Spain
Training in Agriculture, Food, and Old Crafts
17.05. - 24.05.2019
Arrival of all participants and during dinner, presentation of the program, activities and schedule.
Presentation of the village and its characteristics, visit to the Ethnographic Museum and the Fortress of Santa Olalla.
Presentation of the organic horticulture project on the Dehesa San Francisco including the concept of circular economy
Picking vegetable in the garden for lunch. Preparing lunch with local products. Guided by Maria and Rafael, owner of the organic olive oil production. Production of a video as an e-learning module how to use local resources in kitchen in a sustainable way.
Visit to the Cork Institute in Mérida - only institute dedicated to research and development of the cork in Spain and maintaining an active cooperation with Fundatión Monte Mediterráneo.
Visit of a processing plant for cork, family business in Segura de León and one of the stake holders for the regional cork processing market
Visit to an association that is a cooperation partner in Sevilla: Entre Amigos.
Fundatión Monte Mediterráneo is running a project on a horticulture yard which belongs to Entre Amigos: training young people to be organic horticulturists, converting the whole production to organic and develop a marketing strategy to commercialize the products and offer jobs to the trained people and the ones to be trained in a future.
Visit of the organic certified processing plant for Ibérico pigs where the meat, the hams and the sausages are produced - Fundación Monte Mediterráneo processes all the Ibérico products there.
Visit of the Information Center of Nature Park and presentation of the Park.
Visit of an eco-village.
Germany
Education in Agriculture, Nutrition and Traditional Craft
28th June - 5th July ,2019
Arrival and pick-up of the participants
Visit to Leipzig
Visit to the monument to the Battle of the Nations which was erected as a memorial between 1898 and 1913. After having lunch we went to the city centre for sightseeing.We showed our guests the opera building, the Gewandhaus, the Paulinum, the University buildings and some used the time to ettend the festive baptismal consecration at the Nikolaikirche.
The big lake Goitzschesee, a floodes open pit
At first we went the Goitzsche, a lake distrikt which originated from a former coal miningpits in Saxony-Anhalt. It belongs to the mining area and was renatured and flooded. EA picturesque landsscape was created and is used for many activities in and on water or along the shore.
In the hot summer weather a test of the water quality by a short bath was noting to oppose.
The lunch in a village
On this hot summer day we were served our food on a small village pond.
That was an extraordinary flair - but interesting. The restaurant had come up with something. Also, the cooling cucumber schnapps with dill deco was gladly accepted.
Cooking a 3-course- meal
A working day and that´s why we cooked a meal together. We used an appropriate kitchen in Laußig and regional ingridients.
The menu:
- Saxon vegetarian potato soup
- a game dish with dumplins and mushrooms
- a sweet dessert with fresh cherries
The lunch table was set nicely and it tasted excellent.
The Brewery Krostitz
Here a likeable guide explained why the Swedish king adorns the lable, the history of the brewery and the production process.
He put in clearly that the barley lays the foundation for the colourtint of the beer and the malsters have the task of getting the most out of it. But also the minerals, trace elements, the quality of the water and the added yeast are important too. it was very informative and interesting. At the end of the tour we could either taste differentsorts or get a giveaway.
The third stop was the in May 2019 opened Natursportbad on the outskirts of Bad Düben. It offers the visitors the opportunity to stay in semi-natural wooden huts in form of the barrel. Organic water treatment prevents the use of chlorine. The resulting improvement in water quality makes bathing or swimming more pleasant and natural. The whole complex was built on a very high level.
The group visited the ecological farm of the Praters family. There we got to know their traditional Dreiseitenhof and then went to the modern stables on the edge of the village. Frau Praters and her father talked about the history of there farm, about the crop rotation in their fields and how to reduce the weeds without pesticides. Their herd of 30 German Angus crows and their offspring of two years stay in the pastures almost all year round. The animals are exclusively for offspring and meat production.
This is offered in the own farm shop.The milk is not recycled, it is reserved for the calves. Many questions were asked and after this part of the talk Mr. Prater explained about his bee colonies. Old methods of honey production were explained and also the modern boxes were of great interest. A tasting of the house products was just as much part of the program as the hearty soup, which was offered in the yard.
Then we went to Bad Düben for bread baking. Mr. Paetsch and his wife talked about the history of bakery and craft. Then each participant was allowed to form a bread and push it into the old wood oven. During the baking phase we learned a lot about the family traditions in the garden with coffee and cake.
After the bread was ready there was also a sample and it tasted even better than the delicious cake. Warm bread with herb butter - simple, but unsurpassed in taste. At the farewell, which was difficult for everyone, there was the homemade bread as a gift on the way. A successful day that brought a lot of new and interesting facts and in which the participants were actively involved.
The group went to Freital to visit "Bombastus Werke", a tea production company. The manager personally informed about the production of tea and the history of his factory. The group has opportunity to taste the different teas. In addition, it was possible to purchase products of the factory. In the end everyone could receive a small gift from the company.
After a small snack in the city, everyone to the Green Vault. In the treasury, everyone then received an audio guide for the tour of the exhibition. Getting to know the "Frauenkirche" was another part of your stay. Kamal and Anke explained the history and significance of the rebuilt church after its destruction in World War II.
After that, everyone had time to get to know the city a bit better.
After a very good dinner in the restaurant "Pulverturm" we went back to Pressel.
The participants visited the eco-service and could learn a lot about garden design and maintenance, landscaping and blockhousebuilding. Also he explained water features.
We got a know the "Naturparkhaus" in Bad Düben which is located next to the castle. It is run as a visitor centre. Through changing exhibitions, cultural and scientific events the house is a place of communication of the surrounding area with its towns and villages. Two guides talked about the meaning, the way of working and the contents of the permanent exhibition.
On the way to the charcoal burning in Tornau we stopped at the Sculpture park. Every year at the end of July a competition "Art with Chainsaws" takes place with international participation. Last year the bee was the focus of the work. This fastival was initiated by the artist Wolfgang Köppe. He was a sculpturer, painter and philantropist. Unfortunately he died in 2018.
At the charcoal kiln we learned a lot about a life of a charcoal maker in the past. This is the last charcoal kiln in the "Dübener Heide" that still works and it preserves the millenia-old tradition. Everyone got an insight into the production process and the marketing. The historical facts are amazing. Only by using charcoal high temperatures could be generated and that was necessary for melting ore to get iron for example.
In the "Obermühle" (upper mill), a water mill and part of the museum village the individual steps of a miller´s craft were explained. The old walls were elaborately restored and visitors can see the equipment of a mill and learn about the milling process. In a newly-built part of the building are exhibitions of regional crafts such as, shoemaker, Basket maker, Oven-setter, soapmaker, roofer and ropemaker.
Everything was brought here from workshops and houses nearby.
Especially the tools of the shoemaker found attentive observers. After the guided tour we were shown the garden and exhibition around the mill. Then we had a coffee break under the old trees.
In the evening after the farewell dinner there was time for evaluation. The participants praised the diversity of the programme, the perfect organisation and that everyone gained benefits from these project days. We, as the organisers were impressed by the interest and joy the participants took part in all activities. Thus the invested time and work was rewarding as well.