Yearly Calendar of Biotourism and Organic Agriculture Activities
DECEMBER/JANUARY/FEBRUARY/MARCH
These long months of the winter come with plenty of sunshine and white snow to the valleys and hills surrounding the village. For those who may be tempted, there is plenty of small game for hunting in the environs of the village, as well as the possibility of nature walks with special winter shoes used by the villagers. In the evenings, it is a delight to gather around the wood stoves and fireplaces in your room and the hotel’s central areas and restaurant, to eat barbecued potatoes and local vegetables. The local village café is a welcoming spot for long evening chats, drinking tea and coffee and sharpening your back-gammon and other Middle Eastern game skills with the villagers. The nights are crisp and quiet, with an early morning sunrise always welcoming you to the new day.
APRIL
With the arrival of Spring, the outlook of the village changes entirely. The stone houses and pavestone pathways are now laced with the spring bloom of apricot, plum and almond trees. The fields are filled with the buds of narcissus, anomone and other rare mountain bulbous flowers. The villagers engage in communal clearing of the fields and pruning of the fruit orchards as well as tending of the wineries. Our guests are welcome to work along the villagers, as well as enjoy guided tours of the spring brooks, rare plants in the valleys and mountains, as well as bird watching and other calm activities to enjoy the spring weatherand sunshine in full.
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MAY
The best gift of the month of May is the early crop of fruits that nature gives us. Plum, apricot and almond trees have special green fruits that the villagers, especially the children, really enjoy. This is also the time for communal mushroom picking activities in the mpuntains. This ancient habit equips the villagers with a much appreciated delicacy for their local cooking practices. Our guests are welcome to join us in learning the different kinds of edible mushrooms growing in our mountain village as well as the myriad recipes used to enjoy their rare taste to the fullest.
JUNE
While the work in the agricultural fields had slowed down in April and May, june is the month when the bulk of the work for organic farming takes place in the village. The fields need regular tending, watering and upkeep until the harvest time. June is also a special month of festivities. At the third week of the month, there is the annual Rice Festival of the village, whereby the whole community goes upto the mountain tops, eats, dances and plays traditional instruments to celebrate the summer and the upcoming harvest. Our guests are most welcome to take part in these ancient festivities and enjoy first hand the beauty of communal traditions of Asia Minor.
JULY
In this month, fruits and vegetables ripen and are ready for harvesting. Our guests are welcome to join us in collecting the gifts of nature in the many fields we have in the environs of our village, down in the valley, up on the mountains tops and along the brooks running through the village itself.
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
This is the Harvest Time, when all the hard work of the year comes to fruition. The villagers are now in the fields, collecting the goods and gifts of nature, working hard in teams, when entire families and several generations work side by side. All the harvest then gets carried into cave storages. Big wood fires are built to boil the fruits and grapes to produce the precious extracts and to make yearly preserves and jams. Nuts such as walnuts are harvested for yearly consumption, broken and
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stored in cotton bags. The local delicacy of sun-dried apricots are bagged for winter months and fruit and vegetable composts are prepared. This is practically the best season
to join the villagers in their agricultural activities as the Autumn season slowly sets in.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
Preparations for the long winter season starts. In the households, villagers make yeastless bread and special baked goods for storage. Wood is collected from the valleys for the long months ahead. Seeds are brought to the fields and the villagers make the preparations for next year’s crop by tilling and turning the soil before putting the seeds in. This is a wonderous time when the light turns orange, and long nature tours and walks in the area allows the enjoyment of the crisp mountain air and the changing colours of the local trees for our visitors. Our visitors are also most welcome to join the villagers in their winter preparation activities. |
