September in Lobith

Well it’s hard to believe that it’s been over a month here on the New Apple farm in Lobith. I arrived for the September start here at Harmen’s organic apple and pear farm and dove head on into what felt like Poland!

Yep, when I first arrived here, there were 2 from Bulgaria (but have been in Holland for 6 years, so they spoke Dutch) and me, the rest were all from Poland. Thankfully some of the younger Polish people could speak a bit of English, so I could understand what was going on. But there was still a lot of hand gestures and pointing at things and some confusion here and there, but I made it!

When I arrived there was about 18 people in total picking apples and pears, plus a few retired locals (Jan & Bart) who come in a few hours a day to sort and make sure the trains were ready for the next batch, plus Harmen’s full time guy Damien – who does more of the technical work driving the tractor, spraying, fixing the tractors and basically whatever needs to be done.

A few days were spent picking here and there until I was put on a team with the two Bulgarian guys, Dimo and Martin and one from Poland, Egor. Yep, surrounded by guys – well the two from Bulgaria couldn’t speak English and the one from Poland only spoke a little, but enough for me to understand.

I guess you could say it was an interesting team of pickers; there was a lot of Bulgarian pop music, over and over again, yay my favorite. And you could say that they weren’t the quickest or most thorough bunch of pickers. Maybe that explains after week two a few of them leaving and another one put to work else wear.

The first weekend I got some beautiful sunny weather, perfect for biking. So I loaded Mocha into her bike basket and we went along the River Rhine one day and over the German border into Elten, which was only a mear 3km away from the farm.

With the picking team disassembled by midweek two, I got a break from picking and did a lot of painting! Painting things in sailboat blue, no really it was boat paint! So it was super glossy and sharp looking on the iron table and chair legs I painted, oh and the benches, bathroom doors and swinging chairs. I think it took about four days in total to get everything done and ready for the big bash!

The second weekend was an apple picking festival held at the farm that happens every year for about the last 10 years. People and families adopt an apple tree on the farm and during the festival they are invited to come and pick their tree. Some of the money goes back into the organic organization that Harmen is a member of and of course back into the farm. So hence all the painting and getting things ready for the festival. I went by one day to check it out and see what it was all about and it looked like people were having a blast. I think they said there were about 500 people a day on Saturday and Sunday; they looked pretty tired come Monday. They even had a bouncy castle, which I helped set up and a few of us got to try out the day before, Harmen and Carla (Harmen’s wife) included, although there were a few Polish casualties trying to get out of the castle and a few bumps and hurt egos were attained. I guess some of us adults are use to getting the opportunity to play around in a kids bouncy castle! They also had local organic food, a bird housing/research and protection booth, local jewelry made from the River Rhine’s stones, a local flute player and of course the organic store Harmen and Carla own was open and full in swing! But all in all it was a great weekend and the weather was beautiful.

Actual I think I found Holland’s little hot spot, thankfully! The weather up until the last week has been amazingly warm and now it is fall and the temperatures are starting to drop and more rain is on it’s way, I guess this is Holland so that is expected.

The work was long days from 8:30 till most nights 7pm, now thankfully they are ending around 6 as the work is slowing down. By week three most of the Polish workers had packed up and gone home and just a few remained and more of the local pickers started coming back to work.

Thankfully I got on a better team with two Polish women, Eva and Viola. Eva spoke no English and Viola only a little, so the days were interesting, but they were great women to work with and I had a lot of fun with them. Plus they were more efficient and better than the last team, so Harmen kept me around longer.

My friend Paula came and we went camping a little north of here and got a lot of rain that weekend, but we were both a little tired from weeks past – so it was a great weekend to relax, spend time together and catch up. We even got the amazing opportunity to go to a small village about 30min north from where we were to see an amazing sight left after the Second World War. My Aunty Mona’s father, Hank had served in the war and apparently inscribed his name into a tree that still remained on a private estate. Mona sent me the information of where it was supposed to be located, so Sunday morning Paula and me packed up and went for a drive. We arrived to a huge estate with a large old home and second smaller home next to it. Finding no one around, we decided to knock on the smaller home to see if anyone was around and could help us.  A gentleman answered the door and he could speak English very well, he immediately knew of the tree I spoke of and took us there. It was only 20 feet away from his front door and there it was when we came around the corner, his name carved into the tree with where he was from just below it. It was a pretty amazing site to see and to have stood in the same place as someone I knew but in completely different situations.

Apparently there were a lot of names carved into tree in the area since it had been a main area for preparing and loading food out to the troops, but others who had carved there names into trees weren’t as recognizable as his. So, note to anyone who is going to do it, make the carving large enough and legible enough that it will stand the test over time!

Well the last picking of apples should be winding down next week, and then it’s onto more sorting and packing for storage and shipping to stores in Holland and some tree work.

I can’t believe it, it’s down to the last two weeks – then my next adventure begins as Mocha and I pack up the camper van and head south to Spain!!

A new battery and oil change has been done to the camper and everything else looks good, just hoping that all goes well with the drive down there and that the beast makes it over the Pyrenees mountains.

I plan to spend a few days in Amsterdam and check out the sight and then off to Paris to see a friend and the city. I hope I can make it to the ring road parking area, I’ve heard Paris is a nightmare for driving – so best to park the camper and stay with friends. Then I will make my way south through Limoges, Toulouse (ya like Nestle) over to the eastern side of France/Spain down the coast into Barcelona for a few days then near the area of Malaga, where I have a work away and place to stay when I arrive!

Thinking it will take about two weeks and that I will take my time and see the sights as I make my way down – who knows I might not do it again. So if anyone knows of things to see and do or places to stay on route, I’m open!  

I accepted a work away with a retired Scottish man who has lived in Spain for about 13 years with his old dog. He’s got some gardening and what not work, plus has to head to the UK for a week – so some dog sitting too. But it’s a place to stay in the area I want to be and see when I arrive and it might just lead to great things. I have been warned about the economy and unemployment in Spain, but I’m a pretty handy women and I have high hopes that I will find something so I can stay the winter. Otherwise, who knows what will happen, that’s why they say “Life is an adventure and meant to be lived.”

 Lobith:

 River Rhine:

 Elten (across the into Germany):

 Harmen's farm:

 Carrot Rose made from my camping neighbor:

 Aunty Mona's fathers tree:

 The oldest working mill in Holland:

 My first Pancake Restaurant in Holland with Paula: