Farm School and Good Eats in Patagonia

Where to begin?? My apologies for the looong hiatus. I´ve been at Chacra Rincon del Sur, a gorgeous little family farm outside of El Bolson, in northern Patagonia, for almost two weeks (holy moly, it´s been two weeks!?!?). I´m living in a small, basic cabin with three other American girls (two of whom are from brooklyn, go figure). We live up the hill about 1/4 mile from the Aguilar family home. Cynthia Aguilar, the matriarch, is our "boss" and teacher. She´s like a farmier, friendlier, Argentine Martha Stewart, and she´s amazing. We work from 10-1 and then 4-7 each day, on her family farm and one morning a week at the local elementary school, where she runs a garden to provide vegetables for the kids´meals there.

Their farm is basically a family homestead. Cynthia and her husband, Ignacio, live there with Cynthia´s 15 year-old son, Fede(rico) and their 10 year-old daughter, Sol. They don´t sell anything commercially, though with a cash-strapped, rural population, bartering is very common, and they often trade their products and produce with neighbors. They have, i think, 24 hectares, which is about 80 acres of land, most of which is forested. They grow all their own produce in two gardens and a small greenhouse, and have sheep for wool and lambs´meat, two milking cows, a handful of laying hens, a handful of ducks, two geese (all for eggs), a pig, and four rabbits.

We start our days feeding animals, cleaning the stalls, and milking the cow. Then we help in the garden, weeding or transplanting seedlings, or help collect and burn wood (to prevent rats´nests in wood piles), or help with other small projects around the farm. When the weather is bad, and sometimes, even when it´s not, we get lessons in cheese-making, or butter-making, or bread-making, or empanada-making, or beer-making. This is my favorite part. Although we, as volunteers, do help out, Cynthia´s main goal is to teach what she knows to the volunteers that come to the farm. She is incredibly hospitable and affectionate, greeting us each day with a big hug, and treating us all like family from Day 1.

As far as cooking and eating well, I´ve struck gold at this place . In addition to our "classes" with Cynthia, my fellow volunteers are all great cooks and food lovers. With the exception of grains, beans, and spices, nearly all of our food comes from the farm and is included in our $5 a day charge. Ana, an American who is traveling with her boyfriend on a research trip for the goat farm-cheesemaking-brewpub they hope to open one day, is an excellent cook, and has been a great cooking teacher as well. Aily and Lucy, two Bard grads from Brooklyn, also love food, and are great cooks as well. I´m an excellent sous chef, culinary student, and appreciator of the delicious meals they create :).

We have somewhat limited resources, what with this being the beginning of the garden season (only chard, lettuce, onions, radishes and parsnips are fresh), but it´s amazing what "we´ve" come up with so far. Here´s a list (in no particular order) of some of our recent meals:

Spanish garlic soup, squash polenta gnocchi with morel cream sauce, squash apple soup, bulghar-lentil-chard pilaf, rice-chard pilaf (pictured below), lentil-potato-parsnip soup, rhubarb-cherry-apple crisp (I made that one!), Spanish flan, rice pudding, French toast (I made that, too!), potato pancakes. Every day, it´s something new, and with all the delicious, fresh dairy and eggs, I´m definitely going to be rolling off this farm when I leave here.

I will post more, soon, and new pictures are up in my Picasa album. Sorry there´s no captions yet. Until then, Chau, and Buen provecho!