Casa Gual

I almost wasn't going to share this secret because it’s so special, but it’s simply too great not to share!

This Time Last Year

Last February, Davin and I flew to Chamonix to snowboard. The ski trip was planned six months in advance, but only recently had we entertained the idea of moving to Spain. So we cut the ski trip a few days short and hopped on an EasyJet flight to Javea to ‘interview’ the place. We had narrowed our search to Costa Blanca but didn’t know where we wanted to end up (Alicante, Valencia, and Javea were on the list).

Davin had made all of the travel plans and informed me that we were going to be staying at an eco-farm in Javea, which, at first, I thought was a bit odd. He had found the place on AirBnB and although it wouldn’t have been my first choice I trusted that he’d done his research. I remember driving in the dark in our rental car to what felt like the middle of nowhere: a one lane dirt road that led out to farm fields. To make a long story short, we fell in love with the place and the owners during our three-day stay.

Allow me to introduce Casa Gual 

Casa Gual is a truly romantic and authentic Spanish experience. The owners, Bea and Teo, bought the farm and the one-hundred-year-old (plus) building two years ago. Both well-educated Spaniards, neither of whom grew up in the area, decided to leave the rat race and have a go at organic farming. They saw an opportunity for the house to be rented through AirBnB rental. They completely renovated half of the building and turned it into a cozy living space. In front of the casita is a large patio covered by grapevines and overlooks the mandarin fields, with mountains peaking over the top of the trees in the distance. Towering Montgo, the largest mountain in the area provides a stunning backdrop, and at dusk, the sunlight brings forth it’s reddish orange hues.

Not only is the farm itself extremely enchanting, but Bea and Teo easily win you over. They are two of the most kind, generous people we’ve met (not just in Spain). Bea is fluent in English (and Italian) and is extremely easy to talk to. Teo’s experience growing up in a small pueblo taught him the skills to farm, build, and carry out all of the random work that is needed on the property. They are not like ‘normal’ Spaniards in that farming is probably the least sought after profession nowadays. It is extremely labor-intensive and it’s extremely low-paying. Plus they’ve committed themselves to organic farming, a very progressive concept in Spain that few Spanish farmers are willing to do.

Bea & Teo, seafood paella, pasta, calabací y arroz, gatito, y perra guapa Roya

When we arrived in Spain this fall as a family we reached out to Bea and Teo, inviting them to dinner at our apartment. It was lovely to reconnect, knowing that we’d actually made it back to Javea (when there were so many uncertainties the first time we had come and stayed at the farm)!  Up to that point, I’d been fantasizing about the idea of working on the farm and learning Spanish (and how to farm!). So I proposed working on the farm in exchange for Spanish practice. Of course, they were more than willing to take me on and this fall I’ve had a one-of-a-kind experience learning how to farm, cook, and speak Spanish from these two wonderful people!

Organic Farming in Spain

caracoles

It didn’t take me long to appreciate the dedication of organic farmers. You almost have to be crazy to not spray your vegetables with insecticides when everyone else around you is doing it. Why? One word: caracoles. ¡Caracoles malos! These little snails cover vegetable gardens in no time and there is really no way to get rid of them except hand picking every little rascal off each of your vegetable plants. They get into every nook and cranny, eat through the leaves, and destroy weeks and months worth of work. And after you’ve gone through and picked them off by hand, they are back the next day! Imagine the patience and perseverance it takes to continue to grow and care for plants in this manner! (This is why we pay more for organics people!) The vegetables they grow are not only healthier but they taste amazing picked fresh out of the garden.

Some Things I've Done on the Farm:  

Harvesting green beans

judías

These beans had missed their window to be eaten fresh, but we still collected the dried beans to be soaked and cooked later. It took me and Bea two hours to collect and pull out just one meal’s worth of beans. “Can you believe two hours of that for one dinner of beans?!” she said with a smile and rolled her eyes. Bea has a wonderful sense of humor (often self-deprecating her life as a “hippy” on the farm). While the work is far from glamorous, but to me is such a spiritually rich experience to truly live off the land. Every little bean matters and you work for every little bean. I truly admire their dedication to the environment and their health.

Weeding

The jardin is laid out in “bancoles” that you can access from either side. The soil is more of a dry reddish, brown clay (different than the black damp soil I think of back home). Weeds grow like any garden and need to be taken care of so they don’t take over the vegetables. However, when you pull the weeds here the soil is exposed to the intense sun which quickly dries it up and then can be blown away. So ironically we would pull the weeds, but then lay the piles of weeds on top of the soil they were just pulled from to protect it from the sun. Nothing is easy when it comes to small-scale farming and much is learned by trial and error.

Olives

(aceitunas)

Bea and Teo grow and harvest olives in the village Teo comes from which is a few hours inland from Javea. I learned that all of the olives you buy in the store are industrially cured with food-grade lye at one of a few large factories to remove the bitter flavor and soften the texture (and perhaps change the color from green to black).

(aceitunas, calabacín, zanahoria, pimientos, berenjena, almendras)

But Bea and Teo artisanally cure their olives with a brine- mainly salt and water. They soak the olives for over a week in water, stirring daily. I got to taste a few different olives, and it was easy to tell which ones were “younger” because they are much more bitter. In general, these olives have chewier, bitter taste than store-bought, but it is a taste that grew on me. My task was to find a fennel plant out in the field and harvest the seeds to season a batch while Bea added celery, oil, and salt. Of course, we had to taste test. So first came bread, then the fresh parmesan cheese, and inevitably some wine! I ended up coming home with the most fun “paycheck’ for work ever that day: homemade olives and a bagful of fresh organic veggies!

Feeding Chickens

A farm isn’t complete without a gallo and many gallinas! Several times the kids have helped feed the chickens and collect the eggs- a novel experience for kids who haven’t grown up on a farm! The chickens on the farm are excellent at eating weeds, fallen mandarins, and leftover food, but they are picky in the sense that they need a variety of food to keep them interested. The eggs that these chickens produce have the most beautiful orange yokes that I’ve ever seen. I love eating delicious eggs that I know came from healthy chickens.

Harvesting Mandarinas

December is the month in Javea where all the mandarin and orange groves are ready for harvest. The Jávea valley is laden with orange farms bursting with fruit and it’s a stunning experience to ride your bike through and witness the change.

¿Donde están Declan y Volly?

Casa Gual at one point was farmed with pesticides. It takes years for the effects of the pesticides to wear off. Plus this year's harvest always depends on last year’s weather. Apparently last year was not a great year (very dry) and so their mandarins weren’t up to standard to be sold (even though I still thought they tasted amazing).

The kids had a blast climbing the trees and plucking fruit from the branches. They learned that you have to twist the stem and pull, otherwise the part of the peel goes with it. And how liberating to throw the peels to the ground! Declan has managed to become a citrus addict and we have to actually limit how many oranges he eats a day because he’s so nuts about them.

Bamboo Reeds

There is a dry river bed “Rio Gorgos” that extends from inland mountains all the way to the sea in Jávea's Port. This is maintained in case of a “gota fria” which is essentially endless rains that lead to major flooding. The last gota fria was in 2007 and did some serious damage. The river bed is full of this Spanish cane.

The last time I was out on the farm we stripped the leaves off of harvested Spanish cane. The end goal is to use the reeds to create window coverings for the new living quarters that they’ve been in the process of building directly next to the AirBnB one.

Great Memories

In theory, I’m supposed to be working and helping them out, however in their endless generosity, not only have I left each time with Spanish practice, I always with bags full of organic vegetables, eggs, or a belly full of delicious food (Bea has taught me how to cook some lovely dishes). It really isn’t fair. I never feel like I actually have earned any of this, but every time I leave it’s with a smile and a feeling of gratitude that this is what life is all about!

Visting Casa Gual with Whalens & Knutsons