One Year in The Campo

A Whole Year of Learning

It is hard to believe that it’s been over a year that I have been able to call this paradise home. A whole year of learning and yet it feels like just the beginning. Off-grid and a more sustainable lifestyle really does suit me.

Waste Not Want Not

Yes, I get called a hippy, I call it being conscious of my surroundings. Learning so much about foraging and the local ecosystem here has inspired many dishes in the kitchen. Returning home from a month of travelling on the Epic Family Road Trip I was able to forage enough food within 30 metres of the house until I ventured to the village.

Even in the winter months, there is plenty to learn, I am so enjoying understanding more about the power of nature on my doorstep and the healing properties it has.

When I moved to the Campo house last December there were still plenty of olives left on the trees and I started experimenting with different processes to brine them. Hours of video watching and research lead me to the conclusion that there are nearly as many ways to brine olives as there are different varieties of trees. I shall continue my experiments each year with the different crops of olives and will eventually make my own olive oil too.

Wine Occupies a Lot of my time

There was some success and some failures in making my own wine. The grapevine over the terrace was not The Future Vintage I had hoped it would be after all. It didn’t survive the drought to produce any crop at all, although it did provide the bees and the birds with lots of food and luckily the local area produces lots of amazing wines to buy.

The fig wine was my favourite, although it did turn out to be incredibly potent. Just one glass is advisable. The learning was so much fun and absolutely something I shall continue with this year.

Ponies and Pets

Having the horses just up the road in the campo has been an absolute joy. They are close enough to saddle up and ride home for the day where they happily munch down the lawn and empty the fridge of carrots and is a lovely break from polo training for them too.

My little Ibiza rescue dog Tillie was the only dog I had when I moved here 12 months ago and the plan was always that she would join my daughter in the UK at some point during the year.

Then Woody happened- the Brittany Spaniel that had been badly injured and was left hobbling around the town. After four months of intensive surgeries, wound care and rehab-Woody was fit enough to move to my friend’s farm in England. There he has the freedom, space and company of other farm dogs and can play all day long.

Woody also brought me a lovely friendship with the local vet and her family that have been instrumental in making me feel comfortable here.

So in the summer both Woody and Tillie embarked on their road trip to new lives in England with the family. Returning home with no dogs at foot was the strangest experience. Riding out on the ponies and not having Tillie running beside me, snuggling on the sofa without a soft, fluffy pooch next to me and coming in the gate to not be met by waggly tails was a first-time experience for me.

But it wasn’t long before a new dog found me. Sat working one autumn evening a huge Mastin appeared at my door, now named Afrika and spends his time protecting the house from the front stoop. Alas too big to snuggle on the sofa with, but a joy to have him patrolling the grounds.

Living alone in such a remote area has never made me feel unsafe or vulnerable (and I do own a gun too) but having the protection of such a vocal dog outside the door does feel nice.

Power Down

There have been many points of learning with power in the campo. The solar system is limited yet sufficient - mostly. I just had to learn how to live within its constraints. Days of rain or cloudy skies do mean no laundry and no bread baking. The result of my continuing to test the solar system always ends in a romantic candle-lit evening for 1 by the fire.

Many lunches and dinners are cooked either on the open fire or atop the wood-burning stove with guests learning that we eat whenever it is cooked. Although I have yet to master how to successfully cook a loaf of bread on an open fire - that’s for next winter.

The seasons in Spain are clearly defined luckily, once Summer starts it’s here to stay with ever-increasing temperatures. The most I recorded last year was a melting 45 degrees centigrade in the shade of the terrace. With no air conditioning, there was a lot of learning how to stay cool.

Here to stay

Sometimes it feels like I have been in the campo for such a short time and yet it really does feel like home. The off-grid, sustainable life is absolutely the way I want to continue living and learning more each day.

People often say “you’re so lucky to live the life you have” I always answer that it isn’t about luck. It is indeed a privilege to live the way I do, but it was through hard work and determination that I carved out the life that makes me so happy.

Conclusion:

I am not planning on leaving any time soon.