Wild Herbs of Crete

Dittany collection, Cretan dictamnus

2011-08-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

Another herb endemic to Crete and growing only on steep rocks is Cretan dittany, Origanum dictamnus, and diktamo or erontas (Love), in Greek.

It is a herb with a long story, famous since antiquity..

It is a beautiful, slender plant, clinging to the rocks.. A lot of myths surround this plant.. Aristotle tells, that the goats would seek it when they have been shot, and that eating the herb, the arrow would be driven out of the wound. Hippokratis prescribed dittany for stomach aches and digestive problems.

It was believed to be an aphrodisiac, or at least a token of love, as it is extremely difficult and dangerous to collect this herb from the steep rocky slopes. Here you can see Babis on the slope...

Because of these almost inaccessible natural sites and the dangerous collection, it is now cultivated on Crete.

And whereas it had a name and a prize, a value and a superior quality during the ages when it was available only from collections in the wild, it now is widely available in the Cretan market in the cultivated form.

However, the cultivated form does not have the same quality at all, compared to the wild form, it didn't really forgive man the attempts to tame it..

And now you can buy cultivated dittany as any other herb in the market, the wild form is not collected any more, as it has lost its age-old fame and value, as well as its prize..

We are collecting Diktamus from the wild populations, for our own use and also for our little shop. The plants are slender, and the leaves very light.. In a whole day of climbing and collecting carefully, we can maybe collect 800 gram..

One has not only to be very careful in climbing, but it is also important to just cut the leaves and leave the roots, as it is a perennial plant..

Here you can see Babis climbing

And here you see Ina Hviding, our friend from Norway high above on the rocks.. Its Ina who took these wonderful and rare photos of the wild growing Origanum dictamnus plants!

and more mountain tea..

2011-07-25T08:57:00.001-07:00

And some more pictures of the Malotira or Cretan Mountain tea collection.. somehow I do not manage to get them in the right order, but anyhow.. this pictures just so that you can appreciate how difficult the collection is... and how amazing the nature...

Above, we are well back home with our collection, ready now to bunch them for drying.. so here we are starting at the end of the story...

and going back, we see the herbs in the sacks.. Malotira

Carrying the harvest down form the mountains.. if you look carefully, even trousers didn't manage the work....

above you see the end of the collection, closing the sacks containing the harvest, here we are at some 1500m altitude...

Collecting by hand...

A rest on a mountain top, a drop of water...

and walking...

up and up....

back home now, I am cleaning some soaps, the rest of the gang is getting ready to bunch the Mountain tea...

as you can see here...

This a picture of the last part of carrying the harvest down to the car below...

and carrying...

Oh, here some sheep on their way up.. but we were faster!!!!!

Cretan mountain tea, Malotira

2011-07-18T01:14:00.000-07:00

Then we were out collecting the endemic Cretan 'mountain tea' or Malotira as the locals call it. Its scientific name is Sideritis syriaca ssp. syriaca. It is endemic to Crete, and even here it grows only in the mountains, at altitudes from 900- 2000m, mainly in the white mountains around us. Actually, the leaves you see in the front are Salvia pomifera leaves, the Matotira is just the flowers in the back...

However, the goats and sheep love it, it is a soft plant, doesn't defend itself against the foragers with spikes and spines as so many other Cretan plants. So one has to climb really high, walk hours from where the car reaches, and even then has to be lucky to find the plants intact.. And this year we were lucky. Since it has been raining even now in June, the animals find enough food at lower altitudes, so they don't bother climbing so high...

Our friend Dominique from Nomikiana came with us to collect..

Here you see the dirt road below, and the first plant we encountered..

And Babis on the way...

2011-07-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

What a biotope... high up in the mountains...

We are over 1000 meters high..

Salvia pomifera, flowering now....

beautiful...

And then collecting Helichchrysum microphyllum, Everlast.. for distillation. The plants are drying now,,, and there will be just very little essential oil...but we'll see, I will keep you informed

Helichrysum microphyllum.....

2011-07-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

I owe you a huge update... but my little cafe has taken all the time, the house, then food, the washings to do, oils to be bottled etc, have taken all the time. but now, here is the herbal news... above, we see the flowering tops of Salvia pomifera, which we collected for tea...

Then a very special tomatoe on our kitchen table...

Here I am making whats called a 'spoon sweet' of bergamotte fruits...

and here, its me and our dear friend Wilhelmina, 'Willy' from Holland..in our little Cafe..

Babis in our garden, the photo is taken by Ina from Norway...

Then we collected Rosmary in Modi... here you see a birds nest in the rosmary bushes...

Next was savory down by Frangokastello.. Ina, a friend from Norway took the pictures..

And here she is, Ina, cutting Savory..

And here its Johnny, dear friend from Holland cutting Savory with us

This is the biotope of savory.....

Long due update and herbs

2011-07-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

Well, this year was, or is, quite special.. it has been raining here until a month ago. All the herbs are late, and now they ned collecting all at the same time. So we went for Lavender...

lavender... then we went to collect

Laurus nobilis, Laurel leaves wich are now drying at the distillery in Modi...

We also managed to collect chamomille near Miriokefala, just for private use though...

And here a picture of Cretan spring....

Other news soon...

2011-05-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

So, friends...

Now we made our little cafe here in Kallikratis... it is still cold, we have not been able to collect any plants as yet. But we made the cafe, put the signs up around...

its a week now, that I opened this little cafe here up in the mountains, and now people stop to have an espresso, a cappuccino, a homemade lemonade or an organic wine with whatever I have to offer... and then people take a soap, a herb, an essential oil as well.

Have a look at the pictures here,

Espresso, cappuccino, with fresh goatsmilk....

Tables of stone, of wood...

Always flowers...

In the evening, about 6 o'clock, the sheep are passing by on the way to be milked...

yes...

and again...

Come by, when you are around.....;

.......

And snow again

2011-03-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

Snow again, and beautiful... we were snowed in for 3 days, no electricity, no telephone.. but we had a generator and benzine to be taken from my car to work it...

Winter and painting signs...

2011-03-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

Well, winter months, and not much going on.. the shepherds have left for the coastal villages, its raining and raining, so our deposits fill with water, thats a good thing..

As for the water issue, we have collected some 1000 signatures, but the most important thing is, that we have elected a great major, which has put 'water for Kallikratis' as first priority in his term. He took office on the 1st of January, and some 2 weeks later, digging started here in the mountains for a lake reservoir. Its not finished yet, and certainly not a final solution, but its a beginning, and we are confident, that by next summer, we will have a basic water supply here for the animals and our most basic needs.

I have made shampoo, filled oils in small bottles, polished wooden spoons, took a trip up North to see friends and family in Germany, Holland and Denmark for some weeks, and then we had some good company and friends visiting, makes it easier to live in the mountains when friends come by.. I always have some beds ready as well.

This year now, we will also add a little Cafe to our shop, so when visitors come by, we can serve them a coffee, a herbal tea... So, now I am painting signs.., good thing to do in winter

Making soap

2010-12-26T12:11:00.001-08:00

A few days ago, we turned our shop into our workshop.. we were making soap...

You can see, everything is ready now, the frames are lined with paper, and the soap turning pot is ready...

We heat the biological olive- and avocado oil to 27C, the mixture of hydrolate or flowerwater with the caustic soda is cooled to 27C as well, and then both are mixed...

Here, the soap mixture is turning. The oil and the hydrolate have a temperature of 27 degrees C, and now the mixture has to homogenize.... It needs continuous attention.... We make each batch of soap separately, one mixture will fill one frame...

The mixture is turning.... we are waiting for it to 'trace', then we add the essential oils... to trace it can take anything from 20 to 40 minutes for each batch, since we make soap with the 'cold production procedure', which will preserve the vitamins of the organic oils as well as the qualities of the hydrolate and the essential oils..

When it has homogenized, the raw soap is poured into the paper-lined frame..

The pot is emptied completely, scraped of any soap..

And then, the raw soap is spread evenly in the frame..

And then, the frame is covered, as you can see below. Each frame holds about 8 kilos of soap..which will cut into 50 bars.

Now covered with the wooden lids, the frames are then covered with a woolen blanket... By now, it was night, and late..

The day after, we did cut the soap into bars... We finished cutting just around 6 o'clock on christmas eve...

..and now the bars are stashed for drying.. will have to cure for about 2-3 weeks, before they are ready for use...

And we were ready to have a shower, and leave for a Christmas concert down in Plakias...

Snow in Kallikratis..

2010-12-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

So, the wonder has occurred, and it snowed here in Kallikratis!! For two days the world was white, the roads blocked.. we were snowed in!!

Extremely beautiful... except, that we had planned a big party for those days, and had invited plenty of people to celebrate with us.. and only very very few could come, the ones which managed to find snow-chains in Chania! Something like finding bikinis in the Antarktis....

First time, the cat has seen snow... sliding...

Beautiful though...

Our entrance way....

Two days the miracle lasted....

Christmas market in Chania

2010-12-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

Here some pictures from the Christmas market in Chania.. We shared a stall with Gill , the Lavender lady in Crete, and also had some aromalamps made by Vangelio, the lady you can see above... who makes most beautiful pottery, employing ancient Minoan techniques in her art, and works every piece unique and enthralling...

Here you can see some of her hanging aromalamps in the foreground, and us behind, Babis appreciating the design of our display.. it serves quite some purposes... as it looks like...

More conventional we are here...

Our stall was framed by lots of fresh herbs..myrtle, laurel leaves, rosemary, cypress, sage...

And here you see Gill, the lavender lady in the stall...

The pictures are made by Gill and Derek...

Walking in Crete, Luca Gianotti

2010-11-14T02:43:00.000-08:00

Hello..

The day before yesterday, in the evening, we got a mail from Luca Gianotti. He introduced himself as a walker, and asked if he could come by Kallikratis and see us tthe next day. Ofcourse, we invited him to come by.

He arrived yesterday in the late afternoon here. Luca, with his friend Stelios Georgidakis, have the project to walk the entire length of Crete, from East to West, a trip of 500km.

From Kato Zakros, crossing in the middle of Crete, walking on 3 mountain ranges (Oros Dikti, Oros Idi e Lefka Ori) , till the last part, the most famous, near the sea, with overwelming gorges, to the Monastery of Christoskalitissa. Today is his 19th day on the walk, he has covered more than 250km. His intention is, to revive the old E4 walking paths, to check their conditions and record GPS trails of the paths, which he then will publish free for any walker to use.

We were talking about his walk and experiences, about Crete and nature, about many things while cleaning wild vegetables. He had met our friend Giannis Giannoutsos in Kouses, the guy with the incredible herb shop, and Giannis had told him about us. Later, also Katherina and Antonis from Chania came, and we had dinner, and a great evening together. Luca has a wonderful approach, he calls it slow walking, which sounds most beautiful in Italian 'Movimento lento'.. walk, but do not run, have time to be present in the moment, time to meet people and nature in the now.. still, he covers about 20km daily..

He publishes a blog about his walk, which he updates daily, and which makes a wonderful read, both in Italian and English. The Italian version is daily updated, the English version is always a day or two behind.. have a look, its absolutely worth it, for all Crete lovers and for walkers.. The Italian version is at http://camminacreta.wordpress.com/ and there is a link to the English version on the site...

During the night, it started to pour down and this morning it was still pouring down with rain.. so we had a cozy extended breakfast everyone, waiting for the rain to pause.. as Luca said, that he doesn't mind rain on his walk, but he never starts out when its raining.. Today, he will walk to Askifou, where he will meet up with Stelios Georgidakis again to continue together..

After he had gone though, it again started to rain, and never stopped.. and foggy clouds filled the mountains.. we worried about him.. however, by evening he had arrived safely, but surely completely soaked, in Askifou..

May you have dry weather on your path, Luca..

2010-11-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

Hello there.. the last weeks we have been collecting Chastetree fruits/seeds- Vitex agnus castus- down by the beach.. the weather has been fine, not too hot, but still warm enough for a swim in between work.. Luckily, we found, that this collection of the seeds, which is so important to so many people, went well also this year.

Other herbs had suffered greatly this year.. The drought during the spring, the weather changes had been a real challenge for the herbs, and therefore also for us collecting them. So many herbs flowered weeks earlier, weeks later than we ever have seen here.. and when they did, they did it in a kind of panic.. herbs, as any life on earth, wants to reproduce. All the showy flowers, all the scent which a plant produces, is made for reproduction, for attracting pollinators.. all that work and energy is spent to produce seeds, to produce life after life, life after death...

But nevertheless, plants are great adapters, change of weather, change of season, they will adapt to it-its just us humans who have difficulties to adapt..

Anyway.. we found the fruits or seeds of Chastetree just fine, managed to collect them so that we can offer their essential oil and their tincture, so precious to women, also this year.. see here http://quickbooker.org/kunden/wildherbsofcrete_com/pages/portraits-of-our-essential-oils-from-wild-herbs-of-crete/vitex-agnus-castus.php for more info..

Here we have a sunset, a spectacular one, just after a day of collection of the chastetree fruits the other day..

AND THEN, maybe you followed the water issue we have here in Kallikratis, the fight we put up, the trials we made.. the drilling for water we did with the help of so many friends.. maybe you have signed our petition...

Yesterday we had municipality elections here, as everywhere in Crete and Greece. Our candidate here in Sfakia, a guy independent of any political party, Pavlos Polakis, won the elections with 63%. My words may seems dry, but the joy and happiness we felt cannot be expressed, cannot be told in words...

He was one of the first to sign our petition, he made WATER for Kallikratis a priority in his program.. and there is no doubt, that he will proceed, now that he is elected mayor as of yesterday...

So, here a few and not very good pictures from yesterday night.. We were too excited to take good ones.. Once we understood, that our favorite will win the elections, everybody went to his house.. the women of the village came with food, and a spontaneous party happened...

From all the area people came, such feelings of hope and happiness has not been seen in Sfakia for years.. Neighbors had brought tables, chairs and hundreds of people came by..

A pity, that we didn't take more pictures.. You can just spot Pavlos Polakis to the left, in the white shirt, and Babis' head (white as well, his head that is) opposite to the left, both from behind..,.

Here Pavlos Polakis is greeting the villagers of Argoules just after his return home.. He's the guy in the white shirt..

So, nothing has been in vain, and we will have water here in Kallikratis next year.. and not only that, we will have a mayor and a communal assembly, that will change this area for the good. Goodbye corruption, good morning to sustainable development, to ecology, to sustainable solutions for nature, animals and people..

In 2011 Sfakia in Southern Crete, will be a different place for inhabitants and visitors alike... Just come and see!!!

Below, I try to show you a video of the sea, since after all this excitement, we somehow need the calm but nevertheless moving, message only the sea can give.. I hope it gets through to you...

2010-09-15T05:26:00.000-07:00

So, here is an article about the water problem from todays local paper, Haniotika Nea:

You could translate it with Google translate..

And yesterday, they showed the issue in the local TV news..

http://www.haniotika-nea.gr/52190-%20Χωρίς%20νερό%20ο%20Καλλικράτης%20.html

We have collected some 500 signatures by now, 300 local ones and some 200 from the online petition. When we have reached a more impressive score, we will proceed sending our demand for a final solution to the water supply in Kallikratis on to every relevant authority..

And now, for us its back to work!! We have to prepare for a market in Athens, which will be held from 31. September to 3rd October, so we have to get busy bottling oils, cleaning herbs, making soap and shampoo...

And finally we are getting attention!

2010-09-13T03:30:00.000-07:00

Hello there

Well, so far we have collected some 250 local signatures and 169 from locals, friends and supporters from all over via the online petition.. we will keep on collecting signatures, if you have not signed yet, you can do so and support our cause at www.thepetitionsite.com/1/water-for-kallikratis-a-village-in-sfakia-crete-greece and forward the link to your friends.. we need all the support we can get for this cause, to get water to our village, a basic human need!!!

And finally we will get some public attention. The demand for a sustainable and immediate solution to the water problem in Kallikratis has reached the interest of the media. Tomorrow reporters, journalists from the local and national press, as well as a TV team will arrive here in the village.

Everybody is excited, the villagers will all gather together here, supporters from surrounding villages will come as well.. So we are all looking forward to tomorrow...

The online petition is up!!

2010-09-07T06:19:00.000-07:00

Hello again, we managed to create an online petition, demanding the an immediate and serious solution to the water problem in our village.
You can have a look at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/water-for-kallikratis-a-village-in-sfakia-crete-greece/
Here you can sign the petition...
Thank you for your support!!!

The stone is rolling...

2010-09-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

Hello there,
Yesterday we formulated and printed out petition lists, demanding an immediate and final solution for the water problem in Kallikratis. Last night, we collected the first 40 signatures from the local villagers, and in Frangokastello 3 people got lists and will collect signatures as well. We will then contact the media, and get the demand to the relevant local, regional, national and even international authorities. Everyone here is positive and sure, that everyone here in Kallikratis, in the related villages of Patsianos, Asfendou, Frangokastello, Kapsodassos, Vouvas and Argoules will sign the petition.
Additionally, we will try to set up a supporters online petitionlist as well, so that friends and visitors to the Sfakia region can sign as well.
So, once again, we are in action and have the hope, that finally something will be done for this village.
Another positive thing is, that the water issue has united the villagers beyond political or family bonds, which in the past have made any common action very difficult...

Thats the news so far...

Today is the new beginning...

2010-08-31T07:02:00.000-07:00

So friends, here we are, all of us who contributed to a historical action for water here in Kallikratis, an action the like of which has not ever been seen before..

We were all willing to take the risk, we risked everything we had, a total of 6500 euro.... we were all enthusiastic about the project, became a team, we wrote history, we inspired and awed everyone who heard about it.. from allover we are, we all know Kallikratis, we all have spend time here, we were all willing to give it a try. We did not loose, we won, we won in showing, that together we can do things, nobody could do by himself. And its not just talk we contributed, we all contributed funds, and action, work, enthusiasm, hope and love, the excitement and the whole spectrum of emotions during the actual drilling days, ... we actively did something and did it together!! Thanks for all the support, it has been overwhelming...

Giannis and Anna Bitsakis, Chania, Crete
Lampis Xilouris, Herakleion, Crete
Arnold, Evelyn, Jaqueline, Holland
Jill and Derek Pearce, Kavros, Crete
Giorgos Markoulakis, Gerani, Crete
Giannis Tsagarakis and Maria Tolidou, Chania, Crete
Giangos Chairetis, Anogia, Crete
Nikos Psilos, Chania, Crete
Willy and Johnny de Zeeuw, Holland
Thomas and Martha Brandt, Christiania, Denmark
Manfred Hoffmann and Moni, Dresden, Germany
Ina Hviding, Norway
Giorgos Vougioukalos, Argyroupoli, Crete
Eleni Tsalikidou, Argyroupoli, Crete
Panagiotis Angelakis, Zoniana, Crete
Joscha Lücke, Berlin, Germany
Mitsos Karnagio, Chania, Crete
David Troutman, Chania, Crete
Kiria Stella Psaroudakis, Chania, Crete
Antonis Dagas, Chania, Crete
Henk Ploeger, Holland
Isolde Eleni Bichsel, Chania, Crete
Giorgos Tsoupakis, Frangokastello, Crete
Mitscha Rütsch, Bornholm, Denmark
Janne Gjerken, Norway
Jörg and Sandra Flaschka, Jena, Germany
ST and Regina, Berlin, Germany
Triandafyllia (Filio) Syka, Modi, Crete
Sheena Inoue, Bornholm, Denmark
Eva and Evtychia Christodoulaki, Modi, Crete
Giannis Ravdoskopos, Moudros, Crete
Maria (Mario) Matamadiotou, Plaka, Crete
Lill Heldre Gulli, Norway
Kristine Heldre, Norway
Heleen Kennedy, Scotland
Ria Vermeulen, Holland
Thomas Venakis, Zouridi, Crete
Dimitra and Mimis, Chania, Crete and Scopelos
Argiri Agavanaki, Athens
Giorgis Katsoulos, Frangokastello
Babis Psaroudakis and Janina Sørensen, Kallikratis, Crete

Additionally, Zacharis and Irini Daskalakis from Siva ecological wine production, Heraklion, as well as Nikos Psilos from Chania, each contributed 20 liters of the excellent Daskalakis ecological wine for the drilling days, local friends from around donated meat and goatcheese. Giannis came with vegetables from his garden, from Argiroupoli potatoes and a rabbit arrived. Spiros, one of the village guys spent a whole day carrying water for the drilling, four times one straight after the other, he went down to Frangokastello to fetch a cubic of water, each took a journey of one and a half hours. Thanks!!!!!!!

Even though, you might notice, that only two village people from Frangokastello, have actually contributed funds to the drilling, the support of the local village has been enormous, once the drilling started. They had said, they would contribute if the water would be found, they wouldn't share the risk.

But they were all excited when it actually happened, they all came by, wished us luck, they all had hopes, and now they are inspired, talking, sharing in what can be done from now on.. Its like we have shaken them into action as well....

Yesterday, 30th of August

2010-08-31T05:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday then, in the morning, we ordered the water to fill up the deposits..

Babis and Johnny went to collect manure from a neighbor, Andreas the goatherd, shovelled it into sacks to use in our garden.. Johnny joked 'well, when they ask me in Holland why I suddenly went down to Crete for 4 days, I'll say: 'I had to shovel shit'...

Above, you see Johnny with Andreas and Dimitris, our neighbors here in the summer.. everyone came by, and we talked about where to go from here, what kind of possibilities we'd have now to get water for the village..

There will be local elections in November.. how can we use our action trying to drill for water, in a bigger scale.. we, together with more than 50 people, have done our best.. now it must be up to the local authorities to finally find a solution for this village.. we all agreed, that this our action, is not the end, but just the beginning...

Then it was time for Willy and Johnny to leave back to Holland, here we are down in Argyroupoli at Giorgos' place for a final drink and to see them off... great friends, which showed up so unexpectedly..

We spent the rest of the evening and half of the night at Giorgos' taverna.. We have already made history, everybody knew the story, is amazed by all of us, that 50 people from allover contributed, that we made it happen, that we tried, that we, all of us, took action, set an example...

Everyone agreed, that it was not a failure, but a great success.. maybe, we didn't get water in a day or two, but we will get it, this is just the beginning, this is a stone which started rolling and cannot be stopped anymore, and we will get water here to the village. It just will take a little longer, but we have done it, all of us, we all have started it...

Suddenly, everything went positive again, ideas came in.. there will be local elections in November, we need publicity, we could make petition lists, collect hundreds of peoples support and signatures, demanding water for Kallikratis, we have the support of the villages around as well, that was most clear. Suggestions and support came from this villagers in Argyroupoli, for organizing an event in Kallikratis, inviting the media, politicians, musicians etc.. well, its getting bigger, it will go on, the stone is rolling...

This was just the beginning, we agreed....

The day after.. 29th of August

2010-08-31T05:32:00.000-07:00

We slept late.. Christos the driller came in the early afternoon to pick up his second truck.. He came with chocolates for everyone..

Quiet it was, people had left, we spend the day with Willy and Johnny cleaning the house, the kitchen, repairing the gate which the truck had damaged trying to get in. Then went to dinner in Argyroupoli, at our friend Giorgos' place.. and slowly started to have ideas as to where to go from here, how to go on working for Water in Kallikratis..

First decision though was, to fill up our deposits a bit, by ordering a truck of water in the morning.. 200 euro for 10 cubic meters, so that we could take a shower, clean around and water our garden a bit.. Willy and Johnny offered the cost, and Willy joked 'well, everyone has been supporting meters of drilling, but we get water!!!' By now, our spirits had lifted..

The next day, 28th of August

2010-08-31T03:54:00.000-07:00

In the morning of the 28th, Nikos and Babis looked at the drilling spot, and found a different kind of stone, which came up during the last meters of yesterdays drilling, and we speculated, if this could mean, that we maybe reach water.. like a last bit of hope.. Willy and Johnny offered another 20 meters of drilling..

Well, Christos the driller though, when he came said, that this new stone does not mean anything.. but we could try to raise the drill and put it down again without water and soap, raise it again and see if there is ANY humidity... if there would be, we could give it a try for more meters. But the drill was totally dry, not any sign of humidity. So, here we stopped..

And then, the rest of the day went with pulling the drilling bits up, one by one, unscrewing them from the next bit, and lay them nicely to charge them onto the truck, as you can see in the picture above..

And then, in the early evening hours, the noise finally stopped, the drilling bits were charged, the truck maneuvered out of our gate and parked..

The drilling site after the truck was moved.. the pear tree has suffered some... And this is it,

Our famous hole.. 155 meters down...

Finally, we didn't go dancing, but we managed to get down to the sea for a much needed swim just before sunset, wash off days of dust, tension and emotion. That was magical, this swim in the sunset... then we had dinner at Vatalos in Frangokastello, where Spiros offered us a fabulous dinner...

The end of the drilling story

2010-08-31T03:31:00.000-07:00

Well, folks and friends, sorry for a few days of silence.. it was just overwhelming everything..we went through a lot of emotions.. but now we have recovered, and are seeing a new beginning in this adventure.. but about that later, first we want to share what happened these last days..

Here some pictures from the 27th of August, when we were drilling the last 8 meters down.. Above Nikos in the striped shirt, who had been here since tuesday with Isolde, they have shared every single moment with us, an experience none of us will ever forget...

Isolde, and in the background Willy and Johnny from Holland, which just arrived on this last day of drilling to our complete surprise and joy, and gave us so much courage, love, support, help and energy, which was so needed, as we all were so exhausted...

We are all watching the last meters of drilling...

And Giannis, the dowser... the picture tells all..

That evening was a heavy one... we were not able to post...

The outcome...

2010-08-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

So, we drilled to 152 meters, and did not find a drop of water. We spend everything we had, we tried everything. We played a risk, and we lost.. The drilling team just finished pulling up the 150 meters of drill bits, and managed to maneuver the truck out of our gate again..

And like Alexis Zorbas we will go dancing tonight, there is a band playing in Frangokastello.. And then we will organize a party for everybody in the next week..

However, the whole experience was fantastic, the support we had from all our friends made history... so much love, support, so much hope and enthusiasm we all shared.. A huge THANKS and LOVE to everyone who shared in this project, who shared the hope for Water in Kallikratis!!! Thank you all and everyone!!!

We are all exhausted now, 4 days of hope, of noise, of soapy foam around...

More later..

yahoo.gr

2010-08-28T02:10:00.001-07:00

2010-08-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

OK, now the last drilling bit is going on... there is another 8 meters of hope...

and some pictures..

2010-08-27T06:38:00.001-07:00

Willy and Johnny arrived, all the way from Holland, for a few days to be with us these days... here Willy, Nikos and Giannis...

And Johnny, still in his travelling clothes, which he soon changed into working clothes...

And we are charging the 6 drilling pieces onto the truck...

So, now at 17.00, we have another 20 meters to drill.....

What makes life worth living...

2010-08-27T04:54:00.000-07:00

Well, Giannis said, that we should go down until 150 meters...
So alltogether, we would need funds for another 50 meters... or 6 drilling bits of 8 meter length.. We can manage another 3 bits, Nikos sponsors one, and then the drilling team itself gives us 2 bits for free.
These days here, they have seen the support we had, so many people involved in this project, and they were impressed, they had never seen anything like it. So now we are set for 150 meters. Tonight we will know the outcome, 150 is our limit, come what comes...

AND then, just when we were charging this 6 pieces of drill unto the truck, the most fantastic surprise arrived: Our beloved friends Willy and Johnny suddenly appeared... they had taken a plane from Holland, to come and support us right now.. moments like these, are what makes life truly wonderful.. truly worth living, friends like this are worth more even than water, they just appeared to share with us..

Life is wonderful
So now, whatever will happen can happen..

and now...

2010-08-27T02:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we drilled to 105 meters depth... and still no water..
We are running out of money, already we drilled to the double number of meters...
Yesterday evening then, we thought that that was it, at least we tried and we knew that it was a risk to take...
This morning then, Giannis the dowser did another check, and we decided to go further down... we will scratch all our money together, so that we can pay for 4 more drill bits, another 32 meters down...

