Thermal Baths, The Mystery of the Three Blue Berries, and First Sunny Days
Vellir farm, Dalvík, Iceland
Thermal baths in Hauganes
As week two began, things started to normalize. I became part of the working team of volunteers, and it felt like I had been at Vellir for a long time already. The bad weather stretched into the first part of the week, but we quickly adapted to the Icelandic way of dealing with the rough conditions. A short drive (or a long bike ride) from the farm, four hot tubs are places right on the beach front in a small village of Hauganes. The temperature of the geothermal water ranges from 35 to 39 degrees Celsius. After getting (too) warm, we felt brave enough to jump into the sea, walk along the black beach, and search for shells.
Strawberries and raspberries
This week we were busy picking the last of the strawberries, which are sold fresh and used to make jams at Vellir. The strawberry and rhubarb combo was very good. We also picked strawberry leaves and dried them for tea. The raspberries are still in production, so we’ve been checking on them every couple of days. Much precision is needed when picking and packing the berries, only the perfect ones make it onto the shelves. There are multiple freezers full of vacuum-packed berries, ready for jam making in due time. In fact, there is an impressive assortment of freezers at Vellir, at least 6 are visible from every corner of the kitchen. Jokes aside, freezer space is key, that’s something I learned whilst working in the restaurant at La Chevre Heureuse.
First hike and the three blue berries
Stubbornly and not at all on an appropriate day, I went on a hike to the nearest waterfall. After the first week of bad weather, I felt I had to go somewhere even if the conditions were not ideal. It wasn’t raining a lot that day, the wind was moderate, and it was the usual 5 degrees Celsius. Hiking around here can be deceiving, as everything seems close because of the baren landscape. My short hike turned into a Samwise-and-Frodo-like quest, climbing over pasture fences and jumping over streams.
As you’re hiking anywhere around here, you’re bound to step on various blue berries. Getting to the bottom of which blue-colored berry is the actual blueberry required many expeditions and often turned into heated discussions between us volunteers. Basically, we all wanted to solve the mystery of the three blue berries that grow around Vellir: the crowberry, the bilberry, and the blueberry.
Crowberries are the easiest to distinguish from the group. They are waxy-black in color and have small, needle-like leaves. The taste of these berries reminds me of a watered-down blueberry. But the juice is very nice.
Bilberries often grow amongst crowberries. They are deep blue on the outside and their flesh is reddish-purple. The leaves of bilberries are a pale green color and rounded in shape. The taste of bilberries is what I associate most with the taste of blueberries.
Blueberries look quite similar to bilberries on the outside. But the blueberry has a pale, almost colorless flesh. Also, the leaves are darker green, narrower, and more pointed compared to bilberries. The flavor of blueberries is more subtle than that of bilberries.
Black currant and yarrow
In a way, the story of Vellir farm started with planting black currant. Coming up from the road towards the farm, the black current field is the first thing one sees. We picked and dried lots of black current leaves (Ribes nigrum) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium) that grows all around the field. One thing is clear, I will definitely need a food dehydrator on my future farm. In fact, during all my experiences and travels, I try to get a clearer idea of what kind of farm I hope to have. Thus far, I’ve seen what it means to have 100 goats, and compared it to 50 on another farm. I saw what it means to be a cheesemaker. I saw what is takes to run a restaurant, whilst taking care of the gardens. I observed the changes brought on by having tourist accommodations on the farm.
This time, I’m focusing on ideas for organizing a kitchen where production of considerable volume takes place. How big is the main work space? How to best organize the storage? How many sinks are there and where are they placed? How deep and wide are the sinks? How is the water pressure and temperature? How easy it is to clean the floor? How fast does the oven heat up? These, and many other seemingly little things make a big difference. When handling so much produce harvested from the gardens or foraged, having an outside space connected to the kitchen, with a table, and a large two compartment sink is a must have.
Sweet and sour chili jam in a cool kettle
We began filling the order for 500 jars of sweet and sour chili jam this week. If I were to recreate it, I would go for a red pepper base just like Bjarni, adding spicy chilis for a kick and balancing with sugar and vinegar, leaving some texture to the jam. All could be very cute if one would make also a green, orange and yellow version, switching between colors of peppers. The coolest part of the process was making the jam in a huge tilting kettle, heated with steam. It made me want to make some cheese and ricotta.
First sunny day and Dalvík
On a first sunny day since my arrival to Vellir, I biked to Dalvík. The bike rides here are therapeutic. Passing the green fields, seeing the cows, sheep and horses at pasture, and hearing the sound of water.
Arriving to Dalvík center (humorously put), there is the Gisli Eirikur Helgi Bakkabrædra coffeehouse, named after characters from stories of The Bakka Brothers, famous folkloric figures in Iceland. The café is nice and cosy, there is the traditional fish soup cooking every day. Before heading back, I circled around the port and small beach. Biking towards the farm, the views of Svarfaðardalur valley were nothing short of breathtaking.
Towards the end of the week, many volunteers I’ve just started to get to know headed home or towards other adventures. It was memorable how quickly we bonded over our similarities and in spite of our differences. Imitating voices, sharing fresh cinnamon rolls, struggling to mow the lawn, and cherishing the 30-minute break out on the terase. The rotation of volunteers at Vellir is efficient, with each departure smoothly followed by a new arrival. Workforce is needed here. New people from France and Germany came, bringing with them new stories and fresh energy. Things are interesting.
You draw such a great picture of how the life on the farm is, also between the lines 😉❤️ it was a pleasure to meet you and to work with you:))
Oh, seems too good to be true…
I’ve enjoyed every picture, words and of course your engagement around this.
You are a sunshine girl.