Tag: brasil

A beleza nas coisas mais imperfeitas // The beauty in the Imperfections

November 24, 2016

Quando contamos nossa história e falamos sobre nosso estilo de vida ouvimos 2 tipos de comentários:

When we told our story to family and friends about our proposed lifestyle change here on the farm, we were met with 2 types of responses:

Os românticos- que coisa mais maravilhosa largar tudo e morar no campo. Um dia vou ter coragem de fazer isso também.
Os realistas- vocês são loucos e irresponsáveis. Como vão viver assim? Jamais faria isso.

The romantics, what a wonderful thing, leave all the nonsense behind to live on a farm. One day I’d love to so the same.
The realists – You’re mad and irresponsible, how will you survive like this? Mostly, we’ve heard from the realists more.

A verdade é que nenhuma das duas visões se aplicam no nosso cotidiano.

The truth is, neither of these opinions apply to our daily life here.

Passamos perrengues, temos um zilhão de dúvidas e questionamentos.

We pass through difficult times in life, it’s normal, and we’re left with a zillion doubts and questions.

Tem semana que o telefone não toca. Não vendemos um pão. Chove muito a estrada fica enterditada, a varanda cheia de lama, o bolo não cresce, e nossas reservas se esgotando.

There are weeks when the phone doesn’t ring, we don’t sell one bread. It rains, and rains and rains and the road ruts and becomes impassable, the veranda is full of mud, the cakes don’t rise and our savings are dwindling.

Ás vezes é um caos que só. Dan fica super irritado e eu choro.

Sometimes, it’s pure chaos. Dan gets stressed, I cry, it’s horrible.

Então nos lembramos que viver essa experiência foi escolha nossa. E toda escolha tem renúncia. Quão fortunado somos nós que temos direito de escolha? Muiiiito.

Then we remember that this life experience was our choice and every choice has sacrifices. But we can’t forget that we were lucky enough to be able to have this choice in the first place. Very lucky.

Como faz pra se recompor, centrar e fazer com que as coisas fiquem bem?

How do we do to make sure we stay composed, centered and make sure we focus on keeping things going?

O Dan pedala, faz jardinagem, faz pão… Eu faço um bolo, medito (tento), ajudo no jardim e costuro. E juntos cozinhamos.

Dan rides, he works in the garden, he makes bread… I make a cake, meditate, help in the garden and work on my machine, making home wares and dresses, and we cook together.

Aos poucos vamos achando o nosso jeitinho de conectar-se com nós mesmos e com o mundo. O alimento tem um poder incrível de conexão. Talvez porque cozinhar faz com que você esteja presente. Vivendo o momento.

Slowly, we’ll find a way to connect better with ourselves and our public. Food is an incredible tool to bring people together, and when you cook, or prepare food, you’re present and in the moment.

E tudo passa. O dia nasce ensolarado, o telefone toca, desbloqueiam a estrada, os amigos nos visitam, tem flor, fruta e comida. É uma alegria que só.

The bad moments pass, they always do. The next day the sun rises, it’s sunny, the phone rings and the road becomes passable, friends visit, the garden is full of flowers, there are fruits on the trees, we have a roof over our head and there is food on the table.

Morando na roça temos aprendido muito sobre horta, orgânicos, alimentação, café, fermentação e tantos outros assuntos que nem imaginávamos um dia saber, mas temos mesmo é aprendido muito sobre nós mesmos.

Living on the farm we have learned so much about the garden, the land, organics, food, coffee, fermentation and so many day to day things its hard to list, but what we have learned more is about ourselves, learning from our mistakes and coming out the other side.

Aprendendo a ver beleza nos dias cinzas e nas nossas próprias imperfeições.

We are learning to see the beauty on our grey days and in our imperfections.

Hario V60

September 6, 2016

by oficina74

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A quick video of a beautifully poured coffee, here at Oficina74.

Because on days of rain, nothing beats a steaming fresh cup.

The Transformation. From Wasteland to Workshop.

October 14, 2015

by oficina74

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The Farm has been a complete construction site for weeks now, things have been trodden down, destroyed, and some things, rebuilt. We’ve found ways of reusing as much as possible and removed as little as possible, pathways have been created where once was lush flora, and our house is filled with dust, debris and sand.

All of these things have made life difficult, and, as before, the overwhelming feeling of taking on more than we can chew, niggles me in my loins.

But with each passing day, another aspect of our project gets closer to being finished. We’ve come so far, and our amazing builders have worked tirelessly, and meticulously to deliver to us our vision.

Last week, the Oficina, in its structural form, was finished. The new slab and access ramp, made up of old crushed rock from the destroyed walls upstairs, and a 6″ layer of clay, hardpacked, and then concrete screeded on top. The roof has been built and tiled, the door and frame was cleaned, treated and oiled, new locks were fitted and it was varnished, a window was recycled from upstairs to offer light and ventilation, and everything was painted, inside and out.

Although I’m not sure of this buildings original use, I believe it was a stable, the split door indicates that, but whatever it was, it was pretty much good for nothing when we began. Although one of the smaller projects on the farm, it felt like a huge accomplishment getting it to where it is today. See the snaps below to see the transformation.

A workbench is being made in the next coupe of weeks, and a workstand is on order. Electricity and water will be wired/plumbed in the next couple of weeks, too. Then it’s a go.

Now I just need to find a way of making a living out of this…

Before, West Wall.

After. West Wall

Original Frontage and Door

New Frontage, with restored door, new locks, and first pass at the handpainted sign.