So now we are waiting for the drilling team...

And still drilling...

2010-08-26T06:18:00.001-07:00

We are going on drilling, now we are at 80 meters... but we still hope...

We just had a break, and some food... and now we will continue...We will not give up... but the tension is considerable...

Second day of drilling

2010-08-26T04:40:00.000-07:00

So, we started drilling again today... now its solid rock we are drilling through...

The crew arrived around noon and started with changing the drilling head...

Now, at 14.45, we have reached a depth of 62 meters without finding water. So we had a 'crisis' meeting.. what to do now? Its so very difficult to stop trying. Its our only chance.

So, we'll go on drilling... the crew is now charging new pieces of drill onto the truck.. and we will proceed..

More later, but please cross your fingers everybody and send us positive energy....

The end of the day....

2010-08-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

What a day... water and soap was needed for the drilling, you can see how the mixture filled our earth....

Here, Giannis, the dowser watches the drilling....

And its going on...

The drilling needs water, so we had to go down to Frangokastello for more water...

And here a small video...

Now we have drilled 30 meters, tomorrow we will go on....

Drilling.. a historical moment

2010-08-25T04:35:00.000-07:00

Here the big truck arrives.. Some maneuvering was necessary to place it exactly..

Giannis, the dowser verified the exact place for the drilling for the final time...

And then, the drill was raised...

Now, I have made a short video, but I took it the wrong way around, and do not know how to turn it, here it comes anyway though..you will have to bend your heads.. This is such a historical day..and right now the drilling is in process, we are at 21 meters.. its very noisy, and the water and soap needed for the drill is filling the place... Its 15.14 now...

The drills come in pieces of 7.5 meters, so each one does those meters, and then another piece is screwed on... Soon number 4 goes on...

I am preparing food now, but will make more photos and videos later. Its just such an exciting day... what to say more.... There are tears of sheer emotion, laughter...

ITS HAPPENING!!!!!

2010-08-25T03:47:00.000-07:00

Hello there...

The truck with the drill arrived!!!

There is so much going on now, I do not have time to download photos, but I promise to do it the fastest possible. Giannis the dowser is here, and quite some friends...

So, its now!!! Right now they assemble the drills...

More later!!!

Time 18.00....

2010-08-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

So, finally, one truck came... but the other one will come tomorrow.. they have parked this one truck here, just outside our property.. some of us went to have a look. However, the truck with the drilling machine will come in the morning, so no drilling today...

The old peartree.. just in front of the ladder you might be able to spot a stone... this is the place that Giannis, the dowser, indicated for drilling..

Hello there.. well, we waited, and now we will have some food... here in Greece it is the custom to celebrate the 'paramoni', the day before an event, the day before the actual day... so this way we turned our dissappointment, that the drilling will not happen today, into something positive... we are celebrating the 'paramoni', the day before the drilling..

Everybody here, came from Chania, a two hour journey, and we had beds ready for everyone, so now we will have a siesta... and then, tomorrow morning, we will be here again.....

Time is 15.00 and still waiting....

2010-08-24T05:04:00.000-07:00

We were up early.. friends arrived, we had coffees...
Then a telephone call, the drilling team had a problem with some machinery, they are working on fixing it. So we are waiting, preparing some food in the meantime...
We are 10 people here now.. but probably we will have to wait until tomorrow..
We'll keep you updated.. now we'll have some food and wine to pass the time..

On tuesday we will drill...tomorrow, or even today..

2010-08-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

its late, after 3'clock, so actually its tuesday today..

Its difficult to go to sleep.. in the morning, the drilling crew will arrive with all the tools. Because of the indication of a guy zick-zacking our property with a wooden rod, because of a 'dowser' who found water, we got into this project.. We called upon all our friends to contribute to the project, to a project which can seem so uncertain.. This village here has no water. Who are we to find it? In times of technical, modern investigation, studies and the like, who believes in guys or girls which indicate water with the help og a Y formed piece of branch???

When he first came, the 'dowser', Giannis, we were in such doubts. Should we believe it, shouldn't we..what other chance would we have to get water here..

A visiting friend gave us the idea, probably without being aware of it... he was the first one to say 'I'll contribute'--

Then, this idea grew larger-- why not do it together, why not invite everyone who ever has stayed here, has partied with us, shared life with us, to contribute some?? If everyone contributes some, whatever he or she can do without damage.. AND within just a little over 3 weeks, 50 friends from all over Europe have contributed to 'WATER for KALLIKRATIS', and we do now have the funds for the drilling..almost... Together we managed to raise it, together we share the hope, the risk..

So now, in just a few hours, its going to happen, the machines will arrive, and I just can't sleep... its not only us, but we are 50 people...

So, its full moon tomorrow also..

if you are involved, if you are not involved.. please send positive energy to this part of the world, to Greece, to Crete, to Kallikratis, to our old pear tree, to the waters below it... to us, all of us..

And now, I am going for a few hours of sleep...

WATER update

2010-08-21T02:17:00.000-07:00

Hello there, everyone!!

So, the man for the drilling visited, and had a look at the place. |And he gave us a quote. As he had said before, the trial drilling would be 2500 euro, and when the water is found, another 2500 for the installation of the well, with 16cm diameter galvanised pipes. What he didn't tell us before is, that the water pump, and all the electrical and distributional installation is extra, and will be another 2000 euro. We had thought, that the 5000 would cover everything...

Anyway, we are confident, that we will be able to cover also that amount somehow.. more friends have contributed, and we are now 50 people!!! And we have reached a total of 5500 euro all together..

Heleen Kennedy, Scotland

Ria Vermeulen, Holland

Thomas Venakis, Zouridi, Crete

Dimitra and Mimis, Chania and Skopelos

And on tuesday, the drilling will happen!!! They will come with a huge truck, 13 meter long, carrying the drill.. they need water and soap for the cooling of the drill and the mechanism which throws out the material from the drilling. He said, it will be quite a mess, soapy water and earth materials.... we couldn't get him to come on a Friday though.. and it is not even sure, that the drilling will be over in a single day. So whoever wants and can come up here to Kallikratis on Tuesday is very very much welcome, so we can share the excitement of the day!!!!

And the water party itself will happen the following Friday.. On Tuesday, I will post pictures and maybe small videos as well during the day, so everybody else can follow the ongoings almost 'live' here on the blog..

Oh, friends!!!! It is happening, it really is happening!!! Thanks to all of you, all of us..

WATER for KALLIKRATIS update

2010-08-17T06:36:00.000-07:00

Hello friends, its been a week since I last reported...

And we have only good news!!! Five more friends contributed, and we are reaching the scope of 5000 euro for the drilling for water here in Kallikratis!! Almost there!!! So now we proceed, as fast as possible....

Tomorrow, the technician of the drilling firm will come to have a look at the area and our ground, in order to find out which machines he'll have to come with, and then we will also know, when he can come and how all this actual drilling will work, what will be involved... as we have no idea...

We are 45 people alltogether now, with us, Janina and Babis.. many local friends, and friends from Holland, Denmark, Germany and Norway... what an achievement, what a common effort, a common hope.. as it was in our imagination, TOGETHER we can do things, we couldn't possibly do alone.. everyone contributed with whatever they could afford, many small and also bigger streams made this river, together, we raised almost 5000 euro, and that since the 28th of July....

Yesterday then, Giannis, the guy who indicated where the water would be found here and at which depth (see previous posts), came by, and joined us as well with a contribution... even though he did did more than enough by finding it in the first place!

So, here the last contributors to the project:

Eva and Evtychia Christodoulaki, Modi, Crete

Maria (Mario) Matamadiotou, Plaka, Crete

Lill Gulli, Norway

Giannis Ravdoskopos, Moudros, Crete

And tomorrow we will know more technical news, and hopefully also the date of the drilling!!!! Thanks, thanks thanks to everyone joining this so important project... and more news tomorrow.. Its extremely hot here these days, even up here in the mountains, temperatures today have reached 35 degrees, down by the coast its more than 41..

Love to everyone and all

WATER for Kallikratis update

2010-08-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

Kallikratis, Sfakia, water for Kallikratis, καλλικρατης, Κρητη, νερο για το Καλλικρατη, ΣφακιαSo, the market is over... and we are getting ready to get back to Kallikratis.. we'll start to organize the water drilling party!!!

Until today we are 37 people contributing to the WATER for KALLIKRATIS project, and with what we made on the market, we have reached 4000 euro by now... another thousand, and we can drill for water!!

Here comes the full updated list of contributors.... thanks to everyone..

