by our warmer temperatures too.
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