Cañuelas: Down on the Farm

For our penultimate adventure Katie and I landed near a town called Cañuelas, about an hour and a half outside of Buenos Aires, at a farm called La Farfalla run by a lovely couple named Matias and Mariana. While I've been using workaway to find my different volunteering gigs, Katie found this farm through WWOOF, the original work-travel site, exclusively dedicated to organic farms. It's pretty much exactly what you imagine a small farm to be like, full of animals, a vegetable garden, fruit trees, fresh air and good food.

We worked for six hours a day, three in the morning before it got super hot, and three in the evening after it had cooled down again. That gave us plenty of time to siesta, read, and generally relax after traveling at full speed for a couple of weeks. During our works hours we did a whole variety of tasks, from preparing new beds in the garden, to putting up chicken wire, to mowing grass, to, my favorite, wildly herding the sheep and chickens from one place to another. Nobody said farm animals were smart.

Another wonderful perk of staying on the farm was eating pretty much exclusively fresh, organic food, often harvested that day. Matias is a great cook, and consistently served up fresh bread and wonderful stir fries. Mariana spent some of the time we were there cooking down the gazillions of apples we harvested into preserves which of course were also amazing. The last day we were there, they actually decided to slaughter one of their sheep, so we had a massive asado which was delicious. Add in the fact that Matias also brews his own beer, and they produce their own honey, and it was some of the best meals I've had this trip. A really nice detox from the diet of carbs paired with ham and cheese that seems to be standard fair on busses and at hostels.

Additionally, while Katie is already a farmer extraordinaire, I as always, found it very interesting to learn some more practical farming skills, and to listen to Matias and Mariana talk about different problems and solutions they've encountered while growing their farm. Also, especially since Argentina has just elected a new president that a lot of people are not happy about, it was interesting to get their take on the political situation as well. The reality of how people feel about it is often at contrast to the dryer news reports.

All in all it was a great place to stay for a week and recharge for the last stop of my trip, Buenos Aires. It's kind of incredible to think that I've pretty much reached the end, but I am looking forward to seeing my family again after six months on the road. Stay tuned for one more city!