Giannis and Anna Bitsakis, Chania, Crete
Lampis Xilouris, Herakleion, Crete
Arnold, Evelyn, Jaqueline, Holland
Jill and Derek Pearce, Kavros, Crete
Giorgos Markoulakis, Gerani, Crete
Giannis Tsagarakis, Chania, Crete
Giangos Chairetis, Anogia, Crete
Nikos Psilos, Chania, Crete
Willy and Johnny de Zeeuw, Holland
Thomas and Martha Brandt, Christiania, Denmark
Manfred Hoffmann and Moni, Dresden, Germany
Ina Hviding, Norway
Giorgos Vougioukalos, Argyroupoli, Crete
Eleni Tsalikidou, Argyroupoli, Crete
Panagiotis Angelakis, Zoniana, Crete
Joscha Lücke, Berlin, Germany
Mitsos Karnagio, Chania, Crete
David Troutman, Chania, Crete
Kiria Stella Psaroudakis, Chania, Crete
Antonis Dagas, Chania, Crete
Henk Ploeger, Holland
Isolde Eleni Bichsel, Chania, Crete
Giorgos Tsoupakis, Frangokastello, Crete
Mitscha Rütsch, Bornholm, Denmark
Janne Gjerken, Norway
Jörg and Sandra Flaschka, Jena, Germany
ST and Regina, Berlin, Germany
Triandafyllia (Filio) Syka, Modi, Crete
Sheena Inoue, Bornholm, Denmark

So, now we have to find a good date for the drilling.. look, friends, since the start of our call for action on the 28th of July, only 12 days ago, we have managed all together to raise 4000 euro for the water in Kallikratis!!! Only 1000 euros are missing now...
We would like to drill on a friday, because the firms do not work at the weekend, and that way we can all have a water fiesta over the weekend..
It is really fantastic.. what to say more. That so many joined, that water for Kallikratis has become a cause, a project for so many, that the feeling of community, of 'together we can do it' has spread around, everybody is enthusiastic...
Its just fantastic

The market on Saturday

2010-08-08T05:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening, a troop of older guys came marching from the harbour singing, holding glasses of raki...

That was quite a sight.. again I have taken a video clip..

Tonight is the last night on the market.. it has been nice days but also exhausting, always till late at night...
Tomorrow I will update the WATER story with the latest news...

More from the market

2010-08-07T05:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday night, dancers from the Akrotiri peninsula where performing, it was a very nice show..

Here a small video clip from the dancing..

And welcome to water contributor number 32

Eli Janne Gjerken, Norway!!!

WATER for Kalikratis update

2010-08-06T06:42:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone

Three more friends have contributed to the water project

Isolde Eleni Bichsel, Chania

Giorgos Tsoupakis, Frangokastello

Mitscha Rütsch, Bornholm, Denmark

We are now 33!

More news tomorrow, and pictures from the market

Love to everyone from a hot hot Crete

The market

2010-08-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

In the evening, the different townships perform on the square, here it is a men choir from Selino

Here you see Babis and Manoussos just finished putting up the stall for the evening.. Manoussos has the best cheese we ever ate. He still produces the old traditional way, in a cave in the mountains by Askifou. He is a shepherd, milks his sheep and produces his cheese. He is one of the very very few. Today, all cheese on the market is produced in dairy factories.

Manoussos is a great neighbor to have here on the market, not only because his cheese is wonderful, and we've hardly eaten anything else the last days, but also he is cheerful, always in a good humor, smiling. Offering cheese and Raki to anyone passing by...

Thats our little stall here, with Babis eating... cheese

And then last night, the young ones lining up for dancing..

WATER update and market

2010-08-04T05:34:00.000-07:00

Hello there, we have been on the market in Chania now since sunday.. every day from 6 in the evening until after midnight. The market is held in and around the old customs building, the 'teloneio' by the harbor. Luckily, we are outside, as it is very hot these days and nights... you can find us just opposite the restaurant 'Karnagio' with our herbs, essential oils, soaps and shampoo.

In the evenings, the different townships of the Chania province have organised musical performances, and our stand is just near to the stage...yesterday there was a great singing performance. I tried to take some photos, but they are not good enough to publish, I'll try again today..

As for the waterproject, other friends have joined as well, so now we are 29 people all together!!

Mitsos Karnagio, Chania

David Troutman, Chania

Kiria (Dame) Stella Psaroudaki (Babis' mother), Chania

Antonis Dagas, Chania

Henk Ploeger, Holland

And, thanks to several very generous contributions, we now have reached 3200 euro so far... we are two thirds of the way almost!!!!

It is becoming real....together we can do it!!!

Water for Kallikratis update

2010-07-31T03:40:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready to go to 'town', to Chania for the agricultural market, Αγροτικο Αυγουστο, near the old customshouse on the harbour... There you'll find us the next 8 days, from 17.00- 23.00..
So we'll report the ongoings of the waterproject from there!!!
So far, 24 people contributed, and the score is 2200...
Thanks to all of you!!!

WATER FOR KALLIKRATIS UPDATE:::

2010-07-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

Today, more friends have contributed... and thanks to a very generous and enthusiastic person, we have reached a score of 2200 euro so far... almost halfway...
By the way, we do not reveil, how much anyone has contributed with... whatever amount is fine, whatever anyone can give is fine. For some of us, 40, 50 or 100 euro is a fortune, for others a piece of cake.. and all who do contribute, do so within their possibilities...each and every contribution is welcome..

New contributors:
Panagiotis Angelakis, Zoniana, Crete
Giorgos Vougioukalos, Argyroupoli, Crete
Joscha Luecke, Berlin, Germany
Eleni Tsalikidou, Argyroupoli, Crete

So, great news, and the feeling is great, everybody feels the excitement, everybody is part of the project...

More news tomorrow...

WATER FOR KALLIKRATIS

2010-07-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

In the next hopefully few weeks, our blog will be dedicated to the story of 'Water for Kallikratis'. Water for our village, for us, for our visitors.. This blog forum allows us to tell the story as it goes on, without the limitations of facebook, where we initially mentioned the project. So, for now its not herbs, but water.

Welcome everyone..
THE STORY
About two and a half years ago, we started building our place here in the remote village of Kallikratis, in the Sfakian mountains of Crete, at an altitude of 750m. We managed to create a good place, as everyone who has been here, has experienced. Many of you have shared work and parties with us, stayed with us.
The only problem we have here is, that there is no water. It might sound strange that nowadays an entire village is left without water, without a water distributing system.
Kallikratis is a village, which for centuries has been abandoned in the winter, the shepherds move themselves and their animals down to the coast villages of Argoules, Patsianos and Frangokastello, and with us we are now 3 houses which are inhabited all year around. In the summer months though, from May til October about 25 houses are inhabited. And there is no water supply. Traditionally, the houses had cisterns, which the rainfalls in the winter would fill.. This allowed for a few weeks of kitchenwater, if you wouldn't take showers or water gardens. Then, water has to be carried for the animals and daily use. Nowadays, the shepherds have pickup trucks, with plastic water containers and carry water from the coast villages..
We, when we built the house, dug cisterns down to hold 20 cubic.. this year, with the little rain we had, we ran out of water in early May. Since then, we carry water with our truck either from the coast or from Argyroupoli, 14km away...
2 years ago, we went to the commune responsible for the area, to address the water problem. Now, in the mountains surrounding our village, there is water.. they call it the 'acrid water', well, the result was, that a bulldozer came and did some digging and placed a black plasticpipe. You can see this in the pictures below, which I took when we went up to see what they had been doing in July 2008...

Here you see the results of the digging efforts, the black pipe to the right, and also the plasticbottles and other rubbish in the water...

And a closeup...

Behind Babis you can see the plateau down, where the village is.. Well... this digging was all that was done, and we still do not have a single drop..

What to do...

Obviously, we cannot wait for the commune to bring water, the village has waited decades...

Two weeks ago, we were talking about this problem.. and a friend who was visiting suddenly reveiled, that he is able to find water dowsing.. He went to his car and got his Y shaped stick of olivewood and started zick-zacking our ground.. and yes, he found water.. it was amazing to see, how the stick bent down towards the ground, how his knuckles turned white with the effort to hold the stick..

He then took his copper pendulum to determine the depth.. he told us, that there are two waterveins passing at a depth of approximately 46-48 meters...
And the amount of water should be ca. 1 cubic/hour...

Now..

Should we believe this, shouldn't we believe this? What choices do we have? We cannot expect the communal offices to do anything for water.. do we have another choice but to believe, but to go for it???

This is Kallikratis now in July.. dried out, only some thistles survive.. water could turn this place into a paradise...

There could be gardens, fruittrees..

So, we inquired.. to start with.. and contacted a company who drills for water.. they said, they didn't really believe in dowsing, but then, they do not have other sure means to find water themselves... its just to try and see..

They would first do a trial drilling, and then, if there is water, set up the system to bring it up.. The cost would be ca 2500 euro for the trial (50 euro per meter)
and then another 2500 when there is water.. And we will have to have all of it on the spot, because if there is water, it has to be done straight away...

So, for some days we were thinking, dreaming, wondering... what to do? Its a lot of money. We don't have it. Its such a risk, what if theres no water?? What though, if there is? The difference it would make..

So, we put out a call for action to all our friends.. if everyone contributes some, we can share it out- the risk, the win or the loose... if everybody joins in with whatever amount they can, the loss would be to bear for each, or the winning would be shared by many..

So many friends have shared with us, have been here with us... just have a look at the post I sent here on the blog in February this year..

So, we have put out the call, and many have already promised to contribute... many with 50, few with 100 or even 200 euro.. and the score now, after a few days is ca. 1290 euro..(the ca. is, because some have promised to contribute, but not told us the amount yet, so please tell us..)

We do believe, that it will be possible to raised the money with joined force, maybe even as soon as in a few weeks.. and then we will go for the drilling, arranging a great party here in Kallikratis on that day, food, drink, music... and share the excitement of the drilling and the outcome...

Maybe you'd like to join as well??

Here come the names of people having contributed/promised so far:

Giannis and Anna Bitsakis, Chania

Lampis Xylouris, Anogia

Willy and Johnny De Zeeuw and family, Holland

Arnold, Evelyn and Jaqueline, Holland

Giannis Tsagarakis, Chania, Crete

Nikos Psilos, Chania, Crete

Thomas and Martha Brandt, Denmark

Manfred Hoffmann and Moni, Germany

Jill and Derek Pearce, Kavros, Crete

Giorgos Markoulakis, Chania, Crete

Giangkos Chairetis, Anogia, Crete

Ina Hviding, Norway

And here on the blog, we will keep everyone informed, about how the action goes on.. On saturday we will go to Chania for a week, there is an agricultural market in the old customs building near the harbor (Teloneio), where we will meet many more of our friends..