Before – Inside Building

After – Inside Building. Workbench and Rack to come.

Baking Bread to Make Bread.

September 14, 2015

by oficina74

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50/50 White/Wholegrain Sourdough Mini loaves

Bread. 3 simple ingredients, combined in different ways, in different environments, and in different styles to create a plethora of choices. Flour, water, salt. That’s it. Combined in such a way, baked in such a way, presented in such a way that really, no one loaf is like any other. The water you use, the oven you have fired, the pot you bake in, the kneading, the folding, the time you set aside for rising, the slicing, the dusting, the cooling. All of these things come together to make your bread truly unique.

Sourdough

I have been baking bread for essentially no time at all. Honestly, I don’t know the first thing about it. However, I have developed a timing pattern that works, an oven temperature that works, my clay pot that works and I have found a recipe that I stick to, to the gram, that works.

I play about with the mix sometimes though, add more wholegrains or rye flours, experiment with stronger flour, with pure wheat gluten, and I have experimented baking with olives, cranberries, chia or other seeds stuffed into the dough.

But for me, a plain white sourdough bread hits the spot, it’s the one I have focussed more time and energy into perfecting, and it seems to be working. Sourdough is one of the simplest forms of bread, the 3 ingredients, combined with time and patience can yield amazing results. My bread has a long way to go, but I feel at a stage where I could sell this bread, it’s handmade, with water from the farms well and nothing else added. It’s as simple as it gets, and it makes great fucking sandwiches.

Sandwiches. Who needs anything else.

I don’t really know where my journey started with bread, or why I even started baking, but I took a simple recipe from a book and gave it a shot, I began to read more, about processes and times, I began following some master bakers and individuals on instagram and blogs that I thought had a unique and polarizing style. I looked to their breads with envy and pushed myself to learn more about the process. Somehow, along the way, I started to think about sourdough, it was the bread I always went for in the delis in New York if the choice was there, I loved the chewy texture, the slight sour undertone and the crisp, thick crust. This was the bread I wanted to bake.

Sourdough is basically bread baked using natural fermentation, creating your own local yeast, maintaining it, and getting it active enough to raise dough, and bake beautiful bread. Essentially, it’s flour + water x time.

Here at the farm, we’re lucky enough to have a well, it gives clean, fresh water, free from a lot of the chemicals associated with water from the tap in the average city, and my starter began to behave wonderfully with it. Some chemicals in treated water can have detrimental affects to your culture. The man is always trying to fuck up our culture, man.

The Starter

Once my starter was bubbling away, I attempted my first sourdough loaf. Although it tasted all right, it wasn’t much of a looker, but this was the real beginning to baking.

Early Sourdough

Over the next months I began using different flours, developing my yeast and giving it some “double feeds” to get him leaping over buildings, I bought a large clay pot to bake the loaves in, and finally, even bought a few proofing baskets, brought all the way from the UK, (thanks Mum).

Once the new kitchen has been roofed, our first purchase will be a large bread oven, capable of baking 5-6 loaves at a time, I’ll probably go back to square one at this point, as learning the behaviour and timing of your oven is a quintessential step in the process. But I know I’ll figure it out, and soon I’ll be proving fresh, handmade, sourdough bread to the local area surrounding the farm. Soon, we’ll be baking bread to make a little bread.

Sourdough, 70% Hydration, 15% rye mix.

Building the Dream

September 8, 2015

by oficina74

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The farm has become a construction site. It breaks my heart a little bit to see it like this, but deep down, I know this is what needs to happen now to create the space we have dreamed of in the future.

We are in Phase 1 of the developments, destroying and rebuilding the old poolside house, an old building comprising of concrete blocks and an old asbestos roof with no windows, into a fully functioning kitchen with a wood oven, bread oven, pizza oven, BBQ and blenders and stand mixer. They’ll be a coffee bar offering chemex, aeropress, french press and hario drip style drinks, espresso drinks, cakes, breads and juices, a large unisex toilet with disabled access, a wood beam and tile roof, large windows for natural light and creating a space that flows and will invite people to come, stay and enjoy our farm.

It’ll not come easy, though!

Phase 1 also incudes creating paths through the property, so people can walk amongst the orchards, the vegetables, see the food they’re eating being cultivated and prepared. It also includes the rebuilding of an old stable building into the bicycle workshop and creative space. The building of a deck, a reworking of the pool, irrigation systems, shade spots, a fire pit, additional planting of plants to increase the amount of wildlife we receive, improve cross pollination and also create an environment that sustains itself, healthily without the use of agro-toxins.

There is so much to do, it’s overwhelming and terrifying. My Mum is here with us and she has been a huge help in getting things moving, advising us on plants, crops, rotation, what to plant where and what next to. She also paid for the new artesian well and roof structure, something profoundly generous. Thanks, Mum.

Water is one of the biggest issues here, we have a groundwater well, that has, in the past ran dry. During the last 18 months of drought, this has become a daily worry and concern. We are harvesting rainwater and soon, all grey water, too. But still, when we have people here, we cannot have this issue. We also want to increase how much we’re planting, and for this, we need water. The artesian well will go to around 50m and tap the arteries of many of the surrounding aquifers. This will relinquish us from worry and provide natural, clean and abundant water.

Archaic Bruv

All of this work will hopefully be completed in the next 2 months. Tati and I are aiming to start receiving people here in the beginning of the summer, around December, drop in for some sourdough and a cup o’ joe!