Monday 5th June Anna Louise had a meeting with our Vall Rovira neighbours Ana and Milu, and Manolo and Ilu. The five of us talked about our passion for regenerative agriculture, and how we can promote it and work together in the valley. Everyone was happy with the idea of forming an Association of neighbours, which is something we can do when we have more capacity. We’d like to be a reference point for anyone buying land in the valley.

The idea of hosting youth groups, camping or in dorm style rooms in the valley for overnight stays is not something we have a legal situation for at the moment, but if the local council are open to the idea of allowing it at the local Casa Rural, they are open to the idea of hosting groups.

We are hoping to organise a Permaculture course in November in collaboration with our neighbours and we would like to offer the practical work during the course at Ana and Milu’s farm. We can host 14 people with accomodation and full board in the local Casa Rural and more people can join the course without accommodation. We need to set a date and plan the budget, price and promotional material for this.

Manolo suggested that the different types of farms and fields in the valley could provide a rich space for educational activities. We need an inspired regenerative thinking farmer to take on the day to day grind of agricultural work.

Towards the end of June, the three volunteers held a “soap exchange” at the local village market in Caseres. Less people than usual attended the market because the fruit and veg stall that usually turns up was not there. However, despite the reduced number of passersby, the event was still quite successful as several people requested our soap in exchange for buckets full of their compost. Not only this, but they offered to keep doing this for the foreseeable future, i.e. to put their organic waste aside for us. A few days later, a bag of compost appeared in front of the garage door with a sign on it which read, “Para compost”; we have yet to identify the mysterious benefactor. For the three volunteers, the whole experience left them feeling that they were starting to be embraced by the village and become part of the community.  

Another development was Marc’s father showing Sara where he piles up the grass on his fields. A few weeks earlier, Sara had gone with the other volunteers to collect it and now they have all the ingredients (and in the right amounts) to start a compost pile! Sara really enjoyed the exchange, which allowed her to chat with some of the local people, get to know them better and give them the chance to get to know the volunteers better too. Fostering synergies!  

Meanwhile, Klif has been helping Ana the neighbour with finishing the roof of her house; previously Ana had been dragging tiles back and forth all on her own, but now she has the help of three generous neighbours. She has also expressed an interest in providing the now idle part of her olive farms as a place where Rovira could hold workaways or carry out permaculture experiments!  

After a meeting with Ana which involved some brainstorming about the future of Rovira, someone suggested getting in touch with the founders of the Transition Network to see if we could maybe create a transition hub somewhere in the local area. Transition is a movement that has been growing since 2005. Community-led Transition groups are working for a low-carbon, socially just future with resilient communities, more active participation in society, and caring culture focused on supporting each other.  For more information, go to: https://transitionnetwork.org