Many small streams can make a river, many of us can bring water to Kallikratis.. and when we find it, we will make a great sculpture with the names of all of us..

So, thats it for now, if you want to contribute from abroad, contact us per mail, or come and find us during the next week in Chania...lets go for it together!! Lets risk, win or loose together for a great dream that can become reality!Water in Kallikratis!!!

2010-06-12T03:33:00.001-07:00

We have been to a wonderful exhibition/ market for ecological and handmade products in Herakleion from 28-31. of May. The market took place in a park in the middle of the town. It was a wonderful atmosphere, three days we all stayed, many of us in tents in the park.. You can see our neighbours Maria and Vangelio in the picture above, as well as some tents..

The market was self-organized, we all took turns for night watches and in the kitchen, as we all would eat together in the middle of the day. It gave a great feeling of community between the more than a hundred people participating in the market..

Everyday there were seminars on all kind of subjects related to ecological farming, sustainable lifestyle, health and much more. In this picture, Fukuokas method of natural farming is demonstrated..

Here the stand of our friend 'Bananas'.. he grows ecological bananas in the south of the island, and has lost his Christian name during the last many years..

This now is our little stand, essential oils, soaps, shampoo.. Lots of people visited the market, the stands were open from 10 in the morning till midnight...

Here its Babis at our stand..

Every night there was live music playing, free concerts.. sometimes until early morning.. So on the third day, these guys here, set up a sign on their stall... 'Kleisto logo methisis'... Closed because of hangover!

All in all though, it was a beautiful experience. We were just producers of ecological sound products, no merchants. We worked together to make this happening. There was music, performances, clowns, seminars. We got to know each other well, and there was many many visitors... There will be a similar self-organised market in the vicinity of Athens in a park from September 30 til October 3.. you can find some more info as well as some history at the following link (its in Greek, but you can translate the pages with google... www.oikogiorti.gr

Back on the island

2010-05-07T06:22:00.000-07:00

Hello there again.. I have just arrived back on Crete, after spending almost 6 weeks abroad with my parents.. Here a picture of the lovely savory, Satureja thymbra, which is blooming so early this year..

What a strange spring here, we have never seen such a spring before.. It was so warm over the winter, and it has rained so very little. The herbs have been confused, and many of them are blooming almost a month earlier than usually.. We have just collected savory, Satureja thymbra along the south coast.. The places are dry, and the grasses already yellow and withering...

Lets see, what this year will bring, there has been preciously little rain.. the plants are struggling for survival..

Now we are going up to the mountains to see how our other plant populations are doing

We have never seen such a dry spring here in Crete, in all these years..

2010-03-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were at an exhibition of artistic stone work here in Chania..
Our good friend Giorgos Koutroubakis, is showing some of his work here in Chania at the 'Teloneio', the old customs house at the harbour until March 31.
Giorgos works stone in such a beautiful way, combining old techniques, ultra modern ideas and exquisite fine details, combinations of natural pieces and carvings...

Here some of the photos I took at his exhibition.. The one above is one of my favorite pieces, even though its hard for me to say, which one is my favorite.. they all have a beauty of their own..
This is an example of the way Giorgos can combine materials in a single sculpture.. mountain crystal, and soft stone to carve details...

Or simply, or not so simply.. natural formations of stone which inspire him to create images..

Natural formations of stone which just ask to express themselves...

Like this one as well, angelic...

However, also fine works of sculpture, chiselled to perfection...

And working with light as well.. as in this piece called orchid...

Here you see Babis to the left, Giorgos to the right.. at the exhibition yesterday, and seated on the bench they made together.. Idea and stonework by Giorgos, woodwork partly by Babis.. Have a good look at this bench..Sitting there invites for communication, the handrests are formed like hands, sitting here, you are holding hands. In the background part of Giorgos' sculpture... Africa

For much better pictures of his art see http://www.perissios.com/text/enstict1.htm this link should lead you straight to the pictures...

Some pictures from the Lavender distillation..

2010-03-07T07:58:00.000-08:00

We essentially only distill wild plants we collect ourselves... with one exception..

Gil and Derek grow organic lavender, the french varieties L. angustifolia and L. spica here in Crete..
They do so with all their heart and soul. Just to see their plantation is a magic sight.. The plants are all cultivated in circles, Gill knows each of them, each individual and cares for them in a very personal and spiritual way.

It is therefor with great pleasure that we do the distillation of the essential oils for them. Just handling the plant material, when they bring it to the distillery, we can feel the love and care that has gone into the caring, planting and harvesting.. when Lavendula angustifolia arrives on the back of their pickup, we open the bags to find, that it only contains blossoms, every leaf and coarser stalks have been removed..

You can see the pictures of last years Lavender distillation at
http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/1769602/

Enjoy...

2010-03-05T02:24:00.000-08:00

Just to get a feeling of Cretan music, here another video taken when Giangos Chairetis played with Lampis' brother Giorgos Xylouris just a week after our party in Kallikratis.. its a beautiful piece.. I really love it. Full of magic..

Again I have tried for a long time to post it here, again I have given up, so here's the link to the original...

Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/janinaherb#!/video/video.php?v=102349709799857&ref=mf

Kallikratis february...

2010-02-26T05:39:00.001-08:00

Well, its not all and only herbs.. There also is time for getting together, playing music, eating and drinking and sharing time with friends..

We had a few days of party in Kallikratis, shared a wonderful time..

Lampis Xilouris and Giangos Chairetis from Anogia played the lutes, drums were played by Charis and Antonis..and many others were singing, clapping hands.. Dimitri joined the next day on bouzouki and mandolin, Panagiotis brought his guitar..

For two days, the house and our hearts resounded with music and rythms, and the singing of 'mantinades', 15-syllable rhyming couplets in Cretan dialect, often improvised..

Here Lampis Xilouris playing with heart and soul..

Giangos Chairetis

We all had a wonderful time.. I wish I could post some soundtracks here, which we recorded.. but it doesn't seem possible.. To get a feeling of some of the music played, you could visit the website of Lampis' brother Giorgis Xilouris, there are some videos and especially the latest one, where he plays with Giangos at http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=270962486382&share_id=320900997552&comments=1#!/video/video.php?v=367422154337

visiting cypress

2010-02-21T11:02:00.000-08:00

Well, its been some time that I have contributed anything new.. These first months of the year are low key, no real collection going on, no distillation.... However, its time for visiting.. human and plant friends.. We set out to visit the cypress trees, in the Sfakian mountains above Anopoli one nice day...admiring the way these trees survive...

The cypress trees here on Crete in the mountains are of the original variety, called horizontalis.. full name is Cupressus sempervirens var. horizontalis.. Cypress is mostly known in its age-long cultivated form, called C. sempervirens var. pyramidalis... the pyramide shaped Cypress so well known from Italian paintings, so well known as a typical tree in graveyards...

I love this above picture a lot.. when we passed by, the sky and the light was dramatic, and somehow the sun seemed to embrace this cypress tree..

And this is how they live as apopulation.. growing just out of the rocks, side by side...

Here we can see their cones....

Their kids...

Salvia pomifera, Salvia triloba

2009-12-11T05:30:00.000-08:00

Now was the time for the collection of sage, or rather the sages... we had been waiting for a few days with beautiful autumny weather, to go down to the hills around Argyroupoli, where our populations of Dalmatian, or Greek sage live.. The scientific name of this sage is Salvia triloba, or S. fruticosa (syn.) and its perfume and essential oil has a truly fruity, round and harmonious aroma... The leaves are soft.. as always, you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.. We spent 4 days last week here around Argyroupoli, collecting..

The places where we collect are pretty wild, and far from any road...we set out with our boxes and cut the leaves..

Here Joscha is cutting Sage leaves

Babis is advancing through the 'bush'...

You can see sage leaves quite clear here in the foreground

And maybe get an idea of the unspoiled beauty of this area..

Then we carry the filled boxes back to the car up on the dirt-road

And load the car...

The car was parked just under a carob tree, Ceratonia siliqua, also called St. John's bread.. and we used this circumstance to collect some of its ripe seed pods..
Every day we brought our harvest back to the distillery in Modi, to spread the plants in the drying space.. Now they have to be turned everyday, until they are dry and can be distilled..

Now, we also collect another sage species, Salvia pomifera, albeit only for use as herb or herbal tea. This sage is more similar to the common Salvia officinalis..

We collect Salvia pomifera towards the west of Crete, in the gorge near Agia Sophia, between Topolia and Elos..

Here a picture of this plant, you can clearly see the difference between these to species..

And also their habitats are different.. Below you can just see Babis collecting in the gorge...

A spectacular place...

A social Myrtus communis collection

2009-11-16T05:08:00.000-08:00

A good day for a Myrtle leaf collection.. we met in the morning and went towards Topolia to one of our Myrtus communis populations. Babis and Joscha were pruning the plants, and the rest of us were sitting on our boxes and cutting the leaves off the branchlets into the collection boxes..

Here its Maria, Mario and Janina

Joscha, Evtichia and Spiros

Sitting in the midst of the Myrtle bushes, clipping the leaves off the branches...
Below we also see Dionysia sitting, and Babis to the right

And then, after many hours of clipping, the filled boxes are stacked under an olivetree in the shade, ready to be loaded into the car..

