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It’s hot, really hot. Sweat dries quickly to a salty residue on my skin. Golden straw floats off the end of my pitchfork, carried by a warm wafty breeze across the fields of barley and maize. The heat and the straw have my skin feeling itchy. What I would give to go for a swim now… But it is time to work, and the nearby river will still be cool and refreshing in a few hours time...
From a consumer point of view, my recent experiences on a swiss farm are very positive regarding the quality of produce...
Hans-Reudi, like many farmers in Switzerland, works almost alone on his small plot of land near in Seftigen. With 20 cows this is in fact a reasonably big farm by local standards. He knows each of the cows by name and has been with them everyday of their lives. He is passionate about the animals and it shows.
His day starts early with milking after which the cows spend time it the paddock before the day gets hot. In the mean-time it is a chance for him to clean out their living area, cut a fresh supply of grass for them
to eat, and lay a new straw carpet for them. The cows, back in their luxury suite, have their tails lightly strung from above to keep them clean, but still allowing them to swish the flies away. Hans-Reudi sometimes spends time with them just talking gently and making sure that they are comfortable and with enough to eat. The animals are lively and respond positively to the farmer. Much of the work, like in earlier times, is done by hand. It is labour intensive, but means that the farmer has a real connection with the land on which he lives and survives.
For me this is a beautiful contrast to the un-intimate, machine dominated, larger scale of farming that I am used to from New Zealand.
After a midday break, it is time to organise the barn, fix the fence, bale some hay and harvest the barley.
Outside the front of the house is a vegetable garden, with a good supply of green vegetables for the family. Some days I go with the family to pick strawberries and make jam. Other days it is the leaves from a white flower that is used to make a sweet and
healthy drink. Basically all of the family's requirements can be sourced from the plot of land surrounding the house.
Like many educated areas of the world, one of the major concerns is making sure they can survive against the mass movement towards globalising and up-scaling operations, at least until people realise the great advantages of the healthier smaller scale, and less chemically intensive methods again. Like every facet of life, variation is an important part of maintaining good health and motivation.
Having lived, worked and survived off this farm for a week, I am feeling healthy, satisfied with my choice of energy transaction and somehow with renewed vigour for a world disconnected from its foundations, the environment...
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