And off we went, everybody, to enjoy a dinner together at Kostas place, Ta Platania nearby. It was getting dark, when we reached the distillery with our harvest, and began distillation. Myrtle leaves have to be distilled fresh..At three o'clock in the morning, we drew the essential oil. 180ml beautifully fragrant oil were the result of 10 people collecting a whole day...

And in between, a Laurus nobilis distillation

2009-11-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

Now I want to tell a different story.. about what is happening after collection.. you have seen the distillery, I suppose, maybe you have visited our website and explored the basics of our distillations here..

But now I have the advantage to show you details, as seen by a photographing visitor, Ina Hviding from Norway.. with her permission, ofcourse. Often, we do not see those things which seem such a natural part of our lives- do not imagine how it must be to be a total stranger, a newcomer to an experience which is so familiar to us..

And her pictures captured both the technical aspect, as well as the magic..

We had come to the distillery in the early morning, comminuted the bay laurel leaves, as pictured earlier this month in this blog, and filled the distillery...

Ina captured the beginning of the distillation, that what we call 'its running'.. the distillate, a mixture of water, hydrolate, and essential oil components, are distilling over. The liquid is initially filtered by a sieve in the funnel, and fills the 'florentine vase', the vase which separates the hydrolate from the essential oil continuously.. you can just see the separating device below the funnel here..

Now, in the next picture, you see the florentine to the left, the container holding the hydrolate on the right. As the essential oil is, in most cases, lighter than water or the hydrolate, it will float and accumulate on top in the florentine, whereas the hydrolate will be constantly drawn from the bottom...

So, during distillation, the hydrolate is flowing constantly into its receiving container, whereas the essential oil accumulates in the top part of the florentine. Note the top tap, closed now, whereas the bottom tap allows the flow of the hydrolate.. Enlarge the pictures for a better view...

Here we see the hydrolate flowing into the receiving container.. Laurus and rosemary hydrolate is our precious aqueous basis for shampoo...so a very much appreciated 'by-product'..
Then comes the magic moment- we are drawing the essential oil..now we have closed the tap for the flow of the hydrolate and opened the upper tap... by now it is dark, night...and the first oil is coming...

Here the oil is running into the final glas separator...

And then, the glas device fills, drop by drop.. I'll show you all the pictures here, because it was difficult to decide which one was the best.. and to me, they are all beautiful...

And here, in this last picture, you can see our final yield.. we have drawn some hydrolate, visible in the bottom of the glas separator in order to make sure that we got all the oil.. You can clearly see the separation, and we will drain the hydrolate below before filling the oil into

its glasbottle..

Work not over yet, the distillery has to be emptied for spent plantmaterial, cleaned thoroughly in order to be ready for the next distillation... tomorrow we'll collect Myrtus communis, myrtle leaves..Myrtle collection is a 'social' collection, as we need enough friends to come and collect the amount of plantmaterial we need to fill the distilleries in a single day... as myrtle has to be distilled fresh. So tomorrow morning we have an appointment....

September-october Vitex agnus castus part 1

2009-11-12T05:20:00.000-08:00

Well, these days were Vitex days and here come some pictures, taken by Ina Hviding.. First, a single splendid Vitex flower.. even though flowering time is long gone, there are single plants which celebrate a new spring, a new beginning with new flowers alongside the mature seeds.... even though the seeds of these will not mature.. Here we can see both ripe seeds and the new
flowers as well, this is a rare sight..

We are cutting the racemes with the ripe seeds, and collect them into cotton bags.. you can see a bag here. Each person can collect about 2 bags full a day. At the end of the day we will bring them to their drying place and spread them.. Over the weeks, we just add the racemes and by the time, collection is finished, we will thresh the seeds of the stalks, fill them in bags and carry them to the distillery..

But first, some more pictures of collection.. you can click on any picture to enlarge it...

So here we are, always near the sea, going from plant to plant and collecting their fruits.. day after day..having a swim inbetween to cool off...

Some pictures of the habitats of this plant...magical beaches

The evenings, not less spectacular... a fire on the beach, the view of the magnificent sunsets...

Thus is our life in September and October...for the most part.. However, we also spend a few days in between for the day-collections of Myrtus communis, of Salvia pomifera, and for distillations of Laurus..

Starting Vitex agnus castus, chastetree fruit collection

2009-11-11T10:26:00.000-08:00

So then we started the collection of chastetree fruit. We collect on the south side of the island, starting from when the seeds are ripe.. this collection, is our most timeconsuming.. we collect for weeks and weeks... with a few breaks for some day-collections and distillations of other herbs...

Well, later on, had a visit from Ina Hviding, a Norwegian aromatherapist.. She had been on on of our aromatic fieldcourses here on Crete many many years ago, and now wanted to come and spend two weeks with us, in these busy times in order to learn more about aromatic plants, their wild habitats, about collection and distillation..

We started off in Kallikratis, our place in the moutains of Sfakia at 750m altitude, Ina stayed in our guestroom with a view of the surrounding mountains..

The next day we went down to the south coast for Vitex agnus castus fruit collection.. the way down there is best described by these pictures Ina took, and which I am using here with her permission..

First her view from the car, as we embark onto this magnificent road..a piece of art, it covers a difference in altitude of over 800m in only 6km with the help of 26 steep U-turns..

Then comes an overview over some of these turns, seen from above..

This road is absolutely spectacular...Some people, however, have to get used to it a bit, before they truly can appreciate...

And then, just 20 minutes later, we are down by the sea, and drive towards our chastetree plants.. looking back we see the road winding up the mountain, the road we just came down on winding like a snake...

And before us, a chastetree population with ripe fruits, ready to collect... here its Ina cutting

And here Janina and Joscha... Harvest has begun.. Again, all pictures except the one of herself, were taken by Ina Hviding..

More about Vitex, chastetree collection later, and more pictures to come

Laurus nobilis, bay laurel distiallation and Penoel

2009-11-09T04:51:00.000-08:00

Well, its been a long time since I posted.. so many things have happened, so many plants got collected and distilled..its just been a very busy time, however, I will try to follow up.

In early september we collected and distilled Bay Laurel leaf, Laurus nobilis. The leaves have to dry before distillation, and then the plantmaterial has to be 'comminuted', that is shredded or cut just before distillation. That is, because the small glandular structures accumulating the essential oil in the leaves are hidden inside the leafs structure. You might have noticed, that laurel leaves almost do not smell, if you sniff the entire leaf or just touch it. You'll have to crush it, before it releases its aroma. This is different with aromatic plants which accumulate essential oil in hairlike glandular structures situated on the surface of the leaves, like thyme.

Anyway, we shred the bay leaves at the distillery, just before filling them into the stills. We use an electric shredder, as you can see.. one of those used for shredding twigs and leaves for compost in private gardens..

This is the only distillation that initially involves noise due to the shredding...
On one of these distillation days, we had a visit from Dr. Daniel Penoel and his wife Rosemarie. Dr Penoel is one of the pioneers in medical aromatherapy, having worked with essential oils in medicine for over 30 years, as a practitioner, writer, researcher and teacher. So we had a very inspiring time together, while the Laurus leaves were distilling... Many inspiring thoughts on essential oils to use for holistic, integrative healing.. On quality, analyses and uses...

Babis, Daniel and RoseMarie at the distillery...

That day, during distillation, we experienced a water-cut for the very first time.. The water supply was cut of centrally due to maintenance.. Luckily RoseMarie noticed straight away, as we were washing greens for salad, that the water had stopped running... so we had to carry water in large barrels from the next village and improvise a funnelsystem to constantly add cooling water
into the container by hand..

However, we managed that problem, and a few hours later we drew the oil...
Here you can just see it starting to come from the separator

We had a very inspiring day with Daniel and RoseMarie, they are dedicated, knowledgeable, curious, and genuine nice persons.. and then, Laurus distillation is always wonderfully fragrant, uplifting..

A few days later, we went back towards the South: the many weeks of Vitex agnus castus (chastetree or monkspepper) fruit collection were to commence...

Thymus capitatus collection

2009-08-26T05:18:00.000-07:00

Finally the story of Thyme collection..

We went with friends to collect on the western most coast of Crete, a splendid unspoiled biotope.. It was a hot day, a merciful wind was blowing from the sea..the thyme beings were ready for us. In full bloom they stood..

Here a closeupThe bees were busy on the plants, and the view is fantastic.. towards our back the mountains, in front the sea.. nothing but us, the thymes, the bees, some cicadas... again I tried to shoot a video, here it is. Again I must excuse the poor quality, colours are better in the pictures, and the wind blowing distorted the sounds. Haven't had time yet to figure the camera out. Maybe in the winter..?

In the video you can see the bees on the thyme just in front of me, then the view over the biotope and the mountains, passing over a few collection boxes, then the sea in the background.. then it ends again full circle by the thyme I just have been cutting.. you might notice the cut parts of the plant..

Mario is collecting a thyme, just below an amazing structure of a windblown pine-tree.. we are just cutting the flowering tops, always leaving enough flowers..

And here, she hides with Babis under a giant thyme.. well, almost

Since it was a hot day, we went to the sea to have a swim..
Here you'll see the sea, a thyme.. we are swimming just beyond the rocks to the left.. Welcome refreshment..

It might just seem like a lot of fun, a day out.. but it is as well hard work.. The Cretan thyme is an almost thorny bush, carrying leaves and flowers just on the very top of its spiny branches. However, here we are out in the quiet and solitude of nature..

As we were a few, Maria, Giannis, Mario, Babis and me, we managed to fill our boxes in time that day..and went off for dinner at a good friends place.. at 'ta Platania', a taverna near Vlatos situated under age old platane trees.. After the blazing sun during collection, this place is a real treat..

Here we draw energy from the ages old platanes..
Then, offcause, a good meal is waiting.. Kostas, the third from left here and his brother Michalis are real lovely people, good friends and great cooks...

So we ended the day in the shade and good company before setting off home to discharge our harvest..

2009-07-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

Hello there again, I just found some more pictures and even a short video I made while we were collecting oregano the other days..

Remember, I talked about, that the only sound where the cicadas around.. well, in the video you can just hear them.. I must say, that the video's quality is lousy.. its the first video I took with this camera, the first video I took anyway alltogether, and apart from my own inexperience of taking videos, I think that the colours are nothing like real..

Anyway, why not even share beginnings here, and maybe you can forgive, that quality and details are poor, but nevertheless get a feeling of the place we collected oregano.. The video was taken in the afternoon, when we had the benefit of the shade that the old olivetrees provided..

We were collecting, and I captured Babis in a photo, as above.. then I tried the video function..so here it is. As I said, no great artistic achievement.. but you might get an idea. And I'll try to get better at it.. but you can hear the cicadas..sound of the south. Maybe share the athmosphere we have been collecting in, the serenity of a remote biotope in the Cretan mountains..

2009-07-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

I have just updated the website, now you can find short infos about our essential oils also in German, Greek and Danish...

And we have added our dried herbs, our soap and shampoo to the webshop on our site as well, as there was a considerable interest out there, that these products should be available over the web as well as on Crete, where we have all our products in bio shops in Chania and Rethymnon.

By the way, if are you favoring ecological, bio products also when being on vacation in Crete, there is a list of Cretan bio shops and a short description of them on our site under 'where to find our products in Crete'...

Some weeks ago, we did make a new batch of soap, you can see the soap drying and curing here to the right..we didn't take any pictures while making it, but next time you'll get a full description of the process, pictures inclusive. We use certified biological olive- and avocado oil, our hydrolates and essential oils. Nothing else, except the lye, sodium hydroxide. We apply a cold production procedure, which is very rare to find employed in soap production, because it requires a lot more time. However, using biological fatty oils as well as hydrolates and essential oils, it is very important to not exceed a temperature of 28'C. This way, all the vitamins are preserved in the fatty oils, and all the quality of the hydrolates and essential oils as well.

Both the recipe and the production procedure result in a truly fine soap, which is naturally fragrant and soothing to the skin. It balances skin health, strengthens its barriers against pathogens, normalises skin in cases of rashes. Because of its richness and gentleness, it is well suited for children and babies as well..

Babis calls it 'the finest soap in the world', and he's not a man of many words. However, we have seen over the years, that whoever gets it once, returns back for more..

OK, enough about soap..

Next time we do a batch, we'll let you in on the production, with pictures etc..

Now, its time to make some food, the sun is on his way towards the horizon, its been a hot day.. and tomorrow we'll start to collect Thyme, Thymus capitatus, by the western coast of Crete, near Amygdalokefali... that means a few hours drive, so we have to get up early..

2009-07-04T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hello there, we have been collecting oregano, Origanum vulgare during the last few days in the hills above Argyroupoli.. The finest plants are slender and have a multitude of white inflorescenses, the stems are cut one by one...

Its a beautiful place here, old olivetrees and abandoned fields... Its quiet, only the constant chirping sound of the cicadas, called tzitzikas in Greek, fill the air in those hot days now... Cicadas shed their skins as they become adults, and these delicate abandoned skins are found on many a oregano plant these days.

We do not distill essential oil of oregano, since the amount of herb required is large, and oregano is widely collected locally by the people for culinary use, so we just share with everybody else. That is, we collect only for 'herb', and a few days of collection gives us the amount we need and can offer for a year.

As with all our culinary herbs, we discard whatever might be left of last years herbs, when the new collection is in, has dried and is ready for packing. We believe, that herbs are best within a year after their collection, they loose most of their aroma and colour if kept longer, just as we can see with most commercial herbs, which mostly are given a shelf-life or 'best before' date of five
years..

Now the oregano is drying up in Kallikratis, hanging in bunches, and we went down to the sea near Frangokastello, to have a look at our Vitex agnus castus, chastetree population. The plants are in full bloom now, so beautiful.. Vitex usually flowers a beautiful mauve-lilac, but there are some rare plants, that flower white as well.. Already Dioscurides in his Materia Medica, 79 BC, describes a white flowering and a lilac flowering kind of chastetree.. Here you can see one of each, flowering by the beach...

2009-06-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

We have eaten most of our artichokes, as we do when they are but buds, but some of them remained and were allowed to become flowers, the most beautiful flowers...

A colour as violet as change, as radient as life,..the pictures are poor...but the colour is vibrant...

Have you ever seen an artichoke flowering...

2009-06-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

So back again.. well, we had our friends Willy and Johnny visiting from Holland, staying, working and sharing with us almost three weeks.. Together we collected and distilled Lavandula and Lentisk.. together we finished the details of the 'shop' in Kallikratis... Johnny especially was very active trying to attract attention from that lone car passing.. calling 'stop, shop' out when the whole place still looked like a buildingsite.. we had lots of fun together, as well as a lot of good get togethers and much work..

Then we got a call from a TV crew, they wanted to do a documentary about our work for the digital prisma channel..so we had to think about a herb that could be collected and distilled the same day, for them to film the entire process from collection to distillation. We went down to Modi and collected Lentisk, since there is a population just behind the distillery. From left to right you see Maria, Babis, Janina and Johnny cutting, Willy took the photo, and later Mario joined us as well in order to collect enough for a distillation.
You can click the photos to enlarge them...

We had a wonderful time with the crew that day.. Then as evening approached, they sat us down for an interview, here you see us and them through Willy's lense.. The documentary will come out sometime in January next year on prisma channel..

They were surprised though, that 6 people collecting most of the day followed by 3 hours of distillation only resulted in about 100ml of essential oil...but thats what Lentisk gives...

Back in Kallikratis the next day, we were preparing for Johnnys birthday party.. goats had to be caught in the wild and slaughtered, bread had to be baked and foodstuff prepared..

And we had a wonderful time... Kostas, who builds magnificent string instruments in Chania had brought his guitar, and Thoma joined in with his wonderful voice..

Willy (Wil deZeeuw) made two short videos, which I here post with her permission..maybe you can grasp some of the atmosphere...it was a truly fine and starry night, fresh mountain air... In the second video they sing Johnny's birthday song...Gianni is the Greek name for Johnny...

So here we go, creating a blog

2009-06-19T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hello there..

Being back down in 'civilisation' again, I thought it would be nice to create a blog as well, to keep anyone interested in Cretan nature and aromatic plants, herbs and essential oils updated regularily.. I will still update the website, http://www.wildherbsofcrete.com/ regularily, but a blog seems a more immediate and personal way and is interactive...

We have had very busy days here in June, collecting flowering Satureja thymbra, Savory on the southern coast of Crete, collecting Lavandula stoechas, Greek Lavender, in the hills above Vatolakko in the northwestern part of the island, collecting Pistacia lentiscus, lentisk or mastic near the distillery in Modi..and finally we have made and finished our own little 'shop' up in Kallikratis, a quite deserted shepherds village in the mountains of Sfakia, at an altitude of 750m...

Truly away from all 'civilization'..nice and cool place to be in the summerheat...a few wanderers pass by, coming up or going down the wonderful Kallikratis gorge which is unspoiled and pristine..So its not a 'shop' shop, but more of a workshop, where we will make soap and shampoo, clean and pack herbs, and where everybody is welcome to stop by, have a drink and a chat, a rest or an adventure when we are up there.. We built the house around a beautiful piece of rock, you can just see some of it in the picture here... and it really puzzles the people.... they wonder, how ever did we get that rock inside the house??

We have also set some stonetables outside of the fence, so that people also can have a rest and enjoy the wonderful mountain views when we are not there...

Now, just a little background..We had our living and working place in Modi, near Chania for years. Here we built our distillery 16 years ago.. 16 years ago, we couldn't see any other house from our place, we were out in nature. However, as the years passed by, the new national road was build between Chania and Kissamos, and now during the last years several houses were build in the hills around us.. So we decided, it was time to move up further away into unspoiled nature, and started two years ago to build a place in Kallikratis, which is as far away from 'civilisation' as you possibly can come in Crete.. The village is deserted during winter, and in the summer just a few shepherds stay up here with their animals..However, there is a problem with water in Kallikratis during the summer, there's no real watersystem, the existing pipes transporting water from a well in the surrounding mountains to the village are quite rotten.. This needs to be fixed by the muncipality... So, until this problem is solved, we cannot move our distillery up here, we still distill in Modi...

A few days ago, we distilled our last Lavandula stoechas, Greek Lavender..from many days of collection earlier, clearing out the drying space for the next collection, which will be Laurus nobilis, Bay laurel.

As always, the final oil collection, the separation of the essential oil, is a magical moment.. because of the way we do distill, we almost everytime finish at nighttime..not having electricity at the distillery, we are sitting by the oil separator with a flashlight, watching the oil coming...

And from this Lavender distillation , we almost got 900 ml of essential oil..

Well, thats it for now, I have to get some work done now...

With aromatic greetings

